Brown is the new Black Bread—our take on a James Beard classic

Rye flour and caraway seeds create a craveable, sandwich-ready middle-European bread. Based on a classic recipe by James Beard. Recipe below.

JULIA CHILD CALLED JAMES BEARD “THE QUINTESSENTIAL AMERICAN COOK.” Beard was one of America’s modern culinary pioneers. He published his first cookbook in 1940; right after World War II, he hosted one of the first cooking shows, I Love to Eat; in 1955, he established The James Beard Cooking School, and, says the James Bead Foundation website, “He continued to teach cooking to men and women for the next thirty years, both at his own schools (in New York City and Seaside, Oregon), and around the country at women’s clubs, other cooking schools and civic groups. He was a tireless traveler, bringing his message of good food, honestly prepared with fresh, wholesome, American ingredients, to a country just becoming aware of its own culinary heritage.”

For me, the James Beard book I’ve always relied on the most is the one you see in this photo: Beard on Bread, first published in 1973 (yes, this tiny paperback, with tiny font, was purchased by me that year and, yes, amazingly, it continues to survive). My long-time favorites in it are the sweet potato rolls and George Lang’s potato bread. But recently, I’ve had a hankering for recipes using rye flour.

Beard’s Black Bread recipe is his version of the traditional middle-European loaf. It’s not black, or even dark brown—more of a medium tan. It is delicious, with that wonderful rye and caraway flavor I’ve been craving.

The original recipe makes two loaves—I just wanted one, to start, so my version here makes one. The recipe includes cocoa powder and instant coffee and a small amount of brown sugar. It is NOT sweet and it does not taste like cake. It tastes like a hearty, tasty, savory loaf. It makes nice, modest sized slices and is great with deli meats and cheeses. Because it makes a modest loaf, you need a modest-sized loaf pan. We like the Sur la Table Platinum Pro 4-1/2×8-1/2-inch loaf pan.

I 10/10 recommend this bread for the classic American lunch—tomato soup and a cheese sandwich.

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Black (Brown) Bread

Rye flour and caraway seeds create a craveable, sandwich-ready middle-European bread. Based on a classic recipe by James Beard.

Course Bread

Servings 1 loaf

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 tablespoons cornmeal
• 3 tablespoons cold water
• 3/8 cup boiling water
• 1-1/2 teaspoons olive oil (or melted butter—see Kitchen Notes)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds
• 1-1/2 teaspoons cocoa powder (see Kitchen Notes)
• 1-1/2 teaspoons instant coffee (see Kitchen Notes)
• 2-1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 cup rye flour (see Kitchen Notes)
• 1-1/2 cups unbleached white flour
• Optional: 1 egg white beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Instructions

• Put the cornmeal in a medium bowl and stir in the cold water; then add the boiling water and stir until everything is mixed together. Add in the olive oil, salt, brown sugar, caraway seeds, cocoa and instant coffee, and stir well.
• Add in the yeast, stir again; then add the flours. Stir well, then begin kneading. It will be sticky at first. Knead for three to four minutes, until everything is well mixed. Form into a ball and put in an oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, waxed paper or a damp towel and set in a warm place. Let it rise until double (2 to 3 hours).
• Press out the air bubbles and knead for two or three minutes. Press into a rectangle about 8-1/2x11, fold it over on itself in thirds to about a 4x8 loaf, and set in an oiled 4-1/2x8-1/2-inch loaf pan. Cover and let it rise until double, about 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 375ºF. Brush the top lightly with the beaten egg white and water mix, if using (this will crisp up the crust). Bake for 25 to 30 minutes (see Kitchen Notes). Tip bread out of the pan onto a wire rack and thump the bottom to check for doneness (it will sound hollow); then let it cool.

Kitchen Notes

Oil, or butter? Yes, you may use melted butter if you prefer, as in the original.

Instant coffee? We use Bustelo brand instant espresso, the same thing we use in our chili recipe.

Light or dark brown sugar? Either! I used dark because that is what we have.

Cocoa? We used Hershey’s—again, that’s what we have on hand. Don’t leave it out.

Where to get rye flour? You may be able to get rye flour locally, but in recent months I’ve had to order it online. Lately I’ve been getting it from Ann Arbor-based Zingerman’s, which does a thriving year-round mail-order business. Many of Zingerman's products ship at one collective flat rate, so scope out their other wonderful offerings, especially their delicious American-made cheeses (the Pleasant Ridge Reserve is out. of. this. world.) and their pantry items and baked goods. We expected our stuff to take a week or more to arrive and were flabbergasted when it turned up in less than 24 hours. Part of me still suspects that one guy looked at our order and said to another, “Hey, Mikey, you wanna drive to Chicago?”

Baking time? The original recipe called for baking this for 50 to 60 minutes. I am amazed by this. I’ve made this bread a few times and it has never, ever taken more than 25 to 30 minutes.

Liz’s Pottery Corner. Our friend Liz likes to know the provenance of the crockery we feature in our photos. We found this little platter maybe eight years ago, in a rambling antique shop somewhere in the countryside around Rochester, New York. It’s in the Ayr pattern, manufactured by Brownfield’s, Staffordshire, England—I believe in the early 1890s.