1 c Milk
1 c Water
1 c Corn meal, preferably yellow
-and stone-ground
3 tb Sweet butter
1/2 c Molasses
1/2 c Warm water
2 tb Dry yeast
1/2 ts Sugar or honey
2 ts Salt
5 1/2 c Unbleached white flour
-(approx)
1 c Gold raisins
Makes 2 loaves.
IN a good-sized saucepan bring the milk and 1 cup
water to a boil. Turn off the heat and sprinkle in the
corn meal, stirring energetically with a wire whisk or
fork. Add the butter and molasses and stir until
evenly mixed. Cool to lukewarm.
In a large mixing bowl dissolve the yeast in the
half-cup warm water with the sugar or honey. When
bubbly, add cornmeal mixture, salt, and 2 1/2 cups of
the flour. It should be thick but still beatable.
Beat 5 minutes with an electric mixer.
Stir in the raisins. Gradually add 2/12 to 3 cups
more flour, beating with a large spoon until the
battter is too stiff to continue beating and holds
together in a mass in the center of the bowl.
Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let it sit until
the dough has risen to twice its original volume.
Stir down with the spoon. If you wish, let it rise a
second time. Stir down. Divide the dough between two
buttered large loaf pans. Be sure you get equal
amounts in each pan. Squish it into the corners with
your fingers. Press to smooth the tops a bit; don't
worry if they look like a lava flow.
Cover the pans with a towel and let rise until batter
reaches the tops of the pans. Preheat oven to 350F.
Bake 40 - 45 minutes, until the loaves are brown but
don't quite have a hollow sound when tapped on the
bottoms. Remove them from the pans and put directly on
the oven rack. Bake another 5 minutes to crisp the
crust.
Cool on a rack.
The Garden Way Bread Book From the collection of Jim
Vorheis
