Aaktay (Klingon Steamed Bread)

Ingredients

• 1 c White cornmeal
• 1 c Whole-wheat flour
• 1⁄2 c all-bran cereal
• 1 t Cinnamon
• 1⁄2 t Ginger
• 3⁄4 t Salt
• 1-1⁄2 t Baking soda
• 1⁄2 c Walnuts, chopped
• 1⁄2 c Dates, chopped
• 2⁄3 c Powdered skim milk
• 1 1⁄2 c buttermilk
• 1⁄2 c Honey
• 1⁄2 Orange, unpeeled
• 1 c Rhubarb, chopped
• Margarine, to grease cans
• 2 37 oz empty cans

Procedure

• Mix together in a bowl all the dry ingredients including dates and walnuts (leave out only the buttermilk, honey, orange half and rhubarb).
• Put the buttermilk and the honey in the blender.
• Wash an orange, cut off any price or brand marks and cut it in half.
• Cut the orange half into chunks and add it to the blender, being sure that you have removed all the seeds.
• Run the blender until the orange chunks are chopped into little bits.
• Now add the buttermilk mixture, along with the rhubarb chunks, to the dry ingredients and mix well.
• Pour immediately into greased cans, filling each can no more than two-thirds full.
• Cover the filled cans with aluminum foil, and secure the foil with a rubber bands.
• Place them in a large pot, on some kind of a rack so they are not touching the bottom of the pot. Pour in hot water until the bottom 2 inches of the cans are covered.
• Bring to a boil and keep the water boiling gently for about 1 ½ hours.
• The pot should be covered and there should be a little steam escaping at all times.
• Check the pot occasionally to make sure that there is enough water left.
• At the end of 1 ½ hours, check with a skewer, right through the foil.
• If it does not come out clean, cook for another half hour and recheck.
• When the loaves are done, take the "hot" cans out of the pot. When you are ready to serve, uncover a mold, shake the loaf out onto a breadboard and slice it.
• Serve warm with butter or cream cheese.