Old Fashioned Porridge Bread

While I was thumbing through my Cream of the West Cook Book a few weeks ago, I identified a few recipes that I wanted to try (and noted a few that I would never dare to make). I wrote a list of promising-sounding ones on a post-it note and stuck it to the cover of the book thinking I'd eventually make them all. One recipe, however, stood out -- old fashioned porridge bread. I decided I would make that the following weekend. I had everything I needed except for molasses, so I added that to my grocery list on my BlackBerry and picked it up with the groceries on Saturday morning.

My interest in the porridge bread was sparked by a trip to The Dancing Goat earlier this year. Two of my friends and I had decided that an adventure was necessary -- I think it might have been over the Easter long weekend -- so we hopped in the car and drove to The Dancing Goat for lunch. I had one of the most delicious sandwiches ever and it was on porridge bread.

The recipe in Cream of the West is slightly more involved than a traditional bread recipe. It's unusual in that you first make porridge as the base for the bread dough. If you've looked at the ingredients, you are probably wondering whether I followed it and used the shortening (since in an earlier post, I substituted butter). In this case, I stuck with the shortening -- not because I thought a substitution wouldn't work, but because I had shortening left over from a cake decorating class and wanted to use it up. I did think that there was too much salt in the recipe, so I cut that back by 1 teaspoon. Finally, I adjusted the process so that the salt was mixed with flour (and wouldn't kill the yeast when added). I admit that I used my Kitchen Aid mixer for much of the mixing and kneading (and was very thankful for it, given how heavy the dough actually is).

I do think that there is something "off" in this recipe. I didn't come close to adding as much flour as indicated. I actually can't imagine how one would be able to (and I do recognize that it partially depends on humidity and other factors). Nevertheless, I did end up with a very delicious tasting bread.

Admittedly, it didn't rise as much as I'd hoped. That could be a result of old yeast (mine hadn't expired, but it was close to the date) or not enough yeast given how heavy the mixture is. But without a doubt, this is a truly delicious bread. I plan to try it again very soon with fresher yeast and have no doubt that it will produce the ideal loaf. I'm thinking, however, that next time I may try cutting the recipe in half.

I'll keep you posted!

Rating for taste: 10/10

Rating for recipe: 6/10