Broa De Milho Food

BROA DE MILHO (PORTUGUESE CORN AND RYE BREAD)

Steps:

• ⁠Hydrate the corn flour with the boiling water, 1 hour, covered.⁠
• Thoroughly mix all of the ingredients together (hydrated corn flour, additional water, rye flour, all purpose flour, sourdough starter and salt).⁠
• Cover and let the dough ferment until it's aerated and domed (~6.5 hours in a 70F room). You won't see the dough double, but it will become domed and aerated. ⁠
• Preheat your oven to 400F with a stone/steel/baking sheet in it.⁠
• Divide the dough in two, and place half in a floured bowl. Flour the top of the dough. ⁠
• Flip and swirl the dough in the bowl until you have a smooth loaf. ⁠
• Slide the dough onto a floured peel or parchment and place it in the oven on the hot stone. ⁠
• Repeat with the second half of the dough.⁠
• Bake the loaves at 400F for 1 hour.⁠
• The crust will be crunchy and the inside temperature should be over 205F.

PORTUGUESE CORNBREAD: BROA

Steps:

• In a small bowl combine the yeast, sugar, and the warm water in a large bowl until the yeast is dissolved and foamy, about 5 to 10 minutes.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the cornmeal and salt with the boiling water. Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon to blend. Add the melted butter and mix to incorporate. Now, pour the yeast mixture into the cornmeal mixture, stirring to combine. Gradually add the flour, mixing well after each addition. Add a couple of tablespoons of water if the dough feels dry and doesn't come together easily. Continue to mix until a dough forms into a ball. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, about 5 to 10 minutes.
• Grease a large bowl with oil and transfer the dough to the bowl, brush the top with more oil so it is completely coated. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 11/2 hours.
• Turn the dough out onto the floured surface and knead briefly, 3 or 4 times, to punch out the air. Gather the dough into a ball and shape it into a round loaf. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and let rise again until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. and place a pizza stone in the oven to heat up.
• Put the dough round on the pizza stone and brush the top with oil. Sprinkle the top of the bread with coarse salt. Bake in middle of the oven for 40 to 50 minutes until the bread is golden brown and bottom sounds hollow when tapped. *To recreate the steam effect from authentic Portuguese brick ovens, spray the bread and oven walls with cold water every 10 minutes. Transfer the bread to a wire rack to cool.

PAO DE MILHO ( PORTUGUESE CORNBREAD )

Steps:

• Please note that the corn flour in this recipe is NOT cornstarch; you should be able to find corn flour at your grocery store in either the aisle where flour is sold, or in the aisle where ethnic foods are sold.
• In a large mixing bowl, mix the cornmeal and salt together, then add the boiling water and stir until smooth.
• Let this cool until mixture is lukewarm (should take about 10 minutes).
• Meanwhile, in a measuring cup, dissolve the sugar in 1/2 cup of the lukewarm water and sprinkle in the yeast; let stand for 10 minutes.
• Now rapidly whisk the yeast mixture with a fork and then stir into the cornmeal mixture.
• A bit at a time, mix in the all-purpose flour, stopping a few times to slowly add in the remaining 1/2 cup lukewarm water; blend this mixture well, until completely combined.
• Turn this mixture out onto a well-floured surface and knead until elastic and all ingredients are well blended; this will likely take about 10 minutes.
• If you need to -- and only if you NEED to -- add a bit more flour; you will likely need to if your kitchen is at all humid, as that can keep the dough a little sticky.
• When smooth and elastic, gather the dough into a ball.
• Lightly grease a fairly large mixing bowl and put the dough into bowl, turning dough so it is greased all over.
• Cover bowl with a clean tea towel, place in a draft-free area (try the top of your fridge, or inside your oven -- not turned on of course) and let dough rise until doubled in bulk, which should take about 90 minutes.
• Now punch down the dough and shape it into either one round loaf or two small ones; have ready a well greased baking sheet or a well greased pie plate.
• Roll the loaf (loaves) in corn flour until well covered, then, if you've made the two small loaves, place on baking sheet, or if you've prepared just the one large loaf, place on pie plate.
• Cover with clean tea towel and let rise in a draft-free place for 45 minutes, or until doubled in size.
• Sprinkle with additional corn flour just before baking.
• Bake bread in preheated 450F oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until loaves sound hollow when tapped on bottom; they should be golden brown and crusty on top.
• Transfer to wire racks and wait impatiently for them to cool.