The hard loaf of Dwarven folk in the books by Sir Terry Pratchett were notoriously sturdy. This version is quite edible though. Adapted from “Nevarsin Monastery Bread” from the Darkover Cookbook, recipe credited to Jon de Cles. Minor tweaks by Susan Fox.

Into one cup of warm water, add one packet or 1 Tablespoon yeast, one-half-cup honey, one-half-cup oil.  Add one cup rye flour and set aside; or forget about it overnight.  When it is puffy and smells peculiar, add 1 teaspoon salt and enough rye flour to make a soft dough, and set to rise; when risen, shape into a round loaf (or put into a greased pottery or stoneware bowl) and bake in a medium oven until done. 

This did not do particularly well in a bread machine, I confess to report. Go manual with it, you won’t regret it.