Recipe : All-corn cornbread

Here's a recipe I perfected today for cornbread that has no wheat flour, only cornmeal. It comes out somewhat cakey, mildly sweet (not candylike) - exactly what I expect of cornbread.

This is a great recipe for those times when you accidentally leave a carton of milk in the fridge that one too many days, or were hoping it might survive a couple of days longer, but didn't, because it calls for sour milk. Don't try this, however, if your milk was ultra-pasteurized: I don't think it'll work with that, in fact, I don't believe (people who use it frequently, correct me if this is not so) that it ever goes sour at all. Also don't try it if the milk has gone beyond sour into the cheesey stage.

Cornbread

2 cups cornmeal 2 cups sour milk 3 eggs 2 tbsp butter 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 450F. Thoroughly butter a heavy cast-iron pan. A 10" skillet is ideal.

Mix cornmeal, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until fully blended. Cut butter in until the mixture is fairly uniform. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk or mixer until they are frothy and pale yellow. Put the pan in the oven and allow it to heat until it is nearly smoking.

At this point, quickly beat the eggs into the cornmeal, then the sour milk, then pour the entire batter into the pan and set in the oven quickly. After about 5 minutes, turn the oven down to 400 without opening the door. Bake for another 25 minutes or so, until the top is dark, uniform brown. Remove and cool.

This cornbread is delicious eaten warm - simply wait for about

5 minutes or so, until it cools to edible temperature, then cut into wedges. Or cool all the way if you prefer it at room temperature.
Reply to
Alex Rast
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snipped-for-privacy@nwnotlink.NOSPAM.com (Alex Rast) wrote in news:9445BCA5Fadrastnwnotlinkcom@216.168.3.44:

You are correct. It simply spoils and never really goes through a "sour" stage.

This is exactly the way that I and my family (back to grandmother) have been making cornbread for generations...the same ingredients and the same proportions However, I often use buttermilk in place of sour milk since I rarely have sour milk on hand. Occasionally I will substitute bacon drippings for the butter. In any event, it is delicious!

BTW, whenever I can get it, I use stone-ground cornmeal. It's even better, so do give it a try if you haven't already.

Wayne

Reply to
Wayne Boatwright

--snip--

And ours.

Try cooking it in a cast-iron skillet for a wonderful crust.

Here's our family recipe, from Arkansas:

1-1/2 C corn meal (white or yellow) 1 t baking soda 1 t salt 1 egg 2 C buttermilk ("fake" buttermilk, from adding vinegar to fresh milk, will work too)

Mix thoroughly. The batter will be thin. Important: mix just before the pan is ready, or the baking soda will be "all foamed out".

In hot oven (400 F), heat heavy pan (I use a cast-iron skillet) with 2 T bacon fat (anything else is _not_authentic_) until almost smoking. Add batter and bake until brown. When the bread pulls away from the sides of the pan, it's probably ready. Test it with a toothpick.

Reply to
Isaac Wingfield

Isaac Wingfield wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@netnews.attbi.com:

Isaac, this sounds great, too! One question, though... When I have added more milk than cornmeal to my batter, the bread seems to test done, but it almost always sticks to the pan. I use a sizzling hot skillet. The bottom is crust, but still sticks in a couple of spots. With an equal amount of milk and meal, or even slightly less so of milk, I never had that problem. I'd like to try your version but I'm leery of it sticking. What do you think might be the problem?

I'm a great fan of black-eyed peas spooned over a hot split wedge of cornbread! Delicious!!! I also always slosh a bit of homemade "pepper-sauce" on top. I sometimes use a hunk of bacon if I can't get the hamhock or salt pork.

Wayne (whose family is from NE MS)

Reply to
Wayne Boatwright

My grandmother baked cornbread in a glass casserole (don't remember the size) when she stopped frying it in a cast-iron skillet. I remember hers being loaded down with shortening which bubbled up around the sides when it came out. It was good, but I liked the fried cornbread patties more. I make it a bit healthier today in a cast-iron skillet in the oven. I heat the skillet in the oven to 400 degrees, then pull it out, Pam-coat it, and dump in my batter (that has flour, cornmeal, yogurt, baking soda, and sugar). It comes out rather cake-like, but very tasty. It's about 150 calories for

1/8th of a piece, and almost no fat (fat-free yogurt - the Stonyfield Farms variety). It's very good with honey or plain. Putting the batter in the greased pan while hot (and greasing it hot) may have something to do with my bread not sticking. It pops out after 20 minutes baking and is wonderfully browned on all sides! What is left is great the next day (I like it cold as well as hot).
Reply to
Dave

Sorry, but no, I don't. I have owned two cast iron skillets for so long I can't remember when I got them; the other two came along later.

You don't need to try a different recipe, but you might need to make some baking time adjustments to allow for the difference between glass and iron. Check the stuff with a toothpick and don't overcook it, as it'll get dry.

You can even make the recipe in a thin aluminum cake pan; you just won't get as nice a crust on the sides and bottom.

One thing that characterizes "real" southern cornbread is the fact that it contains no sugar at all; every mix I have ever seen has sugar as an ingredient.

I've even eaten (that is, *tried* to eat, in northern places),cornbread with cinnamon in it!

But, you know, you *really should* have at least one cast iron skillet.

Isaac

Reply to
Isaac Wingfield

I don't know if this is what you are talking about, but here's my family recipe for:

Scalded Bread

1 1/2 to 2 Cups corn meal (mom used white) 1 teaspoon salt boiling water 2 to 3 Tablespoons fat for cooking

Pour boiling water into meal until stiff enough to form into cakes with hands.

Turn on the cold water tap; run hands under water to prevent scalding yourself, and to prevent the meal from sticking.

Form hand-sized cakes 1/2" to 3/4 " thick.

Put into medium-hot fat (mom would have used bacon drippings), and cook until they begin to brown; turn and cook other side. (They won't brown uniformly; don't worry). I don't remember, but suspect cooking time would be around 10 minutes a side - you want to get the middle cooked.

Serve hot. Slice throught the middle and slather with butter.

Note: these are solid things. They don't rise at all.

Isaac

Reply to
Isaac Wingfield

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