Cornbread [MERGED TOPIC]

[M. Lucia]

Thanks for the illustration, this is pretty much how I do it also (with purchased cornmeal).

Interestingly, my grandmother and mom always preferred white corn when making homemade cornbread.

[therese]

Great pics and info, andie. Your finished product is thicker than I'm used to, but otherwise very much a trip down memory lane.

[andiesenji]

Sometimes I bake the same recipe in a 12 inch skillet and it comes out just about an inch thick and very crusty.

The next time I will make it in the larger skillet.

Edited March 7, 2005 by andiesenji (log)

[andiesenji]

and, an additional note:

I also use this basic recipe for griddle corn cakes, but with the addition of a little flour, no more than 1/4 cup, possibly a teaspoon of baking powder if the first ones do not puff enough.

I also sometimes add a cup of cooked rice to the mixture with a little more buttermilk if the batter is too thick, to make "philpy" a rice cake that was one of the things made by my grandfather's cook several times a week. She wrapped them carefully so they could be packed in the lunch bags the men who worked out in the fields carried.

She made several versions, some quite thin and very crusty, almost like a "lace" cookie, others thicker and more cake-like.

There are several lowcountry versions of rice bread and rice cakes, some with rice flour, some with corn, etc.

In some versions she also added mashed beans.

It is an interesting combination and is a complete amino acid chain.

Edited March 7, 2005 by andiesenji (log)

[AK@Spicehouse]

More importantly, where do I get an exchange student to clean the inside of my dishwasher.? Any info would be appreciated.

and, an additional note:

I also use this basic recipe for griddle corn cakes, but with the addition of a little flour, no more than 1/4 cup, possibly a teaspoon of baking powder if the first ones do not puff enough. 

I also sometimes add a cup of cooked rice to the mixture with a little more buttermilk if the batter is too thick, to make "philpy" a rice cake that was one of the things made by my grandfather's cook several times a week.  She wrapped them carefully so they could be packed in the lunch bags the men who worked out in the fields carried.

She made several versions, some quite thin and very crusty, almost like a "lace" cookie, others thicker and more cake-like.

There are several lowcountry versions of rice bread and rice cakes, some with rice flour, some with corn, etc. 

In some versions she also added mashed beans.

It is an interesting combination and is a complete amino acid chain.

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Edited March 7, 2005 by AK@Spicehouse (log)

[andiesenji]

Anka is not an exchange student. She is a student at design school in L.A. because she won an international competition and was invited here with a scholarship partly paid by the school here and partly by a company in Hungary, the rest by her parents.

She was living in a house with several other students but had difficulty studying because of constant parties and etc. She is a serious student (looks like a model).

Her parents are friends of my boss and he asked me if I knew of any place, such as a family home, where she could stay. I joked that if I lived closer to town she could stay with me and she said she didn't mind the driving. It was her idea to work as my housekeeper as a good work history counts as part of her experience here.

I pay her a salary, provide a car plus her room and board and travel expenses, insurance, etc.

She did not want to even take a salary but I insisted we keep everything legal.

As I have said in earlier posts, she loves to clean. I have not yet caught her cleaning the back step with a toothbrush, but she does use the power washer on it.

You could, if you wished, eat off the floor IN THE GARAGE.

I mean, I always kept a clean house but now it is nearly like a surgery suite.

[andiesenji]

I have had a couple of email inquiries about the mixing utensil. 

This is what is known as a "Danish whisk" and is ideal for mixing quick breads as it mixes the ingredients rapidly without working the batter too much.  This is particularly useful with regular wheat flour batters where you do not want to develop the gluten.

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Quite interesting. Must be ideal for making tempura batter, too.

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I use it when I make scones which can become tough and dense with just the heat from ones hands mixing the dough.

I use this whisk then scoop them onto a sheet pan with a disher of whatever size I want, from tiny to 4 oz, rarely larger, then simply dip a spoon into ice water and press down on the top to flatten them.

They remain light and flakey, none of the hockey puck disasters so often sold in stores.

[touaregsand]

Wow, Andie. Now that's what I call made from scratch! Cornbread is one of my favorites with lots of butter of course. Now I'm waiting for you to churn your own butter!

[andiesenji]

Wow, Andie. Now that's what I call made from scratch! Cornbread is one of my favorites with lots of butter of course. Now I'm waiting for you to churn your own butter! 

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I do that too. Although I have an electric churn.

It requires "raw" cream and it isn't as easy to get as it once was. I have an electric pasteurizer to make sure it is safe. for when I make butter and cheese.

I took some of my homemade cream cheese and sour cream to the eG potluck last October.

Everyone there seemed to find it okay.

I should add that I don't make everything from scratch all the time. There are some perfectly good commercial products that are nearly as good as homemade, sometimes better.

I just like to know that I CAN do it if I wish. I have always been curious and it has not diminished with age (nearly 66), in some ways it has become more acute.

I have been ordering the Cabot butter, brought to our attention last November by Fat Guy in "Butter just like in the old country"

It is certainly as good as my homemade butter and considering the time involved in making it, the cost (including shipping) is not that much more.

I also like to make some things my own way so I know absolutely what goes into them. Pure and simple is my motto. Homemade butter doesn't always have a lot of color.

Homemade lard sometimes does have a bit of color and sometimes is grainy but very rapid cooling can remedy that. You just have to perfect the technique.

The next time I make butter I will photograph the process.

Edited March 7, 2005 by andiesenji (log)

[sizzleteeth]

Awesome andiesenji - I didn't see this thread until just now.

Great pics and clear info.

You are definitely a cornbread master!!!!

[fou de Bassan]

Andiesenji, you make a mean cornbread!! My great-granny would have been impressed as she was a stickler on crumb. Alas, I never made into her personal pantheon of great cornbread cooks but she didn't have anything against my fried chicken.

[andiesenji]

Thanks for the illustration, this is pretty much how I do it also (with purchased cornmeal).

Interestingly, my grandmother and mom always preferred white corn when making homemade cornbread.

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Where I grew up in western Kentucky, yellow corn was known as "hog corn" or "horse corn" as it was usually fed to livestock.

The white "shoepeg" dent corn raised on the farm for our use often had one or two red kernels on an ear - we called them "lucky Indian corn" . It always seemed those ears were especially sweet, fresh or dried.

We had a neat "huller" that we kids loved to operate, a hand-cranked machine for removing the dried corn kernels from the cobs. We didn't have to do it, it was work, but it was also fun.

There was also one that had a kerosene (coal oil) motor and later still an electric one.

Farmers in the area would come to our place, rent time on one of the machines to hull the corn, then pay to have their corn ground in the grist mill (water powered), white corn for table use, yellow corn for chicken feed (**and other enterprises ).

They made a social event out of it, groups of men in overalls standing around, telling tall tales about their hunting dogs, their mules, their fishing exploits, etc., smoking roll-your-own cigarettes or chewing tobacco and passing around a bottle or two.

(** from the "other enterprises" )

For us that was fun, hanging around the mill, cranking the huller, listening to the stories.

I feel sad for today's kids who have the entire world at their fingertips via the internet but will never know how much fun one can have just being in the midst of activities such as this.

As corny as it may sound today, these rough, poorly educated men rarely used profanity. A "Dag nab it", "Dad burn it", "Dern" an occasionall "Damm" was about all we ever heard.

Edited March 10, 2005 by andiesenji (log)

[Pontormo]

I have great recipes for cornbread that are non-cakey and use a minimal amount of all-purpose flour, i.e. 1 1/2 c. cornmeal to only 1/2 cup flour.

My dilemma is two-fold, however.

1) Any strong opinions about spelt or other possible substitutes for that flour?

2) Second, the recipient of the recipe lives in France and I assume, does not have access to buttermilk or the same levening ingredients that we use. Yogurt is a traditional sub for buttermilk, I know. However, are there other factors that I might need to consider before sending her American cornmeal and such a recipe?

I will look into USPS policies & Customs before attempting to mail packaged grains since they be forbidden. However, if they're free to go overseas, I might send Masaca, a tortilla press and recipe instead.

[chefpeon]

  Any strong opinions about spelt or other possible substitutes for that flour?

I have successfully used soy flour as a substitute for wheat flour in some things. I think it would

work ok in the cornbread.

  Second, the recipient of the recipe lives in France and I assume, does not have access to buttermilk or the same levening ingredients that we use.

Why wouldn't you be able to get buttermilk in France? If that's true, then all you have to do is make

"sour milk" as a substitute. Simply add a little lemon juice or vinegar to regular milk, and Voila!

you have a great buttermilk substitute. The ratio is about 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar to one cup of milk.

I KNOW France has the same types of leavenings we do.....they just call it by a different name....

[John DePaula]

They should have no problem with leavening agents, both readily available at any market:

bicarbonate de soude = baking soda

levure chimique = baking powder

[Kathyf]

Spelt is definitly not an acceptable/safe substitute for wheat even though some sites claim it is.

I have done quite a bit of wheat free baking and prefer to use oat flour. It has the closest comparable texture and taste to baking with wheat. But you'll have to ask them if they can use oat flour because sometimes it's grown in rotation with wheatand an extremely allergic person might have a problem due to that. If oat flour isn't an option for them they can try 1/2 rice flour (either brown or white) and half tapioca flour.

I don't care for the taste of soy flour- it leaves an odd aftertaste that's hard to get rid of.

[Pontormo]

Why wouldn't you be able to get buttermilk in France?

I KNOW France has the same types of leavenings we do.....they just call it by a different name....

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[Pontormo]

Spelt is definitly not an acceptable/safe substitute for wheat even though some sites claim it is.

I have done quite a bit of wheat free baking and prefer to use oat flour. It has the closest comparable texture and taste to baking with wheat. But you'll have to ask them if they can use oat flour because sometimes it's grown in rotation with wheatand an extremely allergic person might have a problem due to that.  If oat flour isn't an option for them they can try 1/2 rice flour (either brown or white) and half tapioca flour.

I don't care for the taste of soy flour- it leaves an odd aftertaste that's hard to get rid of.

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Spelt IS a type of wheat, yes. A friend had just assured me she uses it as a substitute all the time. I used to use rice & barley flours when I had the same allergy--but that was more than twenty years ago; I have never heard of tapioca flour. I appreciate all this new information.

[tejon]

I took some of my homemade cream cheese and sour cream to the eG potluck last October. 

Everyone there seemed to find it okay.

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Ahem. I just found this thread and had to comment. The cream cheese and sour cream were far beyond "okay"! Both were incredible, especially the cream cheese. Makes me weep a bit when I break open the block of Philly - it's just not the same.

Edited October 25, 2005 by tejon (log)

[KatieLoeb]

I hadn't noticed this thread before either. Andie, I just have to say that

I am endlessly impressed with your attention to detail, insistence on home made ingredients and fluency with all manner of cooking and baking. You are truly awe inspiring.

[andiesenji]

Heavens, I am blushing. As I said in an earlier post, I do not always make everything from scratch but like to know that I could if I had to.

I love the flavor as well as the texture of freshly made cream cheese, butter and etc. There is just something about it that one couldn't find except in some of the old-fashioned delis that used to make their own. Now the food police and people suing at the drop of a hat have put paid to that. The hysteria over lysteria means no more home made goodies sold in stores, at least here in Calif.

I used to be able to buy "clean-out" cottage cheese when I had large dogs, from Alta Dena dairy.

It was the stuff that was in the system between different types of cottage cheese and was sold in big bags, cheap! It was perfection good, just two kinds mixed together.

Now they can only sell it to hog farmers, by law...

[chow guy]

Thanks a bunch, for what looks like a great recipe. I'm going to make it this week and add some Chimayo red chiles from my garden and fresh corn... in my mothers old cast iron skillet.

[Bill Miller]

Beautiful lesson. I do mix the cornmeal with equal flour though--we just like the consistancy that way. We never add sugar but I have had cornbread with cream corn added and enjoyed it.

[Jaymes]

Both were incredible, especially the cream cheese. Makes me weep a bit when I break open the block of Philly - it's just not the same.

Don't know where you live, but if you choose not to make your own, it might be worth a little investigation to find other options. There are several Amish communities nearby us and we buy homemade cream cheese from them.

[tejon]

I live in the same general area as Andie so all the same laws apply here as well, sadly .