Nothing is more sublime than the taste of the first fresh corn of the season, steaming hot, slathered with butter, and lightly salted. Award-winning cookbook author Olwen Woodier explains how to best enjoy fresh corn, as well as how to freeze or preserve that farm-fresh taste so that corn lovers can add the nutritious goodness of corn and cornmeal
When I’m not in a hurry, I make this in a 2 1/2-quart casserole dish for the effect of
serving a large round loaf. Baked that way, it takes 1 hour in the oven. This bread slices nicely even when warm.
Yield: 2 loaves
1 cup cornmeal
3/4 cup mashed potatoes (don’t use leftover mashed potatoes containing milk or other liquid)
1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 packages (2 tablespoons) active dry yeast
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 cups warm water (100–115°F); use potato
water, if desired
1 egg, beaten (optional)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Preheat the oven to 375F and grease two loaf pans.
Place the cornmeal, potatoes, oil, honey, yeast, basil, and oregano in a large mixing bowl.
Add the water and beat for 1 minute.
Stir in the egg, if desired, and 1 1/2 cups of the flour. Beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes or by hand for 4 minutes.
Beat in the remaining flour by hand for 2 minutes. If the batter feels stiff, add another
tablespoon of oil.
Using a wet or oil-coated spoon, distribute the batter between the two loaf pans, cover them with a clean towel, set in a warm place, and let rise for 20 minutes.
Bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Fully baked loaves will sound hollow when rapped with the knuckles.
Remove the bread from the pans and let the loaves cool on a wire rack.
