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GRAMMAW'S BLACK-SKILLET CORNBREAD Serves 8. This is a dense, hearty bread, it will hold together when dipped in navy bean soup. This is nothing at all like the Marie Callenders type of cornbread which is too sweet and more like cake than bread. This sticks to your ribs. Note, there is NO sugar in this recipe. Ingredients: 2 cups stone-ground cornmeal, white or yellow 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons flour 2 large eggs, lightly beaten 2 cups buttermilk 2 tablespoons canola oil or corn oil (I prefer bacon drippings or melted lard, but I don't have to worry about cholesterol and I know a lot of folks won't use it) Preheat oven to 450. Grease skillet and place in oven to heat. (If using lard, melt it in the skillet) Combine all the dry ingredients and whisk to mix. Add eggs, buttermilk and oil. (If using lard, pour the melted lard into a metal cup to measure, make sure there is some still in the skillet). Mix just enough to be sure all the dry ingredients are moist and there are no dry lumps. Pour into hot, well-greased skillet, return to oven and bake for 30 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Turn out onto wire rack if not serving immediately or onto a cutting board. Do not cut in the skillet! Cut into 8 wedges. serve hot with fresh butter. This also makes nice griddle cakes or waffles served with butter and maple syrup. For waffles, substitue flour for up to half of the cornmeal and add two tablespoons of sugar. YIELD: Makes 8 wedges SOURCE: Andie’s Grammaw Variations: you can add freshly-cut-off-the-cob sweet corn. You can add some green chiles or Jalapenos if you like spicy. You can add crumbled crisp bacon You can add some finely diced onion lightly toasted in the oven. You can add a bit of grated cheese. I grate it fairly fine and let it air dry for close to an hour so it doesn't melt away to nothing. ( RG1807 )

Alberta's Cornbread Dressing Serves 8 as Side. This recipe belongs to my nanny that raised me from the age of 6 months. She is an amazing cook. 1 lb box self-rising Cornbread Mix 6 Eggs 1/2 bunch of celery, chopped 1 large onion, chopped 1 stick butter 2 slices day-old white bread 1 can Cream of Mushroom soup 1 can Cream of Chicken soup 1 can evaporated milk 2 cans chicken Broth or homemade stock 1 T dried Sage Bake cornbread according to directions. Crumble bread and cornbread. Chop celery and onion and saute in butter until onion is clear. Add chicken broth and simmer. Pour over bread mixture. Add soups. Mix well. Add eggs, milk, sage and Accent. Bake at 350 until lightly browned-about 40 minutes. Should still be quite moist. Keywords: Side, Easy, Lunch, Dinner ( RG1497 )

Aunt Ilea's Cornbread (Sweet) Serves 9. I like the Southern "sour" corn bread as well and have tried many recipes, but here is the one I always come back to, an unusual version using light cream instead of a fat and milk/buttermilk combination. It's from a great aunt, one of my paternal grandfather's seven sisters, who could have done a "Great Cooks" series all on their own. 1 c flour 2/3 c cornmeal 1/3 c sugar 4 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 1 c light cream (half and half) 2 eggs Throw everything in a bowl, beat with a whisk until smooth and bake 25 minutes or so in a greased 8" or 9" square pan at 400 degrees, or until top browns. Keywords: Bread, Easy ( RG1145 )

Aunt Ilea's Cornbread (Sweet) Serves 9. I like the Southern "sour" corn bread as well and have tried many recipes, but here is the one I always come back to, an unusual version using light cream instead of a fat and milk/buttermilk combination. It's from a great aunt, one of my paternal grandfather's seven sisters, who could have done a "Great Cooks" series all on their own. 1 c flour 2/3 c cornmeal 1/3 c sugar 4 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 1 c light cream (half and half) 2 eggs Throw everything in a bowl, beat with a whisk until smooth and bake 25 minutes or so in a greased 8" or 9" square pan at 400 degrees, or until top browns. Keywords: Bread, Easy ( RG1145 )

Kale for your Cornbread 1 T vegetable oil or bacon grease 1 bunch kale (about 1 lb) 1/2 medium onion, minced 1/2 tsp curry powder (this seems like a reasonable use of commercial curry powder to me. I use Penzeys Hot) 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 c water 1. Strip the leaves of the kale from the stems with a sharp knife and slice the leaves into 1/4" shreds. Discard the stems or reserve for another use. 2. Heat the oil or grease over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan. Add the onion and cook until it begins to brown. 3. Add the kale, curry powder, salt, and water. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook 20-25 minutes, while the cornbread is in the oven. Serve hot, letting the juices moisten the cornbread while you're eating. Keywords: Side, Condiment, The Daily Gullet ( RG505 )

Southern Cornbread Note: Of course, it's hard to argue the Puritanism of this recipe when it has cheese and bacon it in, but the Puritans lived in the North, right? If this is your first experience with Southern cornbread, leave out the bacon bits and cheese, and commune with corn. 2 strips bacon 4 oz white flint cornmeal (see note) 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp cream of tartar 3/4 c buttermilk 1 egg 1 oz cheddar cheese, grated 1. Fry the bacon in a skillet until crisp. Pour 1 tbsp of the fat through a sieve into an 8" cast-iron skillet. You could, of course, cook the bacon in the cast iron, but I find it leaves behind microscopic bacon nodules, which burn. 2. Place the cast-iron skillet in the oven and set the temperature to 425 F. 3. Chop or crumble the bacon into small bits. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk the egg and buttermilk in a liquid measuring cup. 4. When your oven claims to be preheated, give it five more minutes with the skillet inside. Pour the liquid ingredients all at once into the dry ingredients and give a few turns with a whisk to combine. Let sit for one minute. 5. Remove the skillet from the oven and slosh the grease around carefully to coat the bottom and sides. Pour the batter into the skillet and return to the oven. 6. Bake 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and invert immediately onto a plate. Bisect the cornbread parallel to the plate like a layer cake. Remove the top layer, add a layer of cheese, and replace the layer of bread. Serve immediately, crisp side up (it doesn't look as nice but stays crispier). Acquiring white flint cornmeal: Morgan's Mills (207-785-4900), of Maine, has five-pound bags for just under $20 with USPS shipping. Keywords: Side, Bread, American, The Daily Gullet ( RG504 )

Yankee Cornbread Serves 4. 1-1/2 c yellow cornmeal 1-1/2 c flour 2/3 c sugar 1-1/2 tsp salt (or 1 tbsp kosher salt) 1 T baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 1 stick butter, melted 1/2 c milk 1-1/2 c buttermilk 2 eggs, beaten 1 jalapeno pepper, minced 4 oz corn kernels (fresh, frozen, or canned) 3 oz cheddar cheese, grated 1/4 c minced scallions 2 T chopped cilantro 1. Preheat the oven to 425 F. 2. Combine the first six ingredients in a large bowl. 3. In another bowl, combine the butter, buttermilk, milk, and eggs, and turn with a whisk until combined. Pour over the dry ingredients all at once and stir until just combined. Add the jalapeno, corn kernels, cheese, scallions, and cilantro and again stir until just combined. 4. Pour the mixture into five buttered mini-loaf pans. I use foil pans from the grocery store, which makes the bread easy to transport and give away. The pans are about 6"x3.5"x2". Bake 25 minutes and serve Keywords: Side, Bread, American, The Daily Gullet ( RG503 )

Chipotle Bacon Cornbread Serves 6 as Side. This started out as just a scaled down version of Rachel Perlow's Skillet Cornbread With Bacon. I made a few changes along the way and the results are significantly different, hence the new recipe. This is for an 8 inch skillet. You could get away with using a 9 inch, but the bread will be thinner. Note: This is VERY spicy. If you can't handle the heat, seed the peppers. 5 slices cooked bacon, chopped 3 chipotle peppers, chopped – seed for mild 3 T butter 2/3 c yellow cornmeal 2/3 c flour 1/2 tsp tsp baking soda 1-1/4 tsp tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp black pepper 1-1/2 T sugar 1 c buttermilk 1 egg Mix peppers and bacon. Set aside. Put butter in 8 inch cast iron skillet and set skillet in oven. Preheat oven to 350. While oven is preheating and butter is melting, mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix buttermilk and eggs. Gently add buttermilk and egg mixture to dry ingredients. Stir only until moist. Batter will be lumpy. Stir in bacon and chipotle mixture. Remove hot skillet of melted butter from oven. Pour cornbread batter into hot butter. Bake for 20 minutes. Keywords: Side, Hot and Spicy, Bread ( RG451 )

Cornbread Salad From the cornbread thread. The next morning after making cornbread, people in the South often have corn bread cereal (crumbled corn bread with or without sweetener like sugar or honey or molasses and milk poured over) or cornbread salad, which is delicious. 1 pan (8x8) cornbread, baked, cooled & crumbled (for ease, just use 1 box Jiffy or other favorite cornbread mix) 1 c chopped fresh tomatoes 1 c chopped celery 1/2 c chopped green bell pepper 1 bunch green onions with tops, chopped 1 c mayo or Miracle Whip salt and pepper to taste Combine all ingredients thoroughly, cover and chill overnight There's a southwestern version where you use Mexican-style cornbread mix, and you can add some canned (drained) kidney, pinto, chili or Ranch Style beans. Many people add a can of corn, also drained. Some use 1 pkg Hidden Valley Original Dressing mix (prepared) instead of the mayo or Miracle Whip. A friend always puts in 1/2 C chopped sweet pickles, or some sweet pickle relish, and 1/4 cup sweet pickle juice. Lots of the "church potluck" women top this with some grated cheese, either Cheddar or Parmesan. I've also seen crisp bacon pieces, and pimentos, and pecans. This is very versatile - and you can add pretty-much whatever you want. It is really, really good though - and a nice substitute for potato salad at BBQs and hotdog/hamburger cookouts. Keywords: American, Salad, Kosher ( RG239 )

Grandma Hayes' Cornbread From the cornbread thread. 1 package Jiffy Mix 1/3 c flour 1/2 tsp freshly ground black peppercorn 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp cayenne 2 Serrano chiles, very finely minced Kernels from 2 corns on the cobs (did I write this correctly?) 1 egg Buttermilk, just enough to make a mix that resembles muffin batter 3/4 stick of butter This is what I did: I preheated oven to 350?F. In an 8 inch round baking tin I melted the butter. When it was melted, I pulled it out and sat it on the stove. I mixed all the dry ingredients and the minced pepper together. Added the eggs and buttermilk together and mixed quickly and lightly. Put the tin back in the oven for a couple of minutes, when the butter was hot again, I brought the tin out, poured the batter into it, moved the tin around so that the melted butter that had come on top of batter was evenly distributed all over the batter. Baked for 35 minutes until the top was beginning to get golden and the toothpick came out dry. Placed the tin on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Turned over onto a platter (Bottom side up.. Grandma said that is tradition) and rubbed the cake (the bottom now the top) with the remainder of the butter stick. Keywords: Intermediate, American, Bread ( RG238 )

Cornbread with Grits From the cornbread thread. This is a completely over-the-top cornbread with grits and black or red pepper. For the grits 1/4 c real (not instant) grits (either white or yellow) 1 c half and half a little minced garlic black pepper and salt For the cornbread batter 1 c cornmeal 1 c flour 1-1/2 T sugar 1 T baking powder 1/4 tsp baking soda 3/4 tsp salt 3 T butter 1 egg 1-2/3 c mixture of buttermilk and creme fraiche black pepper, red pepper flakes, or a mixture of both peppers First, you slowly cook the grits in the half and half, with the minced garlic, black pepper and salt in a little covered pot for about 15 minutes, until they're done. Let cool. Then, make a cornbread batter, sifting together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Melt the butter in either a cake pan or a cast iron pan in the oven. Beat the grits, egg and a the mixture of buttermilk and creme fraiche, together until smooth. Add 2 tablespoons of the melted butter to the grits and then mix quickly with the flour mixture. Pour into the cake or cast iron pan and sprinkle black pepper, red pepper flakes, or a mixture of both peppers over the top. Bake in a preheated 450 degree oven for about 35 minutes, until the top is set and the cornbread is coming away from the sides of the pan. The cake pan gives a softer, more cakelike bread; the cast iron pan makes a very crusty bread with a very moist interior that doesn't seem to rise as much. Keywords: Bread, American, Intermediate ( RG237 )

My Favorite Cornbread From the cornbread thread. Not at all southern style, but really good. 1-1/4 c cornmeal 1/2 c flour 2 T sugar 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 1 c milk 2 eggs 1 T melted butter Sift dry ingredients together into a mixing bowl Mix eggs and milk in another bowl, and add to dry ingredients; add melted butter Heat 8”-10” cast iron skillet and grease with oil or shortening Pour batter into skillet, and pour ¾ C milk over top of batter. Bake @ 375F for about 25 minutes Keywords: Bread, American, Easy ( RG236 )

Cornbread From the cornbread thread. It seems as if there are as many cornbread variations as there are "perfect" fried chicken recipes, but here is one of the myriad ones taking up my recipe box that seems to work quite nicely, with a little honey added for sweetness. Also it helps to not work the batter too much as it will result in a less risen final product. We also like homemade maple butter to go along with it. For the cornbread 1-1/4 c ap flour 3/4 c yellow cornmeal (I use stoneground for a little coarser texture) 1 T baking powder 1 tsp salt 2 lg eggs 2 T honey 1 c milk 2 T melted unsalted butter For the maple butter 1/2 lb unsalted butter 1/2 c maple syrup 1/4 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp salt preheat 8 inch cast iron skillet in 425 oven with 3 tbsp Crisco for 15-20 mins Whisk together dry ingredients. Whisk together wet ingredients. Add the wet to the dry until just combined. Remove the skillet from the oven and pour in mixture. Bake for 20-25 mins. Keywords: American, Bread, Easy ( RG235 )

Cornbread with Flour As discussed in the cornbread thread. Here's a recipe with flour, from my recipe box. 1/4 c oil or drippings 1 c corn meal 1 c flour 1 T baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1 c milk 1 egg Heat oil or drippings in a 8 or 9" skillet in a 425 oven. Combine dry igredients; add egg and milk and some of the grease from the hot pan. Pour batter into pan; bake 20-30 minutes. Additional Notes: 1)If using a 12" skillet, double all ingredients, but still bake for 30 minutes. 2)Can substitute water for milk, plus buttermilk powder (2 Tablespoons per cup of liquid) Keywords: Bread, Side, Easy, American, Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner, Snack ( RG234 )

Sarah's Cornbread As discussed in the cornbread thread. Here's a no flour recipe, from my friend Sarah. 1 c buttermilk 1 c stone ground yellow cornmeal 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 egg 1 T butter or drippings Preheat oven to 450°. Put some grease (oil, drippings or lard) in one 9 inch round iron skillet in the heating oven. Stir the cornmeal, salt and baking soda together. Add the egg and buttermilk and mix well. Remove skillet from the oven, add some of the melted oil/drippings and pour the batter into the skillet. Bake at 450° for 30 to 40 minutes. Remove when cornbread is brown. Keywords: Easy, American, Bread, Side, Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner, Snack ( RG233 )

Skillet Cornbread Version Without Flour 1 c buttermilk 1 c stone ground yellow cornmeal 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 egg 1 T butter or drippings Version With Flour 1/4 c oil or drippings 1 c corn meal 1 c flour 1 T baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1 c milk 1 egg From The Skillet Cornbread Thread: Version 1 (Without Flour) Preheat oven to 450°. Put some grease (oil, drippings or lard) in one 9 inch round iron skillet in the heating oven. Stir the cornmeal, salt and baking soda together. Add the egg and buttermilk and mix well. Remove skillet from the oven, add some of the melted oil/drippings and pour the batter into the skillet. Bake at 450° for 30 to 40 minutes. Remove when cornbread is brown. Version 2 (With Flour) Heat oil or drippings in a 8 or 9" skillet in a 425 oven. Combine dry igredients; add egg and milk and some of the grease from the hot pan. Pour batter into pan; bake 20-30 minutes. They are both great recipes, just that the addition of flour in the second one makes it quite different. My friend Sarah also says that some people add a bit of sugar to the batter. Keywords: Side, Snack, Vegetarian, Side, Intermediate, Bread, Breakfast, American ( RG226 )

Skillet Cornbread with Bacon Serves 12 as Side. Here's a link to the Corn Bread, Baked in a skillet thread. Ingredient Notes: 1) Instead of buttermilk you can use 1-1/4 cup milk + 1/4 cup plain Yogurt or Sour Cream) – I like to use sour cream and skim milk. 2) About the Sugar: use 1-3 Tbs, depending on how sweet, or not, you like your cornbread. 3) Optional ingredients: corn kernels, shredded cheese, chopped sautéed hot peppers, chopped cilantro 2 Slices Bacon 1 c Yellow Stone-ground Cornmeal 1 c All-Purpose Flour 3/4 tsp Baking Soda 2 tsp Baking Powder 1-1/2 tsp Salt 3/4 tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper 2 T Sugar 1 Egg, lightly beaten 1-1/2 c Buttermilk (see note above for substitutions) Heat the oven to 350°F. Place cast iron skillet over low heat and slowly cook the bacon. Occasionally stir and slice the bacon (I use 2 knives) until the bacon is crisp and the fat has rendered, then place pan in the oven (leave the crumbled bacon & grease in the pan). While bacon is cooking, sift together the cornmeal, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, sugar and pepper. In a second bowl, combine the egg and milk. When the bacon is done and the skillet is in the oven, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients along with any optional additions (see notes), and stir to mix fairly well. Quickly open the oven and pour the batter into the skillet and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Turn the cornbread out on a rack so it doesn't get soggy as it cools. Picture Credit and Bacon Notes: Thanks to eGullet member claire797 for the great picture. She pointed out that leaving the bacon in the skillet creates a "bacony crust." If you want the bacon mixed through the bread then remove & drain the bacon (leaving the grease in the skillet), crumble and mix into the batter before pouring it into the pan. Also, please note that the size of your skillet will affect how long the cornbread takes to bake. The pictured skillet is 8" in diameter and took 25 minutes to bake. I cook mine in a larger skillet, the bread is only about 1 1/2" in the center when done and takes about 18-20 mintues to bake. Keywords: Side, Intermediate, Snack, Dinner, Lunch, Pork, Bread, American, Barbeque ( RG163 )