“[Dill-Seed Bread] has a nice crumb, lightness, a delicious ‘nose,’ and a very pleasant ‘dilly’ flavor. I prefer using 2 teaspoons of dill weed to the dill seed…”
-James Beard, Beard on Bread
Yesterday I made my last Batter Bread, Dill-Seed Bread. Since I followed Beard’s suggestion of using fresh dill weed, it should really be called “Dill-Weed Bread.”
Here are the ingredients:
Although it’s in the “Batter Bread” chapter, Dill-Seed Bread is not really a batter bread since you have to knead it before shaping it into a loaf. The cottage cheese makes for a very lumpy, wet dough–I had a hard time shaping it into a decent looking loaf.
After one hour-long rise, the loaf was ready for the oven.
I checked on the loaf after 20 minutes at 375 degrees. It was a dark brown color, and the top and bottom sounded hollow when thumped. However, as I sliced the bread I discovered a doughy streak running down the middle. I put the semi-sliced loaf in the oven for an additional 7 minutes to make sure it was baked all the way through.
Dill-Seed Bread was a disappointment for me. The cottage cheese gives the bread a strange and unappealing heavy, damp texture, and I discovered that I really don’t like chopped onion in my bread. Luckily, Mike thinks Dill-Seed Bread is tasty and is using it to make corned-beef sandwiches. There are so many little ways in which he’s the perfect husband for me.