Jane:
I struggled for years to learn how to make a nice tasty rye bread,
mostly without success.
My first step in the right direction was to notice that King Arthur
sells several different "rye flavor enhancer" products on their web
site. Using one or more of them in a bread with some rye flour (and
some caramel coloring if you want it dark) can give what some would
find to be a satisfactory "rye" bread. (some recipes even use such an
enhancer with NO rye flour!
Then I ran into a recipe on this list for "Jewish Corn Bread", which
is in fact a sourdough rye bread that I've been making ever since.
This is a lovely, pungent loaf of dark bread (with no coloring added)
that everyone I've served it to (except for those weird people who
don't like caraway :) have found very satisfying.
Now, using a flavor enhancer is easy. Using the sour rye recipe is
not dififcult but it is considerably more complicated than just
dumping in some rye and some caraway and some flavor enhancer. But
that easy way may be a good way to get started and see if you find it
to be satisfactory to your taste buds.
The recipe I mention has been posted to the list several times, some
by me and at least once by the original poster. I can provide it
again if you want to see it but can't find it in the archives.
Fred Smith -- fredex@fcshome.stoneham.ma.us
"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any
double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit,
joints and marrow it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."
Hebrews 4:12 (niv)