Violet of Trill

Now I can blog, because the Boston brown bread has come out of its improvised steaming cans, and it looks as if it's a success. I used to make this when we were young and poor, because it adds a note of zest to a meal of beans. It seemed so easy to do then, with my pressure cooker and a couple of coffee cans (remember those?) and two unglazed pottery tiles I had picked up somewhere that were perfect to set underneath the cans while the batter steamed inside. Alas, I don't have any of those things any more. They've all dropped away from one move to another. But the Sparrowhawk bought a canning kettle once, in an excess of enthusiasm for all the nice produce around here. I've never actually canned anything, but it was the perfect vessel for steaming bread. I saved a couple of bean cans. Unfortunately I realized at the last minute that one of them was a zip-top can, and had a little lip around the edge that would make it impossible to get the finished cylinder of bread out of it. So I put some of the batter into a small bread pan. I didn't realize until I put it into the pot that the water would probably come up over the top of it when boiling. Well, it did, and it leaked, and the insides were too smushy and never finished cooking. However, the other three cans turned out perfectly--nice dark brown cylinders of dense, slightly sweet bread studded with raisins. It's a "quick" bread, leavened with baking soda. (Not really very quick because, although you can mix the batter in a jiffy, you have to steam it for ages--I went for 2 1/2 hours!) This recipe has one cup each of whole wheat flour, rye, and cornmeal, plus molasses and buttermilk (or milk soured with a dash of lemon juice). Very good with beans, especially when spread with butter. Makes delicious cream cheese sandwiches, too. But I really need those coffee cans.