Bob's sweet cornbread recipe. Complete with photos!

[Bob in St. Louis]

Hey all.


It's Saturday night and I realized I hadn't eaten all day (busy performing honey-do's), so instead of grabbing a bologna sammie,
I thought I'd put some effort into it.
So, I did a quick Google search for cornbread using corn meal, NOT a ready-mix.
Here's the one I found:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/17891/g...eet-cornbread/


(NOTE: At the 20 minute mark, the top was brown, but the cornbread was still "wiggly".
FAR from being done! So I turned it down to 350 and cooked it another 10 minutes.
PERFECT!


Here's the photos:

[rancher1913]

you need one of those fancy cast iron corn bread skillets that have individual pie slices too bad st louis is so far away or I'd join you. my wife grinds her own corn meal from sweet corn and man does it make good corn bread.

[DougGuy]

Well, if you care enough about cornbread to use cast iron to bake it in and also avoid a box mix, you're already ahead of a lot of 'em, might as well know how "sweet" cornbread got it's start.

True southern cornbread has no sugar, and no flour. This is made possible by leaving the corn on the stalk in the field, where it develops natural sugars that sweeten the corn. Places that harvest the corn too soon and mechanically dry it, don't give mother nature time to do her thing. Whole grain cornmeal has the germ and the bran with it so this is the binder you need along with an egg, to make it "bread." Buying plain yellow cornmeal does not give you the whole grain you need to make it bind so flour has to be added.

This is the difference between yankee cornbread and southern cornbread, where yankee cornbread is more like a cake made with sugar, flour, and cornmeal. Southern cornbread isn't really sweet, it's gritty, crunchy crusted goodness. I do admit to liking the occasional pan of Jiffy mix every once in a great while with some BBQ ribs or fried fish, but for the most part Jiffy is loaded with junk that is not good for the body so me and Jiffy parted ways.

If you want a really good recipe for true southern cornbread in cast iron, Chef Sean Brock's "Make Cornbread Not War" recipe is one of the best, we use it here a lot. Why he calls it what he does ehh, well, sounds a little left to me but hey you can't taste left when it comes out of the pan all crispy with that hardwood smoked bacon overtone mixing in with that unmistakeable "almost burned flour" smell of the well seasoned cast iron skillet. Some things just need to be left the hell alone, and enjoyed as they are. THIS cornbread, is one of those things.

Make it, slice and butter it, put it in a bowl and drown it with beans, pot likker from collards, break it up and put it in a glass with buttermilk, and savor the raw unabridged flavors of real down home cornbread....

http://www.foodrepublic.com/recipes/...nbread-recipe/

Here's that infamous recipe made in an old Wagner #6 skillet, bacon and hatch chiles add much to the character and flavors of an already excellent recipe.. Substitute jalapenos, cracklins, cheddar cheese, etc..

[Bob in St. Louis]

"Rancher", yes indeed.... I was thinking the same thing.
Don't we all love those crispy edges!!!

"DougGuy", Well then.... I think I'd like to shake your hand, offer you a beverage of your choice, and have a chat with you.
I've heard that us Yanks are doin' it wrong (although, in my mind, I'd have prefered the Mason Dixon line be north of me... but we can't change history, can we... )
To say that your post has given me "thought" is an understatement to say the least.
I'm a slave to food, and if anybody has a better way, than I am all ears.
Your post has both of my ears in full attention!

Suffice it to say that I'll be digging into your recipe.
You Sir, might just be my new best friend. Thank you.

[badbob454]

i like 3 tablespoons of bacon grease in a hot cast iron skillet 2 boxes of jiffy cornbread mix pour in the mix while grease and pan are hot , put in oven till done honey butter and chili beans on the side.

[Bob in St. Louis]

badbob, ... granted, bacon grease makes everything better, including cornbread.
I didn't use that with this recipe. I used butter to pre-grease the skillet.
An idea.... I thought about using coconut oil instead of canola oil (but I didn't today).
I'd really like to eliminate canola from my diet totally.

[Reverend Al]

This is the version that I use all the time ... (and yes I bought proper Lodge cornbread skillets to make it in!)

THE ULTIMATE CORNBREAD RECIPE

Dry Ingredients:

- 1 Cup of All Purpose Unbleached White Flour

- 3/4 Cup of yellow cornmeal

- 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder

- 1 Teaspoon of salt

- 4 Tablespoons of sugar

- about 1 generous cup of mixed, grated cheese(s) (your choice of type)

Wet Ingredients:

- 3/4 Cup of Buttermilk

- 1/4 Cup of Whole Milk

- 2 Eggs, beaten

- 1/3 Cup of melted Butter or Margarine (I usually substitute with regular cooking oil)

- I can of Creamed Style Corn

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Spray two 9" aluminum pie pans with Pam (or with cooking oil if you have a pump sprayer like we do). Cast iron is always the best for cooking cornbread, and a cast iron skillet, or an actual segmented cast iron cornbread pan is the very best way to cook cornbread properly.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and blend them well. In a smaller bowl or measuring cup, thoroughly mix the buttermilk, whole milk, eggs, and oil or melted margarine. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well. Pour the batter into the two pie pans evenly and place in the preheated 375 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

When the cornbread is done, place on a cooling rack for about 5 minutes, then place a plate on the top and flip it over so that the cornbread is inverted on the plate. Cut into pie shaped wedges and spread with butter or margarine while it's still warm. It's great plain with Butter or Margarine, or topped with Apple Butter or any type of Jam. If any of it survives until the next morning, it's great for breakfast toasted until crispy under the oven broiler.

Important Tips:

- Have all of the ingredients at room temperature.

- Stone ground cornmeal works best and gives a golden coloured bread.

- If using melted margarine in the wet ingredients, don't use "no fat" versions as they contain too much water.

- Mix the batter until completely smooth. I don't care what your Grandmother said about lumpy batter being OK!

[MaryB]

If you must use Jiffy mix(and I do at times, it is cheap and saves me swapping out the flour grinder parts to handle corn) use 2 eggs instead of one. I load it with bacon and cheddar and love it alongside a pot of chili or stew.

[M-Tecs]

Dang the pics got me. Guess I will be making some cornbread some.

[rockrat]

Mine is modified a bit, from Grandmothers recepie:
1/2 cup flour
1& 1/2 cups stone ground corn meal
2 tbs sugar
1 tbs baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
couple shakes of the salt shaker
4-5 drops vanilla
2 eggs
buttermilk ( I don't measure, just guess)
2 heaping tablespoons bacon grease (put in pan to heat up, then swirl to cover bottom of pan and sides. Pour in batter, it will sizzle a little, at the end, and mix, then pour batter in warm/hot skillet. Makes for a crispy bottom crust.

I mix all the dry ingredients first then eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and lastly, the bacon grease. Bake at 375 degrees till top starts to brown

[Bob in St. Louis]

Looks like there's going to be more cornbread in my future!
Some amazing sounding recipes here, with some surprising ingredients too!
I'd have never thought about cheese. I make my own vanilla extract, and have thought about using it in cornbread, but haven't yet.
Yum.

[JSH]

Bob, I preheat my iron skillet. Actuall I use butter flavor crisco and melt in the skillet or pot.
Doug, I myself like southern style plain corn bread. But gosh darn it, I like it poofed up and a sticky top on it. I can stand the sweetness in the beans. Half a skillet of corn bread, real butter and some molasses or honey, get out of my way.

Someone gave me a Lodge corn bread skillet. I had no idea what it was for,Mao I took it back and swapped it for a Dutch oven. I cook most everything non acidic in cast iron.

[MaryB]

White extra sharp white cheddar and bacon is a combo that can't be beat! Great eats! I also add grated onion sometimes, sweet corn nibblets from the garden(use less liquid then because it has its own liquid)... corn bread cna almost be a meal in itself. If I have to much batter for the pan I save it for pancakes the next day, just thin it a bit with milk, or use as is in the waffle iron! Makes a great breakfast with butter and maple syrup