My Cornbread Manifesto

I've had this simmering (baking?) in the back of my mind for quite a while, but haven't had the opportunity to get in front of a computer. By the way, here's a spare thrifty tip: don't knock a full glass of wine into your laptop. Your laptop has a stunted palate and will be satisfied with PBR.

Breads, along with pastas, rice, noodles, etc., have a long history as a way to supplement more expensive ingredients. As a good Southern girl, cornbread is one of my ancestral foods, and it is often misunderstood outside the region. Pull up a chair, now, and be enlightened.

One of the first misunderstandings is what makes Southern cornbread. Cooks Illustrated, usually my ultimate cooking authority, states that 'Southerners use 100 percent white cornmeal, and they like their cornmeal crumbly, dry, and flat--about an inch thick.'

Christopher Kimball, you ignorant slut.

That is a regional variation within the South, but not representative of the entire South. My mom, who is my ultimate authority in Southern cooking, says that is preferred when you can't afford flour or sugar.

Another misunderstanding is that cornbread is never sweetened. Possibly this confusion arises from the fact one should never sweeten grits, lest you offend Chicomecōātl, the Aztec goddess of corn, and cause her to materialize, extract your heart, and ruin breakfast.

Never sweeten grits; do sweeten cornbread -- a little. Cornbread is not cake. It should be sweetened just enough to enhance the corn taste.As far as the white/yellow cornmeal -- I have never cared what color my cornmeal is. I typically use white because that is what comes in the bag of White Lily self-rising cornmeal mix. My other two cornbread rules are more rigid: use buttermilk, and use a cast iron skillet.

I understand that buttermilk is not as widely available in supermarkets in some regions. Try to seek it out, though, because souring milk with lemon juice is not a terrific substitute (but will do if your back is against the cabin wall.) Once you get your hands on some real buttermilk, you can even start making your own, as noted in Foodie with Family. Buttermilk is not a one-trick pony, either. You can use it for cornbread, biscuits, pancakes, homemade ranch dressing, or as a fab marinade for chicken. Soak chicken pieces in buttermilk for 1-24 hours, and then bread or season it and cook as you wish. You could even go full-on-Southern and try my grandfather's favorite lunch in summer: fill a glass halfway with crumbled leftover cornbread. Pour in buttermilk. Eat with a spoon.

I suppose you have to have the leftover cornbread first, and I should get around to the recipe -- but one final word on equipment. Use a cast iron-skillet. I can and will write loving odes to the wonders of cast-iron, but in the meantime, just use one. It is essential to form a nice crust on the cornbread.

Okay, recipe! Mine is loosely adapted from Crescent Dragonwagon's Skillet-Sizzled Buttermilk Cornbread, from her Soup and Bread cookbook.

As mentioned, I use White Lily self-rising cornmeal mix, but it's another regionally available thing, so I've included a sub.

Preheat oven to 375.

Two cups self-rising cornmeal mix
or
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda

1 to 1 1/4 cups buttermilk.
1 egg
1/4 cup corn or canola oil (basically anything but olive)
1-2 tablespoons of sugar, or preferably honey.

butter or bacon grease

Mix your wets together, then mix  lightly into the drys. This is a quick bread, so don't over-mix -- lumps are fine. Let the batter rest for a second while you tend to the skillet.

Put 2-4 tablespoons of butter or bacon grease (or get evil and use a little of both) into the skillet and put the skillet in the oven for a few minutes. You want the skillet to get nice and hot and the butter/grease to melt. CAUTIONARY NOTE: if you are busy getting dinner together, possibly with kids or pets running around and chipping away at your sanity, USE A POTHOLDER. Not that I have ever reached into a hot oven and grabbed a hot skillet handle with my bare hand, because I am smrt. 

Carefully remove your HOT skillet with the HOT melted oil in it, and carefully tilt to coat the bottom of the skillet. Then pour your batter in (SZZZZZZZ!!!) and pop it back in the oven. Bake about 25 minutes, until golden brown. Then write me (or Crescent Dragonwagon) a thank-you note.

Allowable additions to cornbread: corn kernels, drained diced green chiles, non-fancy grated cheese (pepper-jack is as gourmet as you want to go,) or crumbled bacon (which you can cook in your cast iron skillet, and thus provide you with bacon grease.)

Tomorrow I'll follow up with how to use your cornbread leftovers, should you have them.