VEGETARIAN FOOD BLOG: COCONUT CORN BREAD

 If you don't already own a loaf tin I suggest you go forth and purchase. (Get a silicon one if you can as mine keeps sticking.)

You are about to experience a bit of a loaf/bread frenzy. Now when I say 'bread' I'm not talking kneading and rising. I'm not even necessarily talking savory. But don't worry, I won't be disguising cake as bread, and suggesting you eat it for breakfast.

Australians will be familiar with this trick - the ubiquitous banana bread served at every cafe. When I first moved to Sydney I actually fell for it, trusting this 'bread' was somehow an acceptable thing to eat for breakfast. But turns out to be banana cake sliced like bread, served toasted with butter. Imagine the looks if I were to eat chocolate cake, toasted and buttered, with my morning (decaf) coffee.

The loafs/breads you will find on these pages may have a little maple syrup (just a wee bit) but primarily they will be designed to eat with soup, stews and salads.

As you likely know by now, I am obsessed with a couple of North American cook books that I am still working my way through. Both have whole chapters devoted to breads of the loaf variety, often featuring ingredients hard to source outside of the US, so we will be doing a bit of adapting.

First off the rank is this yummy Coconut Corn Bread, which teamed perfectly with a tasty and easy pumpkin black bean soup. Stay tuned for the soup recipe later this week.

It was delicious eaten straight out of the oven with a little butter, but the next day, and the day after, it went well toasted with fresh ricotta and honey.

I have adapted this from Three Bowls: Vegetarian Recipes from an American Zen Buddhist Monastery by Seppo Ed Farrey and Myochi Nancy O'Hara.

RECIPE: COCONUT CORN BREAD

Dry Ingredients:

1 cup polenta

3/4 cup cornmeal (if you can't get it use half polenta/half regular flour)

3/4 cup wholemeal flour

3/4 cup shredded coconut, toasted in a dry fry pan over medium heat until just browning

2 teaspoons baking soda (if you only have baking powder just use an extra teaspoon)

1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups unsweetened yoghurt

2 large eggs

1/4 cup milk

3 tablespoons of maple syrup (you could use golden syrup if no maple)

2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to medium hot. Line loaf tin or grease VERY well - unless you have a silicon one. 

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, mixing well.

Whisk the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. 

Add wet ingredients to the dry but mix carefully and swiftly - as few strokes as possible to avoid a tough bread.

Pour batter immediately into prepared tin and spread evenly with spatula. Bake for about 50 minutes or until browned and a skewer/toothpick/knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Turn out onto wire rack and cool for few minutes before slicing and eating.

Stay tuned for and Pumpkin Black Bean Soup instructions