1 1/2 tb Active dry yeast
1/2 c  Warm water
2 c  Dark beer, at room temp
2 tb Molasses or caramel
2 tb Lard or vegetable fat,
-melted
2 tb Crushed caraway seeds
1 tb Salt
3 c  Rye flour
2 1/2 c  To 3 cups white flour,
-preferably unbleached

Makes 2 round loaves
In a large bowl dissolve the yeast in the warm water.
Stir in the beer, molasses, lard, caraway seeds, salt,
rye flour, and enough white flour until the dough
becomes difficult to stir. Turn the dough out onto a
floured working surface and let rest while you clean
out and grease your bowl. Knead the dough, adding
more white flour as necessary; it will be very tacky,
but up to 3 cups of white flour in all and about 8-10
minutes of kneading should be enough. Return the dough
to the greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let
rise until double in volume – about 2 hours. Turn the
dough out, punch it down, and form into 2 rounds.
Place far apart on a greased baking sheet sprinkled
with corn meal. Let rise covered with a towel until
double – about 45 minutes. If you have tiles or a
baking stone, heat the oven well ahead to 375 F to
warm them, and to get a good crust use a device to
create steam. If you dont want to bother with a
steaming device, brush the loaves with cold water
before they go in the oven and again two or three
times during the first 10 minutes. If you have tiles
or a baking stone, slip the loaves directly onto the
hot surface; otherwise simply bake the loaves on the
baking sheet. After 10 minutes reduce the heat to 350
F and bake another 40 minutes. Cool on racks.