Pure Cornmeal Bread

Long time ago, corn bread was made with 100% cornmeal, without adding any other flour. 

I remember my auntie ( my mother's older sister who took care of me while my parents worked) making it regularly. It was dense, but very sweet. For that kind of bread she would always have special flour - one that is made from non-GM corn (extra sweet) and that has been stone grounded in a water mill.

This is how corn bread would be made then-

Ingredients:

3 cups stone grounded cornmeal (sweet, non-GM)

1 tsp salt

5 cups (+,-) boiling  water

oil for pan (heavy bottomed)

Method:

Mix cornmeal and salt, pour boiling water over it and mix with a wooden spoon. Let it cool so you can handle it, then knead a couple of minutes. Place onto oiled baking dish. Wet your hands and smooth the top and around the edges, making thin (2-3 cm ) circle. Cover with a clean cloth and let it rest for 1 hour +. Preheat oven to 200*C. Place in oven and bake for 10 minutes, lower temperature to 170*C and bake for another 45-50 minutes. It should be golden in color, with a lot of crinkles on top. Enjoy warm or cold.

Proha / Proja / Kukuruzni kruh

Izgleda da niko vise ne pece pravu proju (kukuruzi kruh)!

Sjecam se moje tetke (mamina starija sestra koja me je cuvala dok su moji roditelji bili na poslu) kako je redovno pekla prohu, koja je bila poprilicno tvrda, ali nevjerovatno slatka i ukusna. Za tu priliku se nabavljalo specijalno brasno, koje je moralo biti od kukuruza 'secerca' (ne-hibridni kukuruz), samljeveno u 'vodenici' (tj kamenom, u mlinu pokretanom strujom vode).

Ovako se tada pravila prava proha-

Potrebno:

3 mjere brasna (npr veca solja)

1 k soli

5 (+,-) mjera kljucale vode

ulje za tepsiju (sa tezim dnom)

Nacin:

Pomijesajte kukuruzno brasno i so, zalijte sa kljucalom vodom i mijesajte drvenom kasikom, dok se masa ne sjedini. Malo prohladite, zatim rukama mijesite par minuta. Postavite na nauljenu tepsiju, te skvasenim rukama oblikujte (tanki 2-3 cm) krug; zagladite povrsinu. Pokrijte cistom krpom i ostavite 1 sat + da odstoji.

Zagrijte rernu na 200*C te ubacite prohu unutra. Pecite 10 minuta, zatim smanjite temperaturu na 170*C i pecite dodatnih 45-50 minuta. Treba da dobijete zlatno-zutu boju sa ispucalom povrsinom. Uzivajte toplo ili hladno.