Mexican Street Corn Skillet Bread - National Festival of Breads

     This recipe is so quick and easy I've made it twice since the NFOB last month! Not surprising that Michele Kusma of Ohio won the time-saving category with this entry. It is another bread with corn as an ingredient, thank you to the Kansas Corn Growers for their sponsorship to the contest. This bread made a wonderful side for the taco casserole that I served last night.
     Michele said she'd heard such good things about the National Festival of Breads that she made a goal of perfecting her bread skills and she certainly did. She entered 13 recipes with hope of making it to the contest. I'd like to see her others!
     This recipe uses Cotija cheese, a Mexican dry grating cheese similar to Parmesan. I couldn't find Cotija in our local store, or even where I looked in the larger stores around. A substitute is soft Feta cheese or aged Parmesan or Romano cheese. I've made it with Feta and that works well.
    Another thing to remember with these delicious moist breads is that they will mold if left out too many days. Keeping bread in the refrigerator will make it taste a bit stale, but is preferable to moldy bread! I keep these homemake breads in the refrigerator then freshen and heat them in the microwave for a very short time before serving.

Michelle's baking at the NFOB

MEXICAN STREET CORN SKILLET BREAD

Dough Ingredients:

1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

1 (¼ oz) package Red Star Quick-Rise yeast

1 cup warm water (110°-115°F)

3 cups King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 cup finely crumbled Cotja cheese, divided

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

Garnish:

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro and/or parsley

½ fresh lime

Directions:

1.     Preheat a 10” cast-iron skillet over medium heat; cook corn kernels 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly, until kernels are lightly charred. Remove corn from skillet, let cool. Wipe skillet clean and set aside.

2.     In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle, combine yeast, warm water, flour, salt, chili powder, garlic powder, and 1½ tablespoons olive oil. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes.

3.     Stir in the corn and ½ cup cheese; mix on medium-low speed until corn kernels and cheese are evenly distributed, about 2 minutes.

4.     Brush bottom and side of skillet with 1½ tablespoons olive oil. Place the dough in the skillet and turn the dough to coat it with the oil. Evenly stretch and press the dough in the bottom of the skillet. Cover with plastic wrap, let rise about 1 hour or until slightly puffy.

5.     Preheat oven to 375°F. With your fingers, gently press dimples all over the dough, about 1” apart. Brush the top of the dough with mayonnaise. Sprinkle remaining ½ cup cheese over the top. Bake 30 minutes, or until deep golden brown. If the top browns too quickly, tent with foil.

6.     Garnish with cilantro or parsley; drizzle with lime juice. Cut into wedges and serve warm.

12 servings/1 loaf

ready to rise

Baked, ready to eat! 

Seeded Corn and Onion Bubble Loaf - National Festival of Breads

     "And the winner is...." After a full day of baking, tasting, hearing baking presentations, viewing exhibits, and other activities that made the National Festival of Breads a spectacular event, it was time to announce the winner at the awards dinner. We all held our breath, which would be the winning entry? They all seemed exceptionally good this year. When the bread box was opened, it was Ronna Farley's Seeded Corn and Onion Bubble Loaf.

     Ronna was a second time finalist at the contest. Her entry then was Crunchy-Topped Coconut Almond Bread. Ronna is from Rockville, Maryland and besides baking, she also works as a cashier at a grocery store. Here she gets inspiration for recipes by seeing what people are buying and thinking of how to include it in her baking. Her family's love of corn pudding sparked the idea for this recipe.(http://nationalfestivalofbreads.com/recipes/crunchy-topped-coconut-almond-bread).

    The Kansas Corn Commission was a new sponsor for the National Festival of Breads this year and several recipes rose to that challenge with a corn ingredient in their entry. I've made the 3 recipes of the contest which include corn and it adds a good flavor and texture to the breads.
 

SEEDED CORN AND ONION BUBBLE LOAF  (25 servings)   

Ronna's just baked entry

Ingredients:

¼ cup milk    

1 (1 ¼ oz) package Red Star Platinum Superior Baking yeast

½ cup unsalted butter

¾ cup finely diced yellow onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup cream0style sweet corn

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3 large eggs, divided

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, divided

1 tablespoon black sesame seeds, divided

2 cups King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour, plus extra for kneading

2 cups King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour

¾ cup frozen sweet corn kernels, thawed

1 tablespoon water

Directions:

1.     Heat milk until it reaches 110°-115° F. Stir in yeast and wait 5-10 minutes for mixture to foam (proof).

2.     Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir 2 minutes.

3.     In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle, combine skillet mixture, cream-style sweet corn, sugar, 2 eggs, salt, black pepper, 2 teaspoons sesame seeds, and 2 teaspoons black sesame seeds. Exchange paddle for dough hook. Stir in white whole wheat flour, bread flour, and yeast mixture, mix on low speed to blend ingredients.

4.     Knead dough until smooth and elastic, 8 minutes. If needed, add in additional white whole wheat flour, if dough is very sticky. Stir in thawed corn; mix on low speed 1-2 mintus or until incorporated in dough.

5.     Place dough in greased bowl. Cover; let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Generously grease a 12-cup (10-inch) Bundt pan.

6.     Deflate dough. Cut into 25 even pieces. Using lightly floured hands, shape dough into uniform rolls, layer in pan rounded sides up. Cover, let rise until doubled, 40-50 minutes.

My dough balls weren't as even. Ronna scaled (weighed)
each of hers to be sure they were the same size. 

7.     Near the end of the rise, preheat oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, beat remaining egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush on dough, sprinkle with remaining seeds.

8.     Bake 40-50 minutes or until golden brown. Tent the bread with foil after 25 minutes. The bread is done when an instant-read thermometer inserted registers about 200°F. Cool in pan on rack 10 minutes; loosen edges of bread with knife and transfer to rack to cool.

Out of the oven - it has a lovely brown color. 

And it came out of the pan intact!

          Notes from my baking experience with this recipe: This is a soft and slightly sticky dough. But that is what makes a nice moist product. I couldn't get to the stage where the dough would form a ball around the dough hook and clean the sides of the bowl without adding a lot of flour. So I took the dough out and did the final kneading by hand, adding just a bit more flour. It is a wet dough to shape. 
          Our family enjoyed the Bubble Loaf with an early 4th of July lunch at my son's house. The menu of beef kabobs, pasta salad, and corn on the cob went well with this bread. We sliced the bread like a cake, the dough balls bake together making a solid loaf, not a bubble bread like the K-State Crown. 

Besides kabobs, veggies, corn and salad we also had stuffed mushrooms
as an appetizer. Little hands (and big ones too) can hardly wait
to start eating! 

The chef does beef well. 

Fruit pizza - a slice of watermelon spread with cream cheese/brown sugar
and topped with sliced strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, chocolate
chips and toasted shredded coconut. Just right. 

Southwest Focaccia - National Festival of Breads

 

Jane explaining her entry at the awards dinner

  There are many great things about helping with the National Festival of Breads including learning new techniques, trying new flavors, and meeting talented bakers. One of the bakers is almost my neighbor. Jane Fry of Elk Falls, Kansas only lives in the next county from us and it was especially fun to see her entry as a finalist.
     Jane's recipe is Southwest Focaccia. Focaccia is traditionally a flat oven-baked Italian bread similar in style and texture to pizza doughs. It can be topped with herbs or other ingredients. Jane put a southwest twist into this dough with corn and pickled jalapeño slices. I made this on a day we were also doing 26 jars of jams and jellies, proving that it is an easy and quick bread to make.
 

My family loved this recipe! 

SOUTHWEST FOCACCIA

Ingredients:

2 cups warm water (110°-115°F)

1 (¼ oz) package Red Star Active Dry Yeast

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 cup frozen (thawed) corn kernels

1 cup diced yellow onion

½ cup drained pickled jalapeño slices, coarsely chopped

¾ cup King Arthur organic yellow cornmeal

1-3 teaspoons chili powder, to taste

2 teaspoons salt

4 ½ - 5 cups King Arthur unbleached bread flour

6 tablespoons salted butter, melted, divided

Pinch of chili sea salt or coarse sea salt, optional

Directions:

1.     In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with dough hook, combine water, yeast, and sugar until dissolved. Wait 5-10 minutes for mixture to foam (proof).

2.     Stir in corn, onion, jalapeno, cornmeal, chili powder, salt, and 3½ cups flour. Gradually add enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough. Knead 10 minutes with dough hook.

3.     Line a 12”x18” half sheet pan with parchment. Generously butter the parchment.

4.     Using wet fingertips, gently stretch and press the dough from the center to the outer edge to fit the pan. Brush the top with half of the melted butter. Using your fingertips, press deep dimples at 1-inch intervals all over the dough.

5.     Cover with greased plastic wrap, let the dough rise until light. About 45 minutes. Near the end of the rise, preheat oven to 400°F.

6.     When ready to bake, gently dimple the dough again. Drizzle the remaining melted butter over dough’s surface. If desired, sprinkle with salt.

7.     Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer the focaccia from the baking sheet by lifting the parchment onto a rack. Remove parchment and turn it out onto rack. Slice into approximately 1½” x 3” pieces. Serve warm. Store focaccia in the refrigerator or freeze.

Yield: about 48 servings.

Doesn't this product Jane made at the contest look delicious? 

Eating Local

Beef from our cattle herd. Corn frozen from a friend's garden last year. Tomatoes from the garden - well these weren't from our garden, but there soon will be some to harvest. Eating local has been a popular trend lately, one that farm families have long embraced. Having your own garden produce and meat not only gives you a feeling of sustainability, but seems to taste better and feel more healthy.

Beef, corn, wheat - all Kansas products

Here are a few recipes for summer time meals.

Shrimp & Tomato Sheet Pan Supper               

(shrimp isn't local to our area, but a nice treat for variety)

1 pound Jumbo Shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails off

2 cups cherry tomatoes

4 cloves garlic very thinly sliced

olive oil, for drizzling

salt and pepper, to taste 

1 whole lemon, halved

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 

Put shrimp, cherry tomatoes and garlic on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and toss (I used lemon-infused olive oil). Season with salt and pepper.

Roast until the shrimp are opaque and the tomatoes begin to burst. 10-12 minutes. Finish with a generous squeeze of lemon. 

Serve with salad, bread. or pasta. 

thanks to Pioneer Woman for this recipe

BBQ MEATBALLS                                                  

 Ingredients:

1 ½ pound ground beef

¾ cups oats

1 cup milk

3 tablespoons very finely minced onion

1 ½ teaspoon salt

ground black pepper, to taste

(for cooking meatballs)

1 cup all-purpose flour

canola oil

(for sauce)

1 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons vinegar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire

4-6 tablespoons onion

dash Tabasco

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine all meatball ingredients. Roll into medium small balls and place on a cookie sheet. Place sheet in freezer for five minutes.

After 5 minutes, remove meatballs from freezer and immediately dredge in unseasoned flour

Brown meatballs in canola oil until just brown. Place into a baking dish.

Combine all sauce ingredients. Pour over meatballs and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Serve with egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or crusty French bread. 

Another recipe from Pioneer Woman

FRESH CORN CAKES

Ingredients:

2 ½ cup corn kernels

3 large eggs

¾ cup milk

3 Tablespoons butter, melted

⅔ cup flour

¾ c. cornmeal

8 oz. mozzarella cheese

2 Tablespoons fresh chives

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Pulse corn, eggs, milk, butter in food processor 3-4 times. Stir together flour and other ingredients. Stir into corn mixture until just moistened. Spoon ⅛ cup batter onto a hot, lightly greased skillet. Don not flatten or spread. Cook 3-4 minutes (bubbles will appear on top), flip. Cook 2-3 minutes on the other side.

(From Southern Living magazine 2008)