I seem to have a lot of recipes for Anadama bread. I had never even heard of it before starting this Mid Century blog journey.
Having never tried it, or heard of it, I put the recipes for the bread to the back burner.
A few weeks ago I was in Maine visiting family. For breakfast, they served Anadama toast. The bread was wonderful!
So now I knew I had to try one of my recipes.
What makes this bread different is the base. You start with making a cornmeal mush. Mush is fairly easy to make. Basically boiling the milk and cornmeal until it is thickened. Much like making grits.
After that, the bread goes m much like any other bread. Kneading until smooth and elastic. Which was a little different, but not much.
The dough feels a little gritty. This is due to the cornmeal.
The molasses gives the bread a lovely dark color. It looks a bit like a rye bread, but doesn’t have the same flavor profile.
All in all, a very lovely bread. It is a little on the dense or heavy side, but not too heavy.
ANADAMA BREAD
2 Cups Milk
1/2 Cup Yellow Cornmeal
2 Teaspoons Salt
1/2 Cup Molasses
3 Tablespoons Shortening
1/3 Cup Water
2 Packages yeast
5 Cups Sifted Flour
Combine milk, cornmeal and salt in a saucepan. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and cook 5 minutes. Add molasses and shortening. Blend. Cool to lukewarm. Sprinkle yeast over warm water. Add to cooled cornmeal mixture. Add 2 cups of flour and beat thoroughly. Add enough remaining flour to make a stiff dough. Turn onto a floured board. Let rest 10 minutes. Knead until smooth and elastic. Place in a well greased bowl, turning to coat. Cover and let rise 40 minutes. Turn onto a floured board and divide in half. Shape into two loaves. Place in greased loaf pans. Cover and allow to rise 40 minutes. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 50 minutes. Cool out of pans.
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