March 02, 2000

Blackbread Recipe

by Linda DeLaine

Makes two large round loaves; about 30 servings

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups water	2 pkgs. dry yeast	1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup white vinegar	1/4 cup blackstrap molasses	1 oz. unsweetened chocolate
2 tsp. salt	1 tblsp fennel seeds	4 1/4 cups flour
5 cups rye flour		3/4 cups dates

Preparation

1. Place 1/2 cup warm water in large warm bowl. Sprinkle in yeast; stir until dissolved. Add remaining water, butter, vinegar, molasses, melted chocolate, salt and fennel seeds. Note; many like to add 2 tsp. instant coffee granules, too.

Slowly stir in 3 cups of flour; blend well. Stir in rye flour and make a soft dough.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Cover with damp, clean dish towel and let rest for 15 minutes. Knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 10 to 15 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

2. Punch dough down. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead in chopped dates. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a ball. Place each ball in a greased 8-inch round cake pan or on large greased baking sheet. Cover; let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Bake loaves for 45 minutes or until done. Remove from pans; let cool on wire racks.

Tags: russian cuisine blackbread recipe

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On This Day

Notable events on this day in Russian history

2001: Presidents Vladimir V. Putin and George W. Bush met face to face for the first time in Slovenia.

1992: U.S. President George H.W. Bush welcomed Russian President Boris Yeltsin to a summit meeting in Washington where they agreed in principle to slash strategic weapons arsenals by about two-thirds by 2003.

1983: Yuri Andropov elected chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, a position equivalent to president.

1977: Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev was named president, becoming the first person to hold both posts simultaneously.

1963: Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to travel in space. (Vostok 6).

1961: Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev requested asylum in Paris while on tour there with the Kirov ballet.

1955: Anatoly Chubais, politician, born

1940: Soviet troops invade Estonia.

1873: Antonina Nezhdanova, singer, born (died 1950).

1871: Sergei Bulgakov, philosopher, born (died 1944)

1671: Stenka Razin executed in Moscow

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