There are a number of legends about how Anadama bread got its name. The most popular story is about a New England fisherman who grew tired of eating the cornmeal and molasses mush made by his wife, Anna. One evening, after a long day of fishing, he came home and, in a fit of anger, went into the kitchen to make something different to eat. He baked a loaf of bread using the ingredients he could find in the kitchen and, while eating his bread, he could be heard mumbling, “Anna, damn her.”
Prep Time: 3 hours
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 2-1/4 tsp active dry yeast
- 3/4 cup boiling water
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 3-1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
Preparation:
- In small bowl, add 1/4 cup warm water and yeast. Stir until the yeast is dissolved and set aside.
- In small saucepan, bring 3/4 cup water to a boil.
- In large bowl, pour in boiling water. Add butter, cornmeal, molasses, sugar, and salt. Mix until the butter is complete melted. Allow to cool until warm. Mix in yeast solution.
- Begin mixing in flour, one cup at a time, until the dough is too thick to mix. Turn out on floured board and knead the dough, adding flour as necessary, until the dough is smooth, not sticky.
- Put dough in buttered bowl and turn so that the topside of the dough is buttered. Cover and let rise until double in size, about an hour.
- Punch down dough. Turn out on floured board and knead dough for about 3 minutes. Roll dough into a large rectangle and roll it up to form a bread loaf. Pinch seams and tuck under ends.
- Preheat oven 375 degrees F. Butter one bread pan. Sprinkle a thin layer of cornmeal on the pan and place loaf in pan. Cover and let rise until double in size or for about 30 minutes.
- To make the bread top shiny, beat 1 egg white in a dish. Brush egg white onto top of bread. Using a sharp knife, make two or three slashes across the top of the loaf to prevent the crust from cracking.
- Bake bread at 375 degrees F for about 45 minutes or until the bread is a lovely dark brown. Remove bread from pan and let cool on a rack or dishtowel.
