Boston brown bread and baked beans are as married as the ingredients in the New Orleans specialty, red beans and rice. The cooks who created these pairings knew more about nutrition than we thought. The grain in the bread or rice combined with the navy beans or red kidney beans creates a high-quality protein that is surprisingly low in cost.
Yield:
2 loavesIngredients
1-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup cornmeal
2-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup raisins
1/3 cup melted shortening
1 egg, beaten
2 cups buttermilk or sour milk
3/4 cup molasses
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Stir together the flours, cornmeal, baking soda, and raisins. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Add to dry ingredients, stirring just enough to mix.
Turn into 2 well-greased 5-inch by 9-inch by 3-inch loaf pans. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes in the pans, then turn out onto cooling racks. Serve warm with butter.
Note: To sour fresh milk, add 1 tablespoon vinegar to each cup of milk; let stand for 5 minutes and then stir.
To vary the recipe, substitute 1 cup graham or rye flour for the whole wheat flour.
