How do we do snow here in NC? Look out the window, see snow, put on a big pot of Cajun 10 Bean Soup and a skillet of true unsweetened Southern Cornbread..
The beans are a packaged mix from Ragin' Cajun Fixin's and the spice package they supply with it is a nice touch even though I add some spices of my own..
Put 4 quarts of water in a dutch oven, bring beans to a boil and turn off heat, let sit covered for 1hr.
While beans are soaking, coarsely chop 1/4 lb of Savoie's Pickled Pork, slice off two 1/2" thick slices of the Pork Jowl bacon, dice up one complete Spring Onion, crush and chop 4 cloves of garlic, any dried or fresh hot peppers you happen to like to use.
Bring beans to a second boil, add the pork, onions, garlic, 3 bay leaves, 1tsp each of thyme, cumin seeds, basil, oregano, hot peppers, and the seasoning packet that came with the bean mix. Boil briskly for 3hrs until beans are tender and pork is falling apart. Add water as necessary to keep beans off bottom of pot, stir often.
Make the cornbread when the beans are nearly done..
Here is Chef Sean Brock's famous "Make Cornbread Not War" recipe for a true no flour no sugar Southern cornbread that is out of this world delicious! The photos were of this recipe that I made today, followed the recipe to the letter and it works great, as the photos show. The results are a nice crunchy bread with a crispy crust and a light crumb that almost reminds me of a down south style fish fry where they bread the fish in nothing but cornmeal. It is nothing like Northern cornbread that is cake like and sweet, and although I like both styles, the unsweetened stuff works better with beans than the sweetened variety..
Chef Sean Brock's recipe:
http://www.foodrepublic.com/recipes/make-cornbread-not-war-sean-brocks-cast-iron-cornbread-recipe/?fb_comment_id=fbc_721613834616249_810344045743227 _810344045743227#fbcf8a0f5a42
Another good and truly Southern recipe, no flour and no sugar, which is quite informative as to what makes good cornbread tick without flour or sugar:
http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/11/h...cornbread.html
My first execution of Chef Sean Brock's recipe turned out really good, just like his photos:
Turned out onto a plate and slid back into the hot skillet top side down as he recommends:
(Look at that really crispy crust!!)
Sliced, buttered and served hot from the skillet, we will definitely be making this recipe again!
I used some thick sliced hickory smoked Carolina Pride bacon for this cornbread recipe, it's not one of my favorites for a breakfast meat but for making cornbread, it worked great and 1/3 of this 12oz pkg yielded exactly 5tbsp of fat which is what the recipe called for.
The next batch of this great cornbread will be made with some of Alan Benton's bacon, lots of respected chef's are saying Benton's is the BEST BACON in the country, so I ordered some. They will send you two 1lb packages in usps flat rate for around $25 which is ehh pricey for bacon but if it REALLY IS everything that some noted chefs are saying it is, the cost will easily be forgotten...