Soda bread with corn meal?

Max001

Hi

Been making soda farls/shapes for a while now and feel like a change.

Seem to recall a kind of corn meal based soda bread that I found in a N.Ireland bakery about twenty years ago.

Anyone heard of anything like this and have a simple recipe?

Cheers

Max

mw3guc

Max001 wrote: »

Hi

Been making soda farls/shapes for a while now and feel like a change.

Seem to recall a kind of corn meal based soda bread that I found in a N.Ireland bakery about twenty years ago.

Anyone heard of anything like this and have a simple recipe?

Cheers

Max

If it's the same thing I'm thinking about, I remember older people calling it 'Indian meal bread' and I made it a few years ago for a friend who remembered her mother making it when she was a child. I think it's a kind of gritty yellow maize flour (not sure of the exact name but I think it's still available in old fashioned grocery stores).
It was called Indian meal (AFAIK) because it was first imported/donated during the famine by American Indians and people didn't know what to do with it. It really needs to be mixed with ordinary flour on about a 1:3 ratio for a soda scone - that's what I did anyway. It has a reputation for ... how do I put it nicely ... clearing you out and I can well imagine why!
It's very tasty though - I must see if I can get the flour again.

Max001

Cheers. That might indeed be it. Definitely had a more fibrous texture as I recall. Must google the stuff you mentioned to see if I can find a stockist.
More fibre equals less colestorol I'm guessing, so its all good!

mw3guc

I've been looking online and I suspect that this maize flour is actually polenta flour - near as dammit to me. I'll have a scout around my local grocery store to see if I can find a maker for what I bought a few years ago.

mw3guc

I found the stuff in a local store - it's called Golden Drop and the ingredients are Maize Meal Grits. It's made by a company called Donegal Wholefoods and it was included on a shop stand with oatbran and things like flaxmeal etc.
I'm going to make the soda bread with it tomorrow

mw3guc

I couldn't wait to bake the bread, so here's the pictures of the finished loaf - it really will soon be finished!
I will post up the recipe if anyone wants it, but it's fairly basic stuff.

sakani

Hi mw3guc, Can you post the recipe.

I recently found out that Cornmeal is now called pollenta. its the same thing. I saw cornmeal at home (in the country) for a couple of euro, and now i noticed in Dublin that they are selling pollenta for twice the price and calling it pollenta... :eek:

mw3guc

This is my own recipe, tweaked to use the Golden Drop - I normally use buttermilk for soda bread but I had none this time and used Greek Yoghurt instead. I like my soda bread a wee bit sweet. so I add a little sugar substitute - I find xylitol good.

Indian Meal Soda Bread

350 gms Plain flour
190 gms Golden Drop
1 Teaspoon Bread soda
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Sugar or Xylitol (optional)
450 mls Buttermilk (or live Yoghurt)

Preheat the oven to 190F (fan oven) and put a baking sheet onto the middle shelf to heat.

Mix all dry ingredients, lifting the mixture up to aerate. Add the liquid and mix quickly in circles by hand in the bowl.
Turn out onto a floured worktop and form into a round – don’t knead as such, just shape. The dough is soft, but shouldn’t be sticky – adjust the liquid or add more flour to achieve this result.
Place the round cake onto the heated sheet and mark a cross on top. Bake for about 35 minutes until browned on top and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

wmpdd3

My gran used to make this, I've never heard anyone else say Indian Meal before apart from her. I'll be trying that bread tomorrow. By the way, whats golden drop?

Thanks mw3guc (mmm our screen names rhyme!)

mw3guc

wmpdd3 wrote: »

My gran used to make this, I've never heard anyone else say Indian Meal before apart from her. I'll be trying that bread tomorrow. By the way, whats golden drop?

Thanks mw3guc (mmm our screen names rhyme!)

Golden Drop is the name on the maize grits that I bought - I THINK it's the same as Polenta flour, but as an earlier poster said, it can be marketed as twice the price :eek: The one I bought is made/packaged in Donegal (see my earlier post)
As for the screen names rhyming, maybe yours has a meaning somewhat similar to mine
Good luck with the bread - I'm being pestered for more here now, so I'll be making it again today. It freezes well, so I might make a couple of loaves.

stick girl

I have found that you can usually fine maize/corn flour in asian (indian/Pakistani) shops. much cheaper there than in regular shops! is comes in different sizes. ie fine, medium and coarse. the medium and coarse are perfect for both polenta and bread making. if baking use with regular flour.

gubby

slightly off topic but I seen someone mention Xylitol above and have seen it on several recipies and have tried to get it without success. I was told I could get it in Tescos but could'nt find it there. Does anyone know where to get it or if it goes by another name???

mw3guc

The brand name is XyloBrit and it comes in a 250gm pouch. I get mine in Sainsbury's (NI) but I've seen it in health food shops here also. It's a good bit more expensive than sugar but it's supposed to be healthier. I frequently use a mixture of sweetners - Splenda, Stevia, Erythritol (from US) to get a synergistic effect but a lot of them are unpredictable in baking because sugar provides texture as well as taste.

Mellor

mw3guc wrote: »

I've been looking online and I suspect that this maize flour is actually polenta flour - near as dammit to me.

It's the same thing.
Polenta is the name of a popular dish made from cornmeal

Cornmeal, maize flour, indian flour, polenta flour etc is all the same flour made from corn (aka maize)

Cornflour is the strange exception.

Max001

mw3guc wrote: »

The brand name is XyloBrit and it comes in a 250gm pouch. I get mine in Sainsbury's (NI) but I've seen it in health food shops here also. It's a good bit more expensive than sugar but it's supposed to be healthier. I frequently use a mixture of sweetners - Splenda, Stevia, Erythritol (from US) to get a synergistic effect but a lot of them are unpredictable in baking because sugar provides texture as well as taste.

Sincere thanks for all your posts and pics. Heading up home to the north coast in a few weeks so I'll be stocking up in Sainsbury's it seems Looking forward to trying your recipe too!

mtee

thanks for recipe ..supervalu stocks the cornmeal as well.My gran always made indian scone for us as thats all we ever heard it called but we added 1 egg to the recipe but no measurements were ever needed as i have tried out what gran said was cup of this ...handfull of that... so thank you for this recipe as looks as near to grans

rider66

Those pictures made me hungry. I can't wait to try that recipe, it looks wonderful.