Cornbread [MERGED TOPIC]

[rotuts]

should you find that Rx and make it, please post.

[Rozin Abbas]

I need to take a trip to the south to taste some cornbread because now my curiosity is piqued.

I normally use this recipe and I've always liked it:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Buttery-Cornbread-236502

It's similar to the cornbread at the local BBQ joints here. I've always liked it and I use it to make stuffing for Thanksgivings and Christmas. The recipe also bears resemblance to a lot of the more popular cornbreads on the internet.

Though, the idea of using bacon fat is incredibly appealing. Sounds flippin' amazing! This recipe in particular seems intriguing. I'll have to make it sometime in the near future:

http://blog.williams-sonoma.com/chef-frank-stitts-perfect-southern-corn-bread/

[andiesenji]

There was a Portuguese restaurant here (now closed) that baked their own breads and one of them was this fabulous Portuguese-style cornbread. I believe it's a yeast bread rather than the Southern batter type. Taste was like a chewy yeast bread with a lot of that sweet corn flavour and crunchy grittyness - so delicious! I'm googling for a recipe now (or if anyone has a suggested recipe, please post!) and hoping to make it soon. I'm curious as to what other types of cornbreads are out there and if any other cultures have a particular cornbread.

It's called BROA and this recipe on Leite's Culinaria is totally authentic and utterly delicious.

Of course it is nothing like southern cornbread, but is perfect on its own.

[Charcuterer]

My recipe for cornbread is one that my mother used and I love it.

2 TBS oil

2 C cornmeal (not coarse or self rise)

1TBS baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar (I use turbinado)

1/4 cup melted butter

1 egg

1 3/4 cup buttermilk

Put 2 TBS oil (not butter) in a 9" cast iron skillet and put in a cold oven then heat the oven to 425f . Don't start putting the batter together until the oven is up to temp. Mix all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Lightly whisk the egg and add the melted butter and buttermilk then pour the wet into the dry and mix. Pour the batter into the hot skillet and return to oven for about 20 minutes. Turn out on a cooling rack.

I have added Jalapenos and sweet corn to it and it's great. This cornbread makes the best cornbread dressing (stuffing) when it has staled a little.

[Tri2Cook]

There was a Portuguese restaurant here (now closed) that baked their own breads and one of them was this fabulous Portuguese-style cornbread. I believe it's a yeast bread rather than the Southern batter type. Taste was like a chewy yeast bread with a lot of that sweet corn flavour and crunchy grittyness - so delicious! I'm googling for a recipe now (or if anyone has a suggested recipe, please post!) and hoping to make it soon. I'm curious as to what other types of cornbreads are out there and if any other cultures have a particular cornbread.

There's a recipe for Broa in Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Bread. I have no idea if it's authentic or not but it's good.

[Jaymes]

I'm curious as to what other types of cornbreads are out there and if any other cultures have a particular cornbread.

Well, if you think about it, the corn tortillas of Mexico are basically cornbread. And the tamales are also a type of cornbread, stuffed with something (savory or sweet) and then rolled in corn husks and steamed.

[rotuts]

Tj's Boxed cornbread: $ 2.69 you add oil/milk/an egg :

BV'd. I use pyrex and did not do the 25 degree offset as i like it a little darker.

this CB is of the sweeter variety, actually had whole kernels in the mix, and asked for 1/2 cup oil.

thats a little rich for my tastes so If I use this again, Ill use a little less oil

A store one town over has a large selection of Bob's Red Mill and Ill go looking there for corn-meal

BRM has fine, medium, and coarse. for some reason its much cheaper there.

Ill use that for the next steps. should i get a bag of medium to also work with?

many thanks for all your replies and suggestions for other mills to try.

[Beebs]

Thanks for the broa recipes, Andiesenji & Tri2cook!

I'm going to give the Leite's recipe a go. I think I have all the ingredients except for fresh yeast cakes. How do I substitute regular dry yeast? I'm assuming the flavour probably won't be as authentic and I'm ok with that. Or is it really worth it to source fresh yeast for broa?

[Franci]

Thanks for the broa recipes, Andiesenji & Tri2cook!

I'm going to give the Leite's recipe a go. I think I have all the ingredients except for fresh yeast cakes. How do I substitute regular dry yeast? I'm assuming the flavour probably won't be as authentic and I'm ok with that. Or is it really worth it to source fresh yeast for broa?

In Europe fresh yeast it's much more common...it will not make a difference using dry yeast in place of fresh. I generally use 1 1/2 teaspoons of saf-instant in place od 25g of fresh yeast. That is usually the standard quantity for a pound of flour if you want a quick one hour rise, for longer proofing reduce the yeast quantity.

[andiesenji]

Just a note, any time you are looking for a Portuguese recipe from meats to custard tarts and everything in between, check first at David Leite's site. David's recipes are all designed for the HOME cook or baker, no matter how complicated they may seem.

I used to correspond with David - in the late '90s before things got so busy for him. He is dedicated to getting the recipes right.

[Beebs]

Well, didn't make broa today, but had some leftover buttermilk so made regular cornbread. Unfortunately, laziness & carelessness made for a less-than-ideal loaf. Used the usual William Sonoma recipe. Used oil instead of butter, because the butter was frozen; forgot to mix the oil with the other wet ingredients, so stirred it into the batter at the end; baked it in my toaster oven knowing that it bakes unevenly, because too impatient to wait for my big oven to preheat. Cornbread ended up unevenly brown, tough & dry. Yes, it is possible to screw up cornbread.

[Jaymes]

I need to take a trip to the south to taste some cornbread because now my curiosity is piqued.

I normally use this recipe and I've always liked it:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Buttery-Cornbread-236502

It's similar to the cornbread at the local BBQ joints here. I've always liked it and I use it to make stuffing for Thanksgivings and Christmas. The recipe also bears resemblance to a lot of the more popular cornbreads on the internet.

Though, the idea of using bacon fat is incredibly appealing. Sounds flippin' amazing! This recipe in particular seems intriguing. I'll have to make it sometime in the near future:

http://blog.williams-sonoma.com/chef-frank-stitts-perfect-southern-corn-bread/

You don't have to take a trip to the South to try Southern-style cornbread. It's easy to make. It's just firmer and much less sweet than what my older relatives called, "that ol' sweet cakey Yankee cornbread."

There are several reasons for that, as explored in some length in that other cornbread thread. But one reason is that Southerners eat cornbread in a variety of ways that just don't work with the sweet cakey variety. I can't imagine dragging a piece of Marie Callendar's sweet cakey cornbread through a bowl of greens or beans or black-eyed peas and hamhocks. It won't crumble and hold up well if I put it into a tall glass and add ice-cold buttermilk and sit down to eat it with an iced-tea spoon out on my front porch on a hot summer evening. It won't work well the next day if I want to crumble it into a bowl and add some sugar and milk and eat it as a cereal; heated for a sort of "cream of corn" cereal if it's a blustery, rainy day. It makes really lousy cornbread salad, one of our very favorite dishes to "carry" to a church potluck.

Nope. So we get our big black cast-iron skillet, add a little bacon grease, put it into the oven until the grease is sizzling, pour in our cornbread batter, stick it back into the oven and Bob's your Southern uncle who knows a thing or two about proper Southern cornbread.

Cornbread was cheaper and easier to make than white bread. It was the sustenance of the South.

Sometimes, if I want cornbread to be more like a side dish with some kind of meal like fried chicken or pork chops, I'll make that ol' sweet cakey Yankee cornbread. I'll even add a can of creamed corn, or some chopped green chiles, or jalapenos. It comes out almost more like a corn pudding.

But, most of the time, if I want corn pudding to serve alongside fried chicken or pork chops, I'll just make corn pudding.

Edited October 24, 2013 by Jaymes (log)

[MSRadell]

My wife and I both prefer our cornbread slightly sweet but not overly sweet like you find some places. It also seems like it's more difficult to find yellow cornmeal these days, it seems like white cornmeal is becoming dominant. We actually have found that if you bake/cook the cornbread in one of those electric sandwich makers it works out great! It cooks very fast and you get a nice crusty outside on each piece.

[annabelle]

Cornbread and beans are a staple meal here in Oklahoma. I'm pretty sure my mother weaned us on it.

Jaymes, my mother also loves to eat cornbread and buttermilk out of an iced tea glass with an iced tea spoon.

I've made so many batches of cornbread that I don't even need a recipe any longer. (I'm that way with baking powder biscuits too, although I'll buy whacka-biscuits once in a while, cut the centers out and deep fry them for donuts and toss in powdered sugar for the boys when they're home.)

MSRadell: Martha White makes both white and yellow cornmeal as well as self-rising flour, all in five pound bags and is most likely available by mail order. There are recipes printed on the packages for cornmeal, corn muffins and corn sticks.

[robirdstx]

I like mine a little sweet and have made mine based on this recipe several times.

http://tvwbb.com/archive/index.php/t-15057.html

Keri's Cornbread

(1st place, OK State Fair in Tulsa, 2002)

1 1/2 cups plain cornmeal (not cornmeal mix or self-rising)

1/2 cup flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder, preferably Rumford

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar (to 1/2 cup)

1 1/4 cup milk (fat-free works fine)

1/2 cup vegetable oil (can cut to 1/4 cup if desired)

2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 400, placing pans in oven while it heats. I use 2 cast iron stick pans, 1 cast aluminum stick pan, and 1 non-stick scone pan, as seen in the picture at the link below.

Blend dry ingredients in large bowl. Blend milk, oil, and eggs, and add to dry ingredients. Blend till all is combined.

Remove hot pans from the oven one at a time, and slip a small amount of Crisco or bacon grease (say about 1/4 tsp or so) into each stick form, brushing it to cover all surfaces well. Place back in oven for a few minutes - you want these puppies HOT. Remove pan from oven, set on heat-proof surface, and, using a tablespoon from your silverware drawer, put a generous spoonful of batter into each form. You should have enough batter for 24 cornsticks and 8 thin crusty wedges.

Bake at 400 until golden brown on the tops, about 15 minutes for the sticks and about 20 minutes for the wedges. (If you prefer, bake the whole recipe in a 9-inch cast iron skillet for about 30 minutes and just cut into wedges to serve, or just use a 13x9 pan and cut into squares.) To remove from pans, gently ease the tines of a fork under the edges of the cornstick and carefully pry up. If you preheated your pan well and greased it right, it should pop right out. Serve with pinto beans and fried taters, BBQ, or just with a cold glass of sweet milk.

[andiesenji]

I was shuffling things in the freezer earlier today and came across a tub with a couple of cloth bags of grits and two bags of cornmeal from Nora Mill Granary, Grist Mill and Country Store - located in Helen Georgia.

Finding them prompted me to cook some of the grits: (White Speckled stone ground - A.K.A. Georgia Ice Cream) a large batch both for immediate consumption - and the remainder poured into a pan to "set" in preparation for cutting into squares and frying on a griddle.

One bag of the cornmeal is the self-rising type, which I seldom use but decided to give this a try and the other is the "Plain" white cornmeal. They also have yellow but I have always preferred the white - perhaps a leftover from my childhood when yellow corn was called "horse" corn or "hog" corn and was fed to the animals and the chickens - after being hulled and run through a "cracking mill"...

These grits are very flavorful and the cornmeal makes an excellent cornbread.

I agree wholeheartedly with Jaymes that the only way to bake cornbread is in a cast iron skillet. Preferably one that has been seasoned for decades and has developed the perfect non-stick inner surface.

[Franci]

For those who use corn meal, do you hydrate your flour?

So far I've always used corn flour (so very fine milled flour) to make my bread. I ran out and only had corn meal (Bob's Red Mill), and I followed one of the recipes on Crescent Dragonwagon's cornbread book. It called for hydrating only 1/3 of the flour in boiling water. I was expecting I would not like the flavor but went ahead anyway. In fact, especially the bottom came with the unpleasant feel of raw corn meal.

So my question is how do you use cornmeal instead of corn flour in your recipes?

[Shel_B]

I'll be making a couple of skillet cornbreads this weekend.  Never made it from scratch.  I noticed several grinds of stone ground cornmeal in the stores, and none of the recipes I want to try stipulate whether the meal should be fine, medium, or coarse ground.  Any suggestions, but, more important, what are the pros and cons of using the different grinds?  Thanks for any suggestions and help. 

[andiesenji]

In my opinion the best results are with a combination of medium and fine grind (Bob's Red Mill) of the brand found in stores.

 

If you order online from one of the mills that produce heirloom cornmeal, the results of the stone-ground meal, that has not been sifted and divided, you will get essentially a combination of fine, medium and a little coarse.

This is easily visible when you look at the meal but you can prove it by simply sifting some through a sieve.  (I've actually done this)

[MSRadell]

Speaking of cornmeal, why is it so difficult to find yellow cornmeal these days? It seems like all that is stocked at most places is the white. I know they taste the same but cornbread just looks better when it's made with the yellow.

[Shel_B]

Speaking of cornmeal, why is it so difficult to find yellow cornmeal these days? It seems like all that is stocked at most places is the white. I know they taste the same but cornbread just looks better when it's made with the yellow.

 

Around these parts I see plenty of yellow cornmeal, not so much white.  I agree, cornbread looks better in yellow.  I've never seen an "albino" cornbread.

[Shel_B]

In my opinion the best results are with a combination of medium and fine grind (Bob's Red Mill) of the brand found in stores.

 

If you order online from one of the mills that produce heirloom cornmeal, the results of the stone-ground meal, that has not been sifted and divided, you will get essentially a combination of fine, medium and a little coarse.

This is easily visible when you look at the meal but you can prove it by simply sifting some through a sieve.  (I've actually done this)

 

I bought some Bob's yesterday.  Not knowing what I wanted, I bought all three grinds.  I'll keep your comments about the heirloom cornmeal in mind.  Thanks!

[NEPolarbear]

Try......

http://www.kenyonsgristmill.com/home.html

 

I have also ground up my own corn meal in the Vitamix.

[Franci]

I bought the medium cornmeal from Bob's Red Mill for cornbread and I really dislike it...I used a nice recipe from Crescent Dragonwagon's cornbread book. I didn't feel the flour hydrated enough and I didn't like to eat hard cornmeal.  I previously tried the same recipe with the fine cornmeal and it was very good. Although I found the flour a little bitter, even if was well within expiration date, also Bob's Red Mill. I guess I need to look for better flour, like some of the producer suggested in that book.

[Shel_B]

Thanks for your comments, Franci.  I'll try Bob's, since I already have it and see how it works out.  If I don't like it, I'll try another recipe and then, if still unsatisfactory, I'll try another brand.