Spicy Fennel Bread Recipes

AROMA BREAD WITH CORIANDER AND FENNEL

Steps:

• 1 To prepare the dough, start at least 12 hours ahead. Whisk together all the ingredients except the whole grain berries and the water in a large bowl. Scatter the grain berries on top and add almost all the water. Stir with a dough whisk or a wooden spoon until the flour is incorporated. The dough should be wet and sticky to the touch, like firm oatmeal; otherwise, add a bit more water. But don't worry too much about the liquid-to-flour ratio, as this is a forgiving dough. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature to ferment for at least 12 hours and up to 18 hours.
• 2 The next day, finish the bread. Sprinkle a linen or cotton kitchen towel (not terry cloth) with cornmeal and generously flour your work surface. Using a bench scraper or a rubber spatula, scrape the stringy, bubbly dough onto the work surface. Using floured hands, fold it exactly 4 times, always toward the center - from the right and from the left, as well as from the top and the bottom. Turn the loaf upside down so the fold is at the bottom, and set it on the kitchen towel. Fold the towel over the loaf to cover, and let sit for about 1 hour.
• 3 After about 30 minutes, position a rack in the bottom third of the oven and preheat to 475°F. Place a 4 1/2- to 5 1/2-quart cast-iron pot or Dutch oven with its lid in the center of the rack. After about 1 hour, your loaf should have nicely risen. (When you press it with your finger about 1/4 inch deep, the dimple should remain; if not, wait 15 more minutes.) But again, don't worry too much - I have sometimes been less than precise and still succeeded.
• 4 Using thick pot holders, carefully remove the cast-iron pot from the oven and place it on a couple of folded kitchen towels (to avoid cracking); uncover. Unwrap the dough, sprinkle with a bit more cornmeal, and invert directly from the kitchen towel into the pot, seam side up (it might look a bit wiggly; that's normal). If the dough doesn't drop into the center, shake the pot once or twice (use caution, it is hot!).
• 5 Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until the loaf is nicely browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 200°F, 20 to 25 minutes. Using thick pot holders, remove the loaf from the cast-iron pot and transfer to a wire rack. If you can resist, allow to cool completely, about 3 hours, before cutting the loaf with a sharp serrated knife. And a sharp knife it must be - this is a German-style bread, after all.

GRAMMA GOOD'S FENNEL BREAD

Steps:

• In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in 1 cup of lukewarm water. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.
• In a large bowl, stir together the quart of warm water, salt, ginger, sugar, fennel, molasses, and melted butter. Mix in the yeast slurry and rye flour, breaking up any lumps of flour with a whisk. Stir in raisins. Work in the bread flour 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough becomes stiff.
• Then, turn it out onto a floured surface and knead in as much of the remaining flour as necessary to make a stiff but workable dough. Knead for an additional 10 minutes to develop the gluten. Place dough into a greased bowl, and turn to coat. Cover and let rise until double, about 1 hour. Punch down the dough and let it rise again until double.
• Remove dough from bowl, and divide into 4 equal pieces. press out air bubbles, and roll dough into loaves. Place the loaves into four 8x4 inch well greased loaf pans. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake the loaves for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the tops are nicely browned, and the loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.