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Corn Meal Bannock

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Searching for some recipes, I found this Corn Meal Bannock recipe, from Jackfish, the Moderator over at the BWCA site.

1/3 c Flour
1/3 c Cornmeal
1/3 c Quick Oatmeal
1 TBLS Powdered Milk
Sounds great !

1 TBLS Sugar
1/8 tsp Baking powder

about 1/3 c water.
Mix
Cook in oiled pan.

It got great reviews !

Going to try it tomorrow.

Jim

I
 
That looks good, Jim. I only made bannock a few times when my oldest son was a fairly new boy scout so maybe just shy of 30 years ago. I think I'll give this a try and tinker with a few other bannock recipes, too. I just looked at the original post and liked the suggestion to use flavored oatmeal packets and/or dried fruit in it. Nancy likes instant oatmeal for a quick hot breakfast and so there are often a couple varieties in camp. Well, I'm off to mix up the dry items and wait for Nancy to wake up.....

We have ghee along on all trips and that ought to add a layer of great flavor to this.


Best regards,


Lance
 
Very similar to a recipe I have been using for years on guided trips.


Sweet Bannock

Ingredients:
• 2 cups white flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup corn meal
• Up to 1/2 cup any other flour type or oatmeal
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/3 cup shortening (Crisco works well, traditionalists use lard)
• 1/3 cup Nido whole milk powder (ok to go heavy on this) Nido is not nonfat (find in the hispanic section of Walmart)
• 4 Tablespoons sugar I like to mix half white and half brown sugar)
• Cinnamon - variable amount, but if you want to taste cinnamon use more than you think. You should
leave out sugar and cinnamon for a generic biscuit mix.

At home:
Mix all ingredients together, making sure to blend in the shortening well so no large pieces remain. A fork works ok, or do it by hand or food processor. Keep sealed in a ziplock bag. Will keep for weeks if dry.

At camp:
Clean yor hands! Take out a small handful of the dry mixture and put aside. You will use this to flour your hands to prevent sticking of the dough, and as a reserve in case you add too much water to the mix. (or bring an extra cup of plain flour for this purpose)Add a small amount of cold water to the main mix in the bag. Knead and mix thoroughly by massaging the bag from the outside. Add water in small increments until you have a stiff bread dough consistency. Rub some dry flour on your hands, and grab a golf ball sized piece of dough. Flatten in your hands, fold in half and flatten again, repeat several times. Finally, flatten between your palms by squeezing your hands together hard, until very thin (1/16-1/8th inch), and about as round as your palm. Secret - On both sides, very lightly indent center with thumb .

Cakes may be baked if you have a make-shift oven and the time, but I like them best fried in a small amount of margarine, turning them over a time or two. Cooking time is about 4-5 minutes. You will have to add margarine several times during the cooking process, as the bannock cakes will profusely soak it up. They will puff up to about a half inch thick. If they get thicker, you will have difficulty cooking them through; press the next dough ball thinner.

When medium brown on both sides they are done. Don't forget to top with honey (a must) and/or fruit jelly for impressive results. This recipe should feed 5-6 people. Nothing else is needed to complete this as a full meal.

Notes:
• This is my updated version of an old bannock recipe. It works well, but feel free to experiment on your own to improve it to suit your own tastes.

• If you have added too much water, use your reserve flour to thicken to stiff dough. If still too wet, all is not lost - just cook as pancake batter.

• The addition of eggs will make fluffier pancakes (don't attempt to dehydrate eggs at home - you can get terrific powdered eggs from: http://www.kingarthurflour.com).

• To make a basic unsweetened biscuit or dumpling mix, leave out sugar and cinnamon. These can always be added later.

 
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Well ! The proof is in the Pudding !

Just ate the last bite, of my First Corn Meal Bannock. Supposed to serve two ! Ha , I wiped both portions out !

It's Grrrreat !

Now I have 4 zip lock bags of Bannock ready for my trip !

Usually I alter a recipe a little ? Not this one ! It's spot on !

Yknpdlr's recipe, maybe be better. I'm sure his technique is better !

Lance all I can say is watch the waste line with this stuff ! I can see why the Voyageurs loved this stuff !

Enjoy !


Jim
 
I've been making a lot of bannock lately, both in and out of the woods. The end is nigh, but at least we can have fresh bread. Fresh amateur bread beats stale professional bread any day.

I like the Gil Gilpatrick "Canoe Country Bread" recipe, because my kitchen attention span is about 5 ingredients and it comes in under the limit:
  • 4 cups flour*
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • 3 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup sugar
plus such water as is required to make it into a blob which can be cooked however: on a stick, mashed down in a frying pan with whatever oil or grease is around, in a proper pan in a reflector oven for people with lots of camp apparatus, etc.

The full recipe about fills a 1 litre nalgene bottle, and that makes 4-5 servings for me (200-250ml each).

*I like to use half whole wheat flour and half all purpose, but that doesn't really count as two ingredients, right?
 
I like to make a thin dough and wind around a green stick near the fire, the trad way.

Planning to try that on the trip ! Thanks for reminding me ! I'll likely use a regular bannock recipe for that !


Jim
 
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I tried bannock with cornmeal but couldn't like it, no matter how much I love both bannock and cornbread. (And oatmeal is my favourite.) After 1 loaf I concluded the three should never have gotten together in the pan. The recipe I used was from another forum listed as Tom Thomson bannock found in a book on Algonquin PP. Henceforth I ate my oatmeal in the morning out of a hot pot with a splash of maple syrup, my bannock in hand on the trail with raisins, and my cornbread hot from the fry pan with soup or chilli. They all get along just fine sedately separated. Unfortunately this past year my body won't endure bread without putting up a fight so I am now left with just the steel cut oats for company. But enjoy whatever bannock you make however you can.
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I haven't made bannock myself this season but did buy 2 loaves from Oak East Eatery in North Bay. It's a hip foodie place run by 3 generations of FN ladies and they sure make excellent meals. I'd preordered blueberry bannock and was astounded when I saw them coming hot and fresh straight from the kitchen. Enormous and filling. One is in our freezer while the other was shared with family. As trad food goes this was more caky bread than the solid flat bread I had come to know but it was still delicious. Not sweet despite the generous portions of huge berries throughout. And as trad goes they do an excellent fry bread too I am told but I had to pass on that. Maybe next trip.
 
The common way to make bannock used to be in a depression in the top of an open flour sack. Same with biscuits. Only a few ingredients. Raisins help a lot, so does some spices.
 
When it is time to feed my 10 year old slow rising sourdough "mother", half of it has to go away one way or another to make room for the addition of a recharge of flour and water. The best use (other than making a loaf of bread) is to pour it into a small cast iron skillet, cover and slow bake it in the oven or over a low open fire to make a fluffy biscuit. The sourdough flavor really comes through.
 
I'm partial to the savory - no sugar/raisins/fruit in my bannock. I once cut up some smokies into inch-long pieces and combined those with the dough - tasted like sausage rolls.
 
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