On Sat, 06 Nov 2004 21:05:46 -0700
"<RJ>" > wrote:

>
> I'm an ABM bread baker.
>
> We've recently moved to southern Arizona,
> and I see sacks of corn flour ( masa? ) in the grocers.
>
> It seems I should be able to make some sort of bread
> with this "flour", yet I haven't seen any recipes.
>
> Any suggestions for some experiments ?


Well, I'm confused, by your quote marks.

"Corn Bread" is a term covering a number of dissimilar foods

Sometimes it's made with coarse yellow corn meal, sometimes with white
corn meal, sometimes with white corn flour, sometimes with white corn
flour. Masa is something else but I'm not clear on what differentiates it
from corn meal and corn flour.

Sometimes you make a batter very similar to a cake and bake in a cake
pan and get something, like a cake. Sometimes much heavier than most cakes.

Sometimes you make a batter without any fat in it, pour it into a hot
cast iron pan with a bunch of fat in it, and shove that in the oven, and
get something fairly dry which is good with soup, chili, gumbo, chowder
etc.

Sometimes you mix corn flour with a few other dry ingredients (but no
leavening agents), add boiling water (yeah, boiling), and as rapidly as
possible form it into oblong, flat-ish lumps (yeah, with your bare hands),
and fry them in oil.

Sometimes it's got creamed corn, whole corn kernels, or hard, sharp
cheeses, or herbs in it. Perhaps all of the above.

Sometimes it's got sausage in it. Sometimes that sausage is chorizo. I'm
not going to tell you what real chorizo is made of. Only that it's tasty.
And orange. And it comes from South America.

Sometimes it's made into single-serving shapes that look like tiny,
shallow loaves.

The recipes are often regional. What passes for "corn bread" at Boston
Market isn't fit to polish my floor because i believe that it's far too
light and fluffy and honey-sweet. I come from Utah, where "corn bread" is
often like a dense cake, and is made with buttermilk.

Having never been to the south-east of the united states, I can't even
begin to say what "corn pone" is, but it's in there somewhere as well.

But, largely, the mixing of "corn bread" involves implements such as
beaters, whisks, forks, and fingers - so i question whether the hook in an
automatic bread machine is well prepared to make what i think of as being
"corn bread" - being any of the above.

I have no idea if there are any recipes that involve kneading and baking
a loaf. But I've been boycotting the fru-fru bread shops that sell these
enormous rectangular muffin-like things with all manner of whatnots in 'em
but absolutely no crust as "bread" so, hey, maybe there is.