Pão de Milho (Portuguese Cornmeal bread)

[Khadija]

I have baked bread occasionally, but never really managed to hone my skills due to lack of proper facilities, etc. Now, I am engaged in a long-term house-sitting gig, with a fabulous kitchen, and I'm currently working on my first batch of sourdough bread.

My favourite bread, however, is Pao de Mihlo (Portuguese cornbread), which I can only get when I'm in Toronto. Does anybody know how to make this stuff?

[gfron1]

I would try PMing Filipe who I think is in LA right now, but lives in Portugal. Then come back and let us all know!

[poundpod]

I have baked bread occasionally, but never really managed to hone my skills due to lack of proper facilities, etc.  Now, I am engaged in a long-term house-sitting gig, with a fabulous kitchen, and I'm currently working on my first batch of sourdough bread.

My favourite bread, however, is Pao de Mihlo (Portuguese cornbread), which I can only get when I'm in Toronto.  Does anybody know how to make this stuff?

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Believe it or not, the best and easiest recipe I've found for this bread is in "Secrets of a Jewish Baker" by Greenstein. The recipe is foolproof and delicious. I've made it many times. I think they also call it "Broa"

[achevres]

Here is the one recipe in English that I found.

Pao di Milho

If you google "broa recipe portuguese" you will get many more, including this one from the excellent site Leite's Culinaria. David Leite is Portuguese and a member of egullet.

[filipe]

I've never tried this recipe but at a first glance it seems quite easy. So, even if the result won't be the expected, it will just take you 10 or 15 minutes + oven. And a very short budget.

1 pinch of salt

1 1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup butter (melted)

1 cup wheat flour

3 eggs lightly beaten

2 cups corn flour (yellow)

2 spoons baking powder

Mix both flours (wheat and corn) in a big bowl

Add the baking powder and the salt and mix it all

Add the eggs, one by one, and the milk and mix it until you get an homogeneous dough

Add the previously melted butter until it gets completely absorved by the dough

Put in a square or rectangular buttered tray

Pré-heat the oven at 220ºC and bake it for about 20 minutes.

Cut in squares and there you go

Edited September 19, 2007 by filipe (log)

[Khadija]

I've never tried this recipe but at a first glance it seems quite easy. So, even if the result won't be the expected, it will just take you 10 or 15 minutes + oven. And a very short budget.

1 pinch of salt

1  1/2 cup  milk

1/2 cup butter (melted)

1 cup wheat flour

3 eggs lightly beaten

2 cups corn flour (yellow)

2 spoons baking powder

Mix both flours (wheat and corn) in a big bowl

Add the baking powder and the salt and mix it all

Add the eggs, one by one, and the milk and mix it until you get an homogeneous dough

Add the previously melted butter until it gets completely absorved by the dough

Put in a square or rectangular buttered tray

Pré-heat the oven at 220ºC and bake it for about 20 minutes.

Cut in squares and there you go

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Thanks everyone! Filipe, I think your recipe is for "Southern-style" or "American-style" cornbread. The Portuguese kind I'm thinking of is not a quick-bread, so it would not be leavened with baking poweder. However, thank you for the recipe anyway. I love the other kind of cornbread, too!

In my own web-research, I did come across the recipe from Letite's site. I've used recipes from his site in the past with great success, so maybe I'll try that.

As I said in my first post, I've just started baking sourdough bread, and I'm pleased with my (beginner's) results. When I buy Portuguese cornbread in Toronto, I get the impression that it is

made with natural leavener (it's so moist and dense). After I try the Letite recipe, I may try to convert it so that I can use sourdough starter instead of yeast. However, if anyone has a recipe that does the work for me, I'd appreciate hearing about it!

[janeer]

I have baked bread occasionally, but never really managed to hone my skills due to lack of proper facilities, etc.  Now, I am engaged in a long-term house-sitting gig, with a fabulous kitchen, and I'm currently working on my first batch of sourdough bread.

My favourite bread, however, is Pao de Mihlo (Portuguese cornbread), which I can only get when I'm in Toronto.  Does anybody know how to make this stuff?

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Pao de Mihlo is also one of my absolute favorites. I am fortunate enough to be able to buy it from numerous suppliers, but I also make it and I think mine is very good. You can try my recipe, given here: My Webpage

[sanrensho]

Pao de Mihlo is also one of my absolute favorites. I am fortunate enough to be able to buy it from numerous suppliers, but I also make it and I think mine is very good. You can try my recipe, given here: My Webpage

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Here's a link that works:

http://littlecomptonmornings.blogspot.com/...jonnycakes.html

I'd like to try making this bread. Can regular cornmeal be substituted for the white flint cornmeal? What substitute would you recommend for the white corn flour?

Edited September 20, 2007 by sanrensho (log)

[Khadija]

I will try my hand at Janeer's bread tonight. Wish me luck!

[Khadija]

I haven't tried Janeer's recipe yet, because I realised that both my cornmeal and cornflour are yellow, not white. What kind of difference will this make?

[janeer]

I haven't tried Janeer's recipe yet, because I realised that both my cornmeal and cornflour are yellow, not white.  What kind of difference will this make?

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It will be a different bread; it will have a different color, and probably a different texture. But if your cornmeal is stone-ground, and your corn flour is very soft, it may be OK. But it will not be the Pao de Milho you know and love--which is always white. Also, your bread may be wetter or dryer, as every grain is different and I don't know what you are using. But I hope this recipe at least gives you a baseline to experiment from--I think the amount of liquid will be the variable (I like my Pao de Milho on the wet side). I'm curious: are you Portuguese, or from a Portuguese area?

My Webpage

[Redsugar]

I’ll share my recipe for Broa, which I’ve baked occasionally during the past 20 years. Baked in a round, it remains fairly flat and has a crisp exterior and crumbly middle, along with a strong, characteristic corn identity. It has the wholesome rustic flavor and texture that is particularly suitable to serve with Caldo Verde -- the kale, potato, and spicy sausage soup....

3 cups fine cornmeal

2 tsps salt

2 cups boiling water

2 Tbsps olive oil

2 tsps granulated sugar

½ cup lukewarm water

4 tsps active dry yeast

approx. 3½ cups AP flour

In food processor, blitz cornmeal until finely ground.

In large bowl, stir together 2 cups of the processed cornmeal, salt, and boiling water until smoothly combined. Stir in oil and let cool until tepid.

Meanwhile, in glass measuring cup, dissolve sugar lukewarm water. Sprinkle the yeast onto the water and let stand 5 minutes. Stir frothed yeast vigorously with fork and blend into cornmeal mixture. Gradually mix in remaining cornmeal and 2 cups of the flour. (Dough should be soft & sticky.) Gather into ball, place in lightly greased proofing bucket and cover with towel. Let rise in warm place for about 30 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Gently punch down dough and turn out onto lightly floured surface; knead for about 8 minutes, adding only enough of the remaining flourto make a firm but soft dough.

Heat oven to 350°F.

Divide dough into halves and shape each portion into 6-inch rounds. Place on parchment-lined oven sheets. Cover and let rise for 25-30 minutes, or until nearly doubled in bulk. Bake for 30-40 minutes – or until loaves sound hollow when tapped on bottom. Transfer to wire cooling racks.

Edited September 23, 2007 by Redsugar (log)

[natter]

I was just wondering if Pao de Mihlo is similar to Anadama, perhaps sans mollasses.

-Nat

[Khadija]

I haven't tried Janeer's recipe yet, because I realised that both my cornmeal and cornflour are yellow, not white.  What kind of difference will this make?

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It will be a different bread; it will have a different color, and probably a different texture. But if your cornmeal is stone-ground, and your corn flour is very soft, it may be OK. But it will not be the Pao de Milho you know and love--which is always white. Also, your bread may be wetter or dryer, as every grain is different and I don't know what you are using. But I hope this recipe at least gives you a baseline to experiment from--I think the amount of liquid will be the variable (I like my Pao de Milho on the wet side). I'm curious: are you Portuguese, or from a Portuguese area?

My Webpage

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I thought the bread would be different with yellow cornmeal and cornflour, because the bread I buy is always whitish. I also like my bread on the wet side.

I'm not Portuguese. I'm from Toronto, which has significant Portuguese populations in certain areas. There is a substantial area that is sometimes referred to as "Portugal Village," which is more concentrated in some parts and less in others. So, when I'm in Toronto, l have access to several Portuguese bakeries and grocers, most of whom sell Pao de Milho.

[janeer]

I haven't tried Janeer's recipe yet, because I realised that both my cornmeal and cornflour are yellow, not white.  What kind of difference will this make?

←

It will be a different bread; it will have a different color, and probably a different texture. But if your cornmeal is stone-ground, and your corn flour is very soft, it may be OK. But it will not be the Pao de Milho you know and love--which is always white. Also, your bread may be wetter or dryer, as every grain is different and I don't know what you are using. But I hope this recipe at least gives you a baseline to experiment from--I think the amount of liquid will be the variable (I like my Pao de Milho on the wet side). I'm curious: are you Portuguese, or from a Portuguese area?

My Webpage

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I thought the bread would be different with yellow cornmeal and cornflour, because the bread I buy is always whitish. I also like my bread on the wet side.

I'm not Portuguese. I'm from Toronto, which has significant Portuguese populations in certain areas. There is a substantial area that is sometimes referred to as "Portugal Village," which is more concentrated in some parts and less in others. So, when I'm in Toronto, l have access to several Portuguese bakeries and grocers, most of whom sell Pao de Milho.

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I didn't know Tortonto had a Portuguese community. You should be able to buy white corn flour at a local grocer, and possibly white cornmeal. You can also order white cornmeal from one of the sources listed on my blog site, such as Gray's or Kenyon's. My Webpage

[Khadija]

I tried to find some white cornmeal and white cornflour today at a local "natural foods" store. No dice. However, they did have white "hominy grits," which the owner generously offered to grind up for me. Would this work?

[janeer]

I tried to find some white cornmeal and white cornflour today at a local "natural foods" store.  No dice.  However, they did have white "hominy grits," which the owner generously offered to grind up for me.  Would this work?

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NO! Hominy has been treated with lye. You should order what you need online.