While there are undoubtedly some great go-withs for steamed brown bread, most of us connect this treat to that traditional American East Coast Saturday night supper, baked beans and steamed bread. Coddy cakes figure in there sometimes, too, especially in the Canadian Maritimes.
Whichever or whatever you choose as the mainstay for such a meal, before you rush out to the kitchen to build today’s bread, be very sure you have the proper clean, empty cans or tins, as suggested in the following recipe, to hold the dough. Otherwise, you’re snagged and snarled up before you can even begin.
That said, Stanwood steamed bread specialist Alice Moe says, “This is a fun recipe for me, and I now hope others will enjoy it. It’s easy, too.
“I’m 88 years old now, and my memories are of having this bread with home-baked brown beans on lots of Saturday nights for supper. As a child, I lived with my grandmother and she was from Maine. Evidently, this was a custom in Maine and Bangor.
“I live mostly by myself now, and read your column faithfully. I love to try out recipes, and have little trouble being bored. I am rather disabled, but find many things to do — reading, quilting, cooking, writing cards. Being hard of hearing, I don’t watch TV — reading is much more relaxing.
“I pride myself on keeping quite busy, so I am tired of so many of my acquaintances doing almost nothing.
“Do you remember when the wagon train came through Silvana? I sent you a recipe for wagon train biscuits, which you printed. I was in charge of feeding all the folks down by the Stillaguamish River. Memories!’’
If we whip up some of this bread, maybe we can start a string of our own memories:
Alice Moe’s steamed brown bread
2 cups buttermilk or sour milk (see note)
3/4 cup molasses
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins (optional)
Boiling water for steaming
First, grease 3 tins well. The tins can be 1-pound coffee cans (if you have some old cans — new coffee cans are 12-ounce size), large baked bean cans or 28-ounce tomato or vegetable cans. I would use four cans, if using the tomato or vegetable cans, as the dough does rise considerably. Grease the cans heavily, so the bread will be easy to get out.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the buttermilk or sour milk and molasses. Stir in the flours, cornmeal, baking soda and salt, mixing well by hand, scraping sides of bowl often, until ingredients are thoroughly combined, about a minute. Stir in raisins, if desired.
Pour dough into the heavily greased cans, filling 2/3 full or less. (Remember, the dough rises considerably.)
Place filled cans on a rack in a large canning kettle, filled with boiling water up to the rack (water should be boiling when tins are added). Cover kettle with lid and adjust heat so the water keeps boiling. (Alice adjusts the heat so she can see a little steam coming from the lid.) Steam the bread for 3 hours.
When steaming process is complete, lift the tins out of the canner, remove the foil, invert and let cool some. Use a knife to cut around the top edge — the loaves should drop out easily. Slice and serve warm, spread with plenty of butter.
Note: To make sour milk instead of using buttermilk, Alice says she just adds 2 teaspoons of cider vinegar to fresh whole milk and lets it sit for a while.
The next Forum will appear in Friday’s Time Out section.
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