Monday, February 21, 2011

Anadama....damn her!

 
 So I have been doing a little research about this bread and the story I grew up with is pretty darn close to most of the stories I have been finding out there. The story goes that in Maine(or Massachusetts, depending on where you live and what the local lore says), there was a fisherman who came back from a hard day's work only to find that his wife had not prepared his meal. So he exclaimed, "Anna, damn her!". Being left to fend for himself, he put together some molasses and cornmeal on hand and baked it, coming up with the basis of the recipe we now call Anadama Bread. This bread is slightly sweet, and makes fabulous toast! I have some friends returning from a long trip and I thought a loaf of this would make a perfect welcome home gift. It really takes very little time to mix up. You just "knead" to be around for a few hours for the overall process. :)

Anadama Bread
2 cups boiling water 
1/2 cup cornmeal (I use stoneground) 
1/2 cup molasses 
2 Tablespoons oil
1 Tablespoon salt
2 packages dry yeast
7-8 cups of flour (you can use all bread flour or all-purpose flour, but I typically use at least half white wheat or whole wheat flour)

In a large bowl, combine corn meal and molasses with two cups of boiling water. Add the next three ingredients and cool to lukewarm.

Sprinkle yeast into 1/4 cup warm water, and let stand until dissolved. Stir into cornmeal mixture.

Add flour to make a stiff dough and knead until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl and cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk. Punch down, divide into two and place in greased loaf pans. Let rise ~30 more minutes and bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 10 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 375 degrees. Bake ~20-30 minutes longer or until loaf sounds hollow when you tap it on the bottom.

Remove from oven, rub butter over the top of each loaf. Slice and enjoy!

yours in baking-
p


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