Basque Cornbread (pain De Maïs)

Total Time: 4 hrs 45 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 4 hrs 15 mins

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 cups water (warm 100-115 f, too hot will kill the yeast)
• 4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (1/2 oz)
• 4 1/2-5 cups bread flour
• 3 cups cornmeal (plus extra cornmeal to dust baking sheet) or 3 cups polenta (plus extra cornmeal to dust baking sheet)
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil (plus olive oil to coat bowl)
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons milk

Recipe

• 1 in a large mixing bowl, whisk together honey, water, and yeast until smooth (1 minute); let stand in a warm spot until a thin layer of foam covers the surface (5-10 minutes).
• 2 add 1 cup of the bread flour and the cornmeal and salt; mix well.
• 3 cover bowl, and let dough rise for 1 1/2 hours.
• 4 stir in oil and 3 cups flour, scraping and folding until the dough comes away from sides of bowl and gathers into a single mass.
• 5 turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (10 minutes), adding flour as needed to keep dough from sticking.
• 6 lightly oil a large bowl, turning to coat all sides; transfer dough to bowl.
• 7 cover and let rise for 1 hour.
• 8 preheat the oven to 350°f.
• 9 punch dough down, cover, and let rise for 35 minutes.
• 10 lightly grease a baking sheet and dust with cornmeal if making rounds or grease 2 (9-inch) loaf pans if making loaves.
• 11 cut dough in half and shape each half into either a round or a loaf.
• 12 let dough rest, covered loosely with a towel, for 20 minutes.
• 13 beat eggs with milk to use as a glaze; brush dough with egg mixture.
• 14 bake until bread is browned and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom (50 minutes).
• 15 remove from pan and cool on rack.