Saturday night supper when I was growing up was often hot dogs, New England baked beans, and brown bread. Although it was years before I enjoyed baked beans, I loved the brown bread! Non-New Englanders may think brown bread is some sort of dark whole wheat bread, but Boston brown bread is more appropriately called steamed Boston brown bread, a distant cousin of an English plum pudding. In fact, when my Australian pen pal Paul visited, he was wondered whether we ate it along with the main meal or as dessert! Here in New England, we have easy access to B&M Brown Bread, and I always have a can on the shelf. Here's how to make it from scratch.
INGREDIENTS
1 c cornmeal
1 c rye flour
1 c graham or whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 c raisins (optional)
3/4 c molasses
2 c buttermilk, sour milk, or yogurt
2 16-oz cans, greased
Aluminum foil
Large covered kettle
Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then mix in the raisins if desired.
Combine the buttermilk and molasses, then add to the dry ingredients.
Mix until well blended.
Turn into 2 well-greased 16-oz coffee cans (see note). Do not fill more than two-thirds full.
Cover loosely with aluminum foil that is greased on the inside. Tie with string or secure with rubber bands.
Place the cans in a kettle on top of something to keep the cans off the bottom of the pan (a round canning rack or crinkled foil will do). Fill the kettle with boiling water two-thirds of the way up the cans.
Cover, bring the water back to a boil and lower the heat to a simmer.
Steam for about 2 hours on top of the stove, adding water as needed.
Marjorie Standish in her cookbook Cooking Down East - a fascinating compilation of her newspaper columns of the same name - pointed out, "If you are using your oven for baking beans on Saturday, then you could steam brown bread in the oven at the same time." In this case, she suggests placing them in the oven and steaming for 4 hours while the beans bake.
Try this fun way of cutting hot brown bread: loop a string (or unwaxed/unflavored dental floss) around it and pull the ends. It's an old-fashioned method, but I'm told it works.
Note-Time was when 16-oz coffee cans were the standard, but no more. If you cannot find 16-oz cans, you can use a two-quart pudding mold. I have also just found that Fante's Kitchen Shop sells a stainless steel "Boston Brown Bread Pot" online at http://www.fantes.com/loaf-pans.html. It's primary use is in commercial steam tables so it shouldn't rust, and it seems to be the right size and shape for steaming brown bread!