A Favorite Sourdough Rye and Some Flatbreads with Ramps and Peas

Peter Reinhart is an award winning baker, author, and instructor. He is also one of the nicest and most supportive baker/author/instructors I've ever met. Reinhart is native of New York City, so when he set out to make authentic New York Deli Rye he recalled from his youth, he knew what he was looking for. The key ingredient, as laid out in The Bread Baker's Apprentice, are a pair of onions, cooked in oil until they just begin to turn translucent.

The onions are mixed with sourdough starter and left to infuse for about a day before the full dough is assembled, kneaded, and baked.

After the final bake, the onion shards have largely disappeared -- you can see a few darkened specks in the crust -- but they leave behind a subtle, pervasive aroma and characteristic flavor that will send you immediately to the store for corned beef, pastrami, and some grainy mustard. Don't forget a sour pickle.

During the day I was letting the onions and rye sourdough culture do their thing, I kickstarted my white sourdough starter so I could make flatbreads for dinner. I diced stalks of wild ramps and put them into the dough and shaped eight small rounds for a final rise.

I patted the rounds flat and fried them with peas arriving at a flatbread whose combination of warm, oily exterior, garlicky interior and pulse topping would have satisfied in any Indian restaurant.