A Gift of Anadama Bread

Maggie's Anadama bread.

When we got home from our trip around the Cabot Trail I had a message from a neighbor that she had baked Anadama bread and would be bringing us a loaf.  I had never heard of Anadama bread, but one of the nice things about the internet is that one can find out about almost anything,  I googled and found  this recipe  for the bread.  I'm not sure if this is the one that Maggie, our neighbor, uses.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 3 Tbsp butter (at room temperature)
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 package dry yeast
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour

Method

1 Place the cornmeal in a large bowl. Boil the two cups of water and pour the hot water into the cornmeal, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Let sit for 30 minutes.
2 Add the molasses, salt and butter and stir to combine. The cornmeal water should still be warm enough to melt the room temperature butter.
3 Put 1/2 cup of warm water (slightly warmer than body temperature) into a small bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let sit for a few minutes. Then stir it to gently combine. Let sit for another 5 minutes.
4 Add the yeast and the water to the bowl with the cornmeal and everything else, and mix to combine. Add the bread flour, a cup at a time, stirring after each addition. You will end up with something of a gloopy mess.
5 Butter a couple of 5x9 loaf pans. Spoon the dough mixture into the pans as best you can; it’ll be sticky. Cover with a tea towel and let rise for several hours, until it doubles in size.
6 Heat the oven to 350°F and bake the breads for 45-50 minutes, or until a skewer or knife blade comes out clean. Let the loaves cool for a few minutes, then turn them out onto racks to continue cooling.
Yield: Makes 2 loaves

The bread is very tasty and we enjoyed it with butter and black currant preserves..  

A slice of Anadama bread with butter and black currant preserves.

Thanks very much Maggie. It's great having a neighbor who bakes.