Green Chile-Apple Bread

This recipe comes from Mark Miller’s Indian Market Cookbook. Green Chile-Apple Bread caught my eye because it had “apple” in the title and also because I’m a fan of green chile-apple pie – a paring I had never seen in any other recipe. Mark Miller says that the “common seasonality (of apples and chiles) and complementary flavor tones make them a natural pairing” in NM cuisine. Who knew? We think Maine apples and chiles work well together too. The recipe below is just as it is given in the Indian Market Cookbook. However, I made few substitutions. I nstead of 3 pureed apples, I used 1 cup of tart homemade applesauce. Because I rarely have bread flour, I used all-purpose flour plus a cup of whole-wheat flour – ½ cup added to the sponge and ½ cup added when kneading.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups unbleached bread flour

  • 2 Tbs fresh yeast or 1 Tbs active dry yeast

  • 3 Tbs honey

  • ¾ cup warm (100°F) water

  • 1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

  • 1½ tsp salt

  • 3 green Anaheim or other roasting chiles – roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped

  • 3 tart green apples – cored and pureed

  • 3 Tbs cornmeal

Directions:

  1. In a large bowl mix 1 cup of the bread flour with the yeast, honey and warm water. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap, and allow the sponge to rise in a warm place for 20-30 minutes, until doubled in size.

  2. Stir down the sponge, and add the remaining bread flour, the all-purpose flour (adjusting the amount if necessary), salt, chopped chiles, and applesauce, stirring until the dough is soft and smooth.

  3. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Knead the dough for 5 to 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, and turn to coat it thoroughly. Cover with a damp towel, and let the dough rise in a warm place for 45-60 minutes, or until it has doubled in size.

  4. Punch the dough down and divide it into 2 pieces, shaping them into round loaves. Place the loaves on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with the cornmeal, and allow the dough to rise again in a warm place for 45 minutes, or until doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

  5. Sprinkle the loaves with a little flour, and slash the tops with a sharp knife or razor blade, making cuts about 3” long and ½” deep. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until the loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove from the oven, and turn out onto a rack to cool.