Recipe of the Week
Nana V’s holiday corn bread
Courtesy of
Richard Blunt
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Ingredients
8 oz. (raw weight) good quality smoked bacon
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
2 cloves fresh garlic (chopped fine)
1 tsp. salt free butter
1 cup skim milk
2 pkg. dry yeast (not the rapid rise type)
1 Tbsp. honey
6 Tbsp. salt free butter
2 medium eggs (slightly beaten)
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 Tbsp. maple syrup (real or artificially flavored)
3-3/4 cups bread flour
1-3/4 cups yellow corn meal
2 tsp. kosher salt
a little reserved buttermilk
a few teaspoons of corn meal
Method
Lay bacon slices on a cookie sheet and cook in 375° oven until crisp. Drain on paper towels. When cool, chop into bits and combine with shredded cheddar cheese.
Sauté the garlic in 1 tsp. butter over medium heat for about 60 seconds, cool and add to the cheese and bacon.
Heat skim milk over medium heat to 115° and blend with yeast and honey. Set aside for 5 minutes to proof.
Melt the remaining 6 Tbsp. of butter over low heat and blend with eggs, buttermilk, and maple syrup. Add yeast mixture and cheese mixture and stir lightly. In a large bowl combine mixture with flour, corn meal, and salt and blend with a wooden spoon. The batter will be rather stiff when mixed.
Divide dough into 2 medium 8 x 4 inch loaf pans, cover and let rise until dough is almost doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 375°. Brush tops of loaves with a little buttermilk and spinkle them with a few teaspoons of corn meal. Bake for about 40 minutes. When tops are medium-brown and a thin bladed knife inserted into a loaf comes out clean and dry, remove the loaves from the oven. Remove loaves from pans and cool.
