Citruslove: Artisanal Portuguese Kumquat Cornbread

I was searching the internet looking for interesting recipes to make with my kumquats … when I found this recipe for Portuguese Kumquat Cornbread. When I read the ingredients and his description of it, I was totally entranced. This is what Chef Ron Oliver says about the bread:

“This is a yeast-leavened cornbread – more of an artisanal bread than your typical quick cornbread that is leavened with baking powder. The addition of olive oil is a signature of Portuguese cornbreads, and the kumquats, which grow abundantly in Central Portugal add a nice touch of fruitiness to complement the fruity olive oil.”

So really this bread is not much like a cornbread. It’s soft and moist and almost orange-flavored, but not quite. There is just a slight crunch from the cornmeal, and lovely little flecks of orange color from the candied kumquats. I don’t know quite how to describe it other than to say it is an amazing taste sensation.

Artisanal Portuguese Kumquat Cornbread

Adapted from Chef Ron Oliver

Makes 1 10-inch round bread

• 3 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp chile powder
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 cups bread flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup candied kumquats (Recipe here … or use Kumquat Conserve), finely chopped (measure after chopped–I used my handi chopper and chopped them up till they were almost a puree)

Bread machine instructions:

1. Put all the ingredients in the bread machine. Set the bread machine on the dough setting and start it up.
2. When the dough is ready, pull it out and shape it to fit in a 9 or 10 inch round pan (Chef Oliver suggests a springform pan, but I used one of my pottery dishes.)
3. Spray or brush with oil, sprinkle with coarse salt, and let it rise for an hour or so until the dough is big and puffy.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes to an hour … if the bread is getting too dark brown during baking, cover it with foil. I covered mine after about 30 minutes of cooking.

If you don’t have a bread machine, see Chef Ron Oliver’s Instructions.

Chef Oliver suggests serving it with an Almond Parsley butter, but I decided it needed something creamy. So I took an ounce or so of light cream cheese mixed with a small spoonful of the kumquat syrup (from candying the kumquats) and that creamy sweet-citrus taste was absolutely heaven on this bread.

I had a hard time stopping myself from inhaling the whole loaf. And it’s a BIG loaf. I managed to stop myself after two good-size wedges … and now I’m imagining the sandwich I am going to make with this flippin’ amazing kumquat bread tomorrow.

This recipe was shared at Citruslove, Newlyweds Recipe Linky, Tastetastic Thursdays, It’s a Keeper Thursdays, Midnight Maniac Meatless Mondays and  Katherine Martinelli’s Citrus Bloghop.

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