2008 February 23 | Chickens in the Road

Archive for February 23rd, 2008

Feb
23

Breads, The Farmhouse Table

Sometimes people ask me why I haven’t posted a recipe for cornbread since I wax obnoxiously about cornmeal at times. The reason I haven’t posted a recipe for cornbread is because I figure everyone has their own cornbread recipe and there isn’t any need, but since people do ask, I’m going to post it. In West Virginia, cornbread is practically an art. Here on a farm that specializes in grinding fresh cornmeal to make that cornbread, it’s almost a religion. When my cousin, the cornmeal grinder, started letting ME make the cornbread for family suppers, I knew I’d made it. I was Georgia’s equal! I could make the cornbread! (Okay, I’m not Georgia’s equal. You haven’t seen this woman work in the garden…..) But anyone can make great cornbread. First you have to throw out your Jiffy boxes. That is cardboard cornbread. You need the real thing.
Start with great cornmeal. At the very least, real cornmeal, not a Jiffy mix. Cornbread is easy to make, but if you want a mix, you can make your own mix. (I’ll tell you how.) If you can, get fresh cornmeal from a local farmers’ market, organic/health food market, or local fairs and festivals. The fresher the cornmeal, the better. **Fresh cornmeal won’t contain preservatives. Keep it in the freezer for longterm use.

If you’re in this area, my cousin sells his fresh-ground cornmeal at the Black Walnut Festival in Spencer every October and the Mountain State Arts & Crafts Fair in Ripley every July. (He’s been grinding cornmeal there for so many years, last year he was inducted into their Hall of Fame.) I like to get my cornmeal right off his grinder.

How to make cornbread:

2 slices peppered bacon
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk (or milk, but I like to use buttermilk if I have it, you can be all healthy and use skim milk if you want, I LIKE FAT)
1/4 vegetable oil or 1/4 cup cut-up butter (what do you think I prefer?)

Using a large iron skillet, fry the two slices of bacon. Remove the bacon and drain to use for another purpose OR crumble and stir into your cornbread mixture before baking.

In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add eggs, milk, and oil or butter. Stir to combine. Do not overstir! (Sometimes more or less milk is required, depending on slight variations in measuring dry ingredients-add what you need to get a nice, thick almost pourable consistency.)

Variations: More sugar, if you want really sweet cornbread, or less sugar if you plan to add vegetables to the mixture-you can add 1/2 cup or so diced, sauteed onions, peppers, anything that appeals to you. Add shredded cheese, or corn, or even chopped pecans. (I like it with pecans especially with a sweet, sweet cornbread mixture.)

Pour cornbread mixture into the iron skillet you used to cook the bacon in to season it with the bacon drippings. (First tip the pan all the way around, spreading the bacon drippings to grease the pan.) Bake in a 425-oven for 20-25 minutes.

To prepare your own cornbread mix:

4 cups flour
4 cups cornmeal
1 cup sugar (or less if you don’t plan to make sweet cornbread)
4 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt

Mix well. Store in the freezer in a large plastic freezer bag. To use, scoop out about 2-1/4 cups mix, add your eggs, milk, oil/butter, and you’re all set. Just like a Jiffy mix. Only SO MUCH BETTER. This keeps well in the freezer a long time, so make duplicate bags if you know you like to use mixes to fix cornbread quickly and if this will STOP YOU FROM USING JIFFY MIXES. I’m here to help. I’m a helper.