It seems that I am on an unstoppable bread (making ) roll…(eek, arrgh, squeak, sorry…. for a no good, horrible, very bad, but irresistible, pun 🙂 ), because, yesterday, I made some rice bread. I had some lonely, left- over cooked rice in the fridge, so I decided to use it in one my favourite recipes, Philpy, Hot Rice Bread. Philpy, is a quick (non yeast) bread which, apparently, has its origins in South Carolina.
Philpy (Hot Rice Bread)
I have been making versions of Philpy since 1987, which was the year I first discovered the recipe in American Harvest by Nava Atlas.
American Harvest by Nava Atlas
American Harvest, (Regional Recipes for the Vegetarian Kitchen) is a gem of a book, beautifully researched and illustrated. Every recipe comes with a small note on its history, as well as a delightful quote expertly, and often humorously, illustrated by the author. For example, the quote for Philpy comes from Abe Martin’s Almanack, 1911, and goes like this “Q. My husband buys forty-five cents worth of mixed drinks every time I send him for a five-cent loaf of bread. How long will we keep our home? A. It takes longer to drink up some homes than it does others. Try baking your own bread. -Kin Hubbard.” Well, that may, or may not, be a helpful answer but baking your own Philpy Hot Rice Bread is certainly a good idea. It’s easy and fun and it’s a great bread for a snack, or for breakfast, or lunch. And it goes well with lots of different toppings. Nava’s recipe is also a versatile one. It can be made gluten-free and dairy-free with ease. Yesterday, I made a gluten-free Philpy by using a combination of buckwheat flour and brown rice flour, instead of the usual whole wheat flour. I also whizzed up the ingredients in the food processor, for the first time ever, and that gave my bread a very good texture. (Why has it taken me 26 years to work out that little trick????)
Come and sit with me, in the spring sunshine of Christchurch. Let me offer you a warm slice of South Carolina Philby, spread with butter and sweet, young rhubarb compote. Sound good? It tastes good 🙂
Philpy for Tea
Spring Blossom
For those of you who would like to learn more about Nava Atlas, I would recommend a visit to her VegKitchen website which has links to her career as a writer and artist as well.http://www.vegkitchen.com/
And, as a little sampler of the way Nava brings joy to my baking through her art and wit and research, take a peek at my collage!
How to have fun with history, food and art
© silkannthreades
silkannthreades 
YUM! I’m not familiar with philpy, but I think I would enjoy it very much! And with rhubarb compote…that’s fabulous. 🙂
Yes! As was your rhubarb upside down cake. 🙂
Looks really good! Young rhubarb compote on that bread must be delicious!
The rhubarb was so nice. But I only had such a tiny amount that I had to savour it slowly and carefully and make it last.
I love the way you photographed the bread and butter and compote …and the flowers and the sunshine ,,,wish I was there 🙂
Thank you. I would enjoy your company. We could sit and crochet, eat bread and take tea 🙂
Fun!!! 🙂 I don’t think it can get better than that…
But, of course, it could. We could wear our red slipper socks, too, because we would be on an adventure 😀
Now that’s the icing on the cake, 🙂
Indeed it is.
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I’m not a vegetarian, but the recipe looks great. [off topic- sent what links I could to Judy, I’m sure she’ll publish them as soon as she sees it.]
Oh good to know about the links. Thanks :). I am, what my sister calls, a flexitarian; I like, and have, an incredibly varied diet. However, my meat eating is very limited these days. Most meat holds little appeal to my ageing taste buds.
Mmmmm….delicious I’m sure!
You are right 🙂
The philpy looks delicious. I’m always really interested in old recipes, and until I read this post I’d never heard of philpy. It’s fun to learn about a type of bread that was eaten in the southern US years ago.
I think American Harvest is a book you would really enjoy. And Nava has written others that would fit well with your interest in history and old recipes. Do you have any old recipes that are particular to your area?
I have a reprint of a community cookbook from the early 1900s from a town in central Pennsylvania. And, I have several Pennsylvania Grange cookbooks that are from the middle part of the century, but they have a lot of traditional regional foods. (The Grange is an old-time farm/rural organization.)
Community cookbooks are great sources for recipes. I am having a quick look through American Harvest again and Nava mentions the seven sweets and seven sours that you featured on your blog. Also potato bread stuffing and something called Scrapple and pepper pot.
I’m going to have to get a copy of American Harvest. It sounds really good.
As, it is an old publication you may be able to get it for a good price on Amazon. 🙂
This looks awesome! I’d love to pop over the oceans for a tasty bit and some tea… I’m looking forward to the recipe too – looks like a must! The fragrance is coming in slightly from south east…and just when I’m going to sleep. Thank you so much for the temptation!
I hope you had sweet dreams :). I will have to get on to the recipe write up!
I don’t know rice bread, but it looks delicious in your photos.
Thank you. I would love for you to try it 🙂 If you ever come to New Zealand I will make some for you!
Sounds delicious and you write about it in a most inviting way. Have a slice for me!
I will 🙂 And I will imagine you are sitting at my table enjoying it with me. Your fruit bowl still sits on the table, so in a sense, you are present at every meal 🙂 🙂
I have never had a rice bread before, it looks interesting and delicious! The book looks like a treasure!
It is a treasure 🙂 I suppose most of your traditional recipes would be based around other grains. Would that be right? Although in Sweden, rice pudding (with hidden almonds) is a speciality, I think?
My that bread looks so delicious. I absolutely love that cook book and I am going to check out the link. I also think you have a real talent for food photography 🙂 Annie
Thank you Annie for your kind words. Do check out Nava Atlas. I bought the American Harvest when I went to live in New York for the first time. It was an absolutely random selection but I think I chose well 🙂
Rice Bread? Well I am always up for an adventure…I will be right over…put the tea pot on♥
The Tea is ready 🙂
Lovely photos, lovely setting and lovely bread. I would like to come 🙂
You are most welcome at my table 🙂
I have never heard of rice bread so thank you for letting me know about it through this post. I am always amazed at the sheer variety of recipes there are for anything that one want to make. BTW – I love the cover of American Harvest. 😉
I am always curious about traditional recipes. And, yes, we are lucky to have access, via books and the internet, to such a variety of recipes. Glad you like the cover of American Harvest. The art work throughout the book is delightful. It’s charming to have a recipe book illustrated like this one is ie without the glossy photos we are used to these days in our coffee table cookbooks 🙂 I am sure there are some lovely traditional Irish recipes I have yet to hear about 😉
I have never heard of rice bread before but I love all kinds of bread! Interesting!
I love all kinds of bread too. Nava’s book introduced me to a great many interesting recipes that I hadn’t met before. I love her recipe for buckwheat cakes and buttermilk corn bread. Some of her recipes I can’t make easily anymore because I haven’t found any really nice molasses here.
Cold, cooked rice does look lonely doesn’t it? Then when I have a recipe that calls for some cooked rice I never have any…..
You certainly cook/bake some very interesting food.
Oh how right you are! The vital ingredient is never there when one needs it. I usually freeze excess rice but, every now and then, I find myself looking at that lonely rice in the fridge. I had already made some of the rice in to a baked rice pudding, but there was still this little bit leftover; rice bread to the rescue 🙂
I’ve never seen it so feminine when I went to south Carolina they were more in droplets with cheese and onions. This looks very three o’clock tea 🙂
Well, I am glad to know that you know it! I have been making it for years without any real idea what it was supposed to look like, or taste like. I simply followed the recipe, almost faithfully. I suspect it’s one of those recipes that simply uses up what is available in the house. Maybe next time I will add some cheese and onions; think that would be ever so good.
What a lovely book, and the ricebread looks great. Is it sweet? Could you send me the recipe please, I can’t quite read it on your collage, even bigger it is a bit fuzzy. That is something I like to try out. It looks so lovely, I’d like to come and eat it with you and the compote. I haven’t baked for ages, time I stood in the kitchen again…. and now it is getting colder it is nice to stand in the warm kitchen. thanks Gallivanta!
It is a wonderful book and the illustrations make me laugh as do the quotes. I am sure you would enjoy making the bread. It is not sweetened at all. So you can add sweetness with jam or honey or syrup. I’ll get the recipe sorted.
Great thanks so much!
🙂
hang on, I’ll be down shortly….
Great 🙂 You might be able to help me identify the blossom too. It’s the colour of apple blossom but the tree is more cherry like. It grows on a vacant lot where there used to be an old house.
The rice bread look gorgeous and tasty. I am looking forward to reading the recipe. Thank you for sharing, it is really a great post. 🙂
Glad you liked the look of it. It would be a good bread to take for a picnic 🙂
Certainly it will. Rice is my staple food but I’ve never had it in form of bread. Interesting! 🙂 Ops, who is going to make it for me then?, remember?, I don’t make bread and I don’t want to try making it anymore 😦
Ah, but this is more like a cake than a real bread, so maybe you could make it yourself!
I knew as soon as I saw that enticing and lovely photos in my reader that it was from you. How beautiful and inviting!
Ah, you know my ways so well :); always tempting you to eat a little of this and a lot of that. But this bread is pure health; no sugar and only the smallest amount of fat. So, eat all you want.