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

Oatmeal Muffins

Today I had some time to myself, so I decided it was a good opportunity to bake something from the Cream of the West Cook Book again. I took the book down and flipped through every page, taking note of things I'd like to try in the future (porridge bread), things I might be willing to try (carrot quiche?), and things I definitely did not ever want to try (a strange rice and marshmallow concoction). Eventually I decided that oatmeal muffins would be a good choice (particularly since I had all the ingredients).

I followed the recipe as written, using vegetable oil. Of course, I couldn't resist adding some raisins to these muffins, because just as peanut butter and jam are soul mates, so are raisins and oatmeal.

The interesting thing about older recipes, of course, is how small the portions are. This recipe makes 12 small muffins. I filled the muffin cups 1/2 full (using a 1/4 cup measure), because if I'd filled them 2/3 full as the recipe suggests, I'd have run out of batter. I'd imagine that for most people, they'd want to divide this batter between 6 cups to make more substantial muffins, but the smaller size is fine by me for a snack. The recipe is accurate in terms of bake time -- mine came out perfect in 18 minutes.

The resulting muffin is light and airy, with a bit of chew from the rolled oats (perfectly pleasant). They doubled in size as a result of the baking powder. The only change I'd make for the future is to double the cinnamon.

I give them a 7/10.

What's your favourite muffin recipe?

And what would you add to oatmeal muffins?