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.

Red Lentil Coconut Soup

I would give proper credit for this soup if I could, because it is so awesome. I got it from a long-ago Internet friend who vanished; she might have gotten it from Weight Watchers, but I really don't know. Here is my take.

2 Tbs vegetable oil
2 medium onions, chopped (2 cups)
garlic to your threshold. I always at least double the garlic, so I am not a reliable guide.
1 inch piece fresh ginger, minced (or a squeeze from the fabulous tube of minced garlic I scored at the local Wally World. I know it sounds awful, but I hate grating ginger, and any ginger root of size will go furry in my fridge.)
1 Tbs curry powder, preferably hot
1 cup red lentils
3 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped (1 cup)
14-oz. can light coconut milk (or regular)

1/4 cup minced cilantro
 
Heat 2Tbs oil over medium heat. Add onions, and cook, stirring often, until onions start to brown, about 10 minutes. Add ginger, garlic, and curry powder and stir for 30 seconds.  Add 4 cups water, lentils, carrots, and coconut milk. Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer. partially covered, until lentils are tender, about 20 minutes.

In food processor or blender, puree soup in batches until smooth. Taste, and add more salt if desired. Serve hot.

Somewhat Mediterranean Lentil Soup

Somewhat Mediterranean Lentil Soup

1 cup brown lentils (check them over for tiny rocks)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 diced onion
minced garlic, to your garlic threshold. I think this soup should knock out vampires at twenty paces.
1 peeled, diced sweet potato
1 package frozen spinach (thawed, with excess moisture squeezed out)  or equivalent fresh (you're on your own, and why are you using fresh spinach in a soup? I am not angry, but I am very disappointed.)
1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste
about a quart of water; you may add more
(optional vegetarian bouillon cube)  

Start with the olive oil and saute the onion. Get it nice and translucent, and at the very end, add the garlic. Give it a good stir and add the water, the lentils, the optional cube, and the sweet potato. Bring it to a boil, then down to a bubbly simmer. At twenty-five minutes, check both the water and the sweet potato. The mixture should be soupy, and the sweet potatoes should be tender. You may have to add more water and increase the time for this. When sweet potatoes are done, or close to done, add the thawed spinach, and allow everything to come up to temperature. Finish with a nice strong squeeze of lemon juice.

You could garnish this with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt, or a sprinkle of feta cheese.

Kate's Faux Shahi Paneer

Because, yeah.  I love Indian food, and eating out every night so is not in the budget.  Not when there is kibble to be bought for the furkids who are, after all, much more important.


(I usually make tomato sauce in bulk, but I'm assuming not everyone does that.  Use about 3 cups of your bulk tomato sauce or use this.)

1 package fry-able cheese (I usually use Queso Blanco or Queso Fresco)
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can pureed tomatoes
 dried onions or fresh diced onions
1/2--1 cup milk

Spices:
tumeric
garlic
cumin
garam masala
whatever else smells good

Optional:
your favorite veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, snap peas.... )
cashews
raisins

Slice the cheese into chunks and lightly brown in a fry pan with the onion.  When it's nicely browned, dump over the tomatoes and dump in the spices and the milk.  I use half garam masala-- half everything else. Turn heat to low.   Let it simmer while the rice cooks.

Serve over brown or white basmati rice