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:
- Put all the ingredients in the bread machine. Set the bread machine on the dough setting and start it up.
- 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.)
- 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.
- 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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5 comments
Now THAT is a gorgeous loaf of bread! Would you say it would still be good with chili? I’d love to try it sometime soon!
xoxo,
~Melissa
Hmm … I’m trying to picture the citrus taste with chili. Yes, I think it would go with a hearty, meaty chili.
I’ve never tried kumquats – I’ve always wanted to and now I have a recipe! It looks wonderful!
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