Corn Bread (Proja)

A community recipe by stana

Not tested or verified by Nigella.com

Introduction

This is a traditional Serbian bread. It is served regularly on weddings as warm hors d'euvre, with some white cheese and smoked dried meat. Ideal for breakfast and supper in cold days, but is good only when warm, otherwise is dry. I bake this when I have some cheese leftover, ready to go bad or really smelly. In my version, I also put some kajmak in (local dairy specialty).

Ingredients

Serves: 3-4

3 ounces feta cheese
½ cup vegetable oil
2 medium eggs
1 cup milk
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup flour
1 cup yellow cornstarch

Method

Corn Bread (Proja) is a community recipe submitted by stana and has not been tested by Nigella.com so we are not able to answer questions regarding this recipe.

Heat the oven to 170C

Mix the flours in a bowl. Add milk, slightly beaten eggs, and crumbled cheese. Depending on the amount of cheese, add less oil, as the cheese has already got some fat in. Add baking powder (the original recipe says one whole tsp, but I have a strange feeling in the mouth when put so much, so I reduce it). Add the salt if the cheese is mild, otherwise, leave the salt out. The paste needs to be liquidish, as honey, maybe slightly stiffer.

Put the dish for baking in the oven to heat. Pull it out after 2 min, and oil the dish. Then pour the dough inside and immediately put in the oven.

When you see the crust forming, reduce the heat to 150 and bake for at least 30-45min. The bread is ready when the sides of the bread have separated from the dish.

Additional Information

Do not open the oven during the baking time. I prefer to have a lot of crust, so I use bigger dish, it turns out thinner and tastier. Cut it with pizza knife. You can also have individual cupcake portions, look better but in that case you need to put additional oil (up to the indicated amount). All the measures indicated are based on a teacup (the one of 2-2.5dl) You can reduce or increase proportionally. My measure is 3/4 of this measure- we only eat so much for breakfast.