pane di segale ai fiori di timo e di erba cipollina / rye bread with thyme flowers and chive blossoms

For the current edition of Cook the Books, we are reading Sarah Addison Allen’s novel Garden Spells. Not unlike a book I discusseda few months ago (Blessed Are the Cheesemakers by Sarah-Kate Lynch), Garden Spells is a fairy tale, and like all good fairy tales, it is a satisfying reading.

My favorite character of the novel is the good fairy, a.k.a. Evanelle. She accepts herself the way she is and also accepts other people the way they are, without trying to change their attitudes, actions or beliefs. What she does is giving them "things they may need" and she does so in the open. There is no hidden meaning in her actions, because she has no idea what specific need the "thing" will answer.

From the garden of the title, Claire, one of the two sisters who are the protagonists of the novel, gets herbs and flowers. She uses them in the preparation of dishes for her catering business and of drinks and preserves. Some of this products are meant to influence the eater/drinker. In this, then, Claire is different from Evanelle.

I am not a gardener, but I have a small space where I conduct experiments with varying degrees of success. Small and irregularly tended as it is, my garden is always a place of magic, though not of spells.

I have a set of foxglow plants (digitale) that are taller than the house^₁, a dark pink sweet pea (pisello odoroso) that is blooming with enthusiasm, sprouting radishes and red Russian kale, leaf lettuce, various members of the allium family, red and purple poppies (papaveri), a number of other culinary herbs (erbe aromatiche)

and chocolate sunflowers (girasoli)

I have never really used flowers in my dishes and reading Garden Spells made me want to perform a small-scale test. As I mentioned in my most recent post, I am trying to become better at using rye flour (farina di segale), which I get as part of my share in a grain CSA. My first rye bread adventure, a few months ago, did not go well, but as I was perusing a recent King Arthur Flour catalog, a recipe caught my attention: Canapé Pumpernickel Bread. I halved the quantities and shaped the dough into a 13-inch baton. I really liked the result: the flavor is complex, the texture rich with whole grains but still smooth.

I thought that this rye bread would lend itself to be enriched with flowers, so I harvested and added the following to the dough: the flowers of three sprigs of my lemon thyme, two chive blossoms and a few flowers of winter savory (santoreggia).

Chive Blossom — ensures you will win an argument. Conveniently, also an antidote for hurt feelings.

flowering lemon thyme

I don't know if thyme flowers have any special power (the Waverley Kitchen Journal at the end of the novel does not include an entry for thyme), but I am officially in love with the bread I made. The flavor of thyme is there and a light hint of onion. I think that next time I will be a bit more daring and increase the quantities.

This is the list of ingredients I used to make the bread. I am reporting the "volume" version, but I actually looked at the "weight" version, converted ounces to grams, then halved the quantities and weighed the ingredients accordingly.

• 3/4 cup [80 g] whole-grain rye flour (see my previous post)
• 3/4 cup [90 g] all-purpose flour (I used King Arthur all-purpose flour)
• 1/2 cup [55 g] whole-wheat flour (I get this also as part of my CSA grain share)
• 1/2 cup [30 g] large flakes of rye bran that I sift off the stone-ground flour (see my previous post) [note that this is not the same as rye chops, but my approximation using an ingredient I have at hand]
  
• 1 tablespoon [14 g] gluten flour
• 1 teaspoons instant yeast
• 3/4 teaspoons sea salt
• 3/4 cup [175 ml] lukewarm water
• 1 1/2 [22.5 ml] tablespoons olive oil
• flowers from three springs of lemon thyme, two chive blossoms (florets separated) and a few flowers of winter savory

I followed the instructions as stated in the original recipe, except that I made one baton and let it rise on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I heated the oven to 375 F with an empty baking sheet inside and when the bread was ready to be baked, I sprinkled its surface with a bit of water, moved it with the parchment paper on the hot baking sheet and put it in the oven.

Slices of this rye bread are great served with spreads (like my roasted pepper and almond dip in the top photo) and cheese.

Back to Garden Spells, towards the end of the novel, there is a sentence that I really liked and I hope I won't forget:

When you're happy for yourself, it fills you. When you're happy for someone else, it pours over.

I think the same can be said about sadness. I spent a fair amount of time in my garden during the weekend, trying to focus on small tasks, as a reaction to the pouring over of sadness caused by reading news and watching images coming from Norway. As I mentioned in a previous post, I love Norway, I think that nature-wise it is the most beautiful country in Europe. Many times during my two visits, I felt like I was in a magical kingdom. It is difficult to grasp the reality of such an enchanted place being visited by unspeakable horror. I hope what happened will not change Norway. The country and its people are special and they will always have a special place in my heart.

¹ As Lori Lynn mentions in her comment, foxglove is poisonous. It is very common around here and reseeds itself. I keep it for two reasons: it's a beautiful plant and deer don't like it.

This is my contribution to the current edition of Cook the Books, hosted by Rachel of The Crispy Cook. You can find the guidelines for participating in the event here, and here is the announcement.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

I am also contributing this post to the July edition of Healing Foods, the event created and organized by Siri of Cooking with Siri and hosted this month by Simona of briciole (that would be me). I chose the theme of the month to be whole grains and whole-grain flours.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

pane di segale ai fiori di timo e di erba cipollina

or launch the pane di segale ai fiori di timo e di erba cipollina audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

rye flour, bread, thyme, chives

Comments

[Lori Lynn]

Hi Simona - YAY for edible flowers and homemade rye bread.
LL
P. S. Don't eat the foxglove.

[Eliot]

Very eloquent post. I love that you labeled Evanellle as the "Good Fairy." How apropos! Wonderful bread recipe. I love to bake so I can't wait to try it. I have never baked with rye flour. Thanks!

[Ale73]

Simo è squisito questo pane!!!! Che belle ricette ci proponi sempre :D
baciusssssss

[Rachel @ The Crispy Cook]

I appreciated your comments about Norway. I have never visited this lovely country, but I am heartsick about what its people must be going through.

Glad you enjoyed the book and love your fragrant bread recipe.

[Claudia]

Your post has encouraged me to brave the heat and actually do a bread baking in the summer. That rye bread! It sounds delicious.

[Danielle]

This was a beautiful post; especially because I, too, really identified with that quote towards the end of the novel. I found all of the characters compelling, but I also liked Evanelle the best. What an interesting trait to have; and how I would like it (sometimes)! I love your bread recipe, and can't wait to try it for myself.

[Maria]

I love it that someone else posted a bread recipe. Thyme is one of my favorite herbs and I bet this is very fragrant and delicious bread.

[Simona Carini]

Ciao Lori Lynn. Thanks for reminding me to clarify that foxglove is NOT in my garden for culinary uses.

Hi Eliot. I am taking my first steps in rye flour land and this recipe was a great find, so I recommend it.

Ciao Ale e grazie delle parole gentili :)

Ciao Rachel. Norway's beauty speaks to the heart. I did enjoy the book and had fun with the flowered bread.

Ciao Claudia. It's never hot here, so I bake year round. I don't know how I would feel if the temperature was high. However, I love homemade bread, so maybe I would bake at night.

Hi Danielle. I was very intrigued by Evanelle's gift and her attitude towards it. I also thought about what it would be to have such a gift.

Hi Maria. I will soon read about your bread :) I adore thyme and use it in many recipes. It's subtle yet memorable and so pleasant. Sometimes I step out to the garden just to smell it.

[Glennis - Can't Believe We Ate]

Congratulations on a lovely submission! I love the way this sounds, and will definitely try this! I don't have lemon thyme, but the regular thyme feels like it works well too! As for foxglove...I wish I could keep some growing here. I haven't figured out how to manage that yet...so beautiful! It's like nasturtiums...I have to work to have them!

[Alicia (Foodycat)]

This is a lovely bread! I hope Norway has some good herbs for soothing sorrow - it is so heartbreaking. You are lucky to have been there.

[Caffettiera]

This sounds like a very interesting book, I'll try tracking it down. I feel strongly about all you have written in this post, especially when you say your garden is a place of magic. I miss having one, and whenever I visit my parents I love to see how theirs is growing and changing. I also love that they planted seeds and even some plants from all the places they've visited me in the last years, and these plants are still growing even though I no longer live there.

I have never seen chocolate sunflowers, they look lovely, as does the recipe.

[Paz]

I love the flowers. Chocolate sunflowers? Wow! Wonderful post about this book.

[Deb in Hawaii]

Simona, I really love your entry. Your bread is perfect with that mix of herbs and herb blossoms--so unique and I want a piece with your red pepper spread. Great inspiration from the book.

[Simona Carini]

Hi Glennis. Nasturtiums are a bit of a weed around our house: I work to limit their spread. Foxgloves reseed themselves, and every year I find them in new places. This year they seem particularly tall. I am going to write about my poppies soon.

Thanks, Alicia. It will take time. I hope the country won't change because of this. It made me want to go back ever more strongly.

Ciao Caffettiera. Taking care of plants from the places you've visited together is a way of keeping the good memories of your time together present: it's very sweet. Growing up, we didn't have a garden, so for me having it a new experience. I can imagine if I had to give it up, I would miss it. Fortunately, community gardens are becoming more and more popular here (and in fact, that's what got me started). I wonder if they are also occurring in Europe. Those sunflowers were new to me as well. I planted also another variety, but they are a bit behind: we'll see what they look like when they bloom.

Ciao Paz. A chocolate lover like me had to have those sunflowers. I am really glad I yielded to the temptation.

Hi Deb. I love the red pepper spread and I recommend it: it has a nice flavor from the roasted peppers with just a hint of garlic and the crunch of almonds. I am planning to try adding blossoms to other breads I make to see what happens.