Whole Wheat-Honey Anadama Bread

On vacation at the cottage for a week, I’ve decided to focus on learning bread making.

My most recent attempt was a loaf of Cuban Bread, which turned out rather fine if you ask me. So, I am sticking with my 1961 edition of Craig Claiborne’s New York Times Cookbook, which I found here in the cottage when we bought it, and where I found this recipe for Anadama Bread.

Anadama Bread is a traditional new England bread made with cornmeal and molasses, thought to have originated in Rockport, Massachusetts. There are several amusing stories as to how this bread got its name, all involving a farmer and his wife Anna, and the words “Anna, damn her!”.

Claiborne’s recipe calls for a mixture of whole wheat and regular flour, unlike most other Anadama bread recipes I’ve since found, which use bread flour. Not having molasses (and not liking it much either) I made mine using honey. Not having cornmeal, I used polenta, which, as Alton Brown so humorously tells us, is essentially the same thing.

The results was a dense, sweet, chewy, moist bread that everyone loved. We used it for Monte Cristos for tonight’s dinner, and I expect it will make some fine toast tomorrow morning.

I was a bit disappointed with my bread’s rise. This was possibly because the day was cool here in the mountains (as opposed to NYC, where it topped the high 90’s), even in the sun, which is where I rose my bread.  Not having a gas range with a pilot, it’s hard to find a warm place to raise bread here, unless I light a fire and place it nearby. I should have done what I did last time I made bread up here, which was to rise it on the dashboard of the car in the sun. (If anyone has any other suggestions for me in this area, they would be much appreciated.) I also may have added too much flour, making the dough heavier than it needed to be.I notice that other recipes use 2 envelopes of yeast, which may be the simple answer given the use of whole wheat flour.

Anadama Bread (adapted from NY Times Cookbook 1961)

1/2 cup corneal
1 cup cold water
1 package yeast
1 1/2 cups boiling water
3 tbsp butter
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp kosher salt
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 1/2 – 3 cups sifted white flour

Mix the corneal with 3/4 cup cold water. Soften the yeast in another small bowel with 1/4 cup cold water.

Add corneal to boiling water on the stove top and stir over low heat until it boils. (This will take at least 10 minutes – you are making grits, after all…) Add the butter, honey and salt and cool to lukewarm.

Combine yeast and corneal mixture and mix. Add whole wheat flour and enough white flour to give a fairly firm, non-stick dough. Turn out onto a floured board and knead until smooth and elastic.

Turn the dough into a greased bowl, grease the surface, cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place (80-85 degrees) until doubled in bulk.

Knead lightly again and shape into two loaves. Place in greased loaf pans. Brush with oil. Cover and let rise until double in bulk.

Bake in preheated oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 375 degrees and bake another 35 minutes longer.

_________________________________

More Anadama Bread Recipes

• The NY Times recipe adds nutmeg
• Donalyn tells us her recipe has 2 WW points per slice. She does not cook the corneal first, justs adds it to her dry ingredients. Gorgeous photos!
• Epicurious has a quick whole wheat version made with buttermilk
• James gets a gorgeous rise with his version
• Simply Recipes has a lovely loaf – and the nostalgic comments are a fun read.
• Jude makes Peter Reinhart’s recipe – takes two days. I thought my version took a long time!
• Pinch My Salt has some gorgeous shots of Reinhart’s method.
• The Spice Garden tops her Anadama bread with oats and flaxseeds
• GirliChef makes Anadama Rolls