Corn Bread.
Printed From: Foods of the World Forum
Category: The US and Canada
Forum Name: The Southeast
Forum Discription: Slow Southern comfort cooking at its best
URL: http://foodsoftheworld.ActiveBoards.net/forum_posts.asp?TID=3863
Printed Date: 26 March 2026 at 21:49
Topic: Corn Bread.
Posted By: AK1
Subject: Corn Bread.
Date Posted: 22 October 2013 at 15:31
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Nice easy recipe. 1 stick 1/2-cup or 8 tablespoons) of butter 1 ½ cups milk 1 ½ cups coarse cornmeal ½ cup brown sugar 3 eggs 1 teaspoon baking powder ¼ teaspoon salt DIRECTIONS1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place an 8-inch cast iron skillet in the oven to preheat. 2. Combine the butter, milk cornmeal and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a slow, steady simmer and whisk for a few minutes until thickened. 3. Add eggs, baking powder and salt to a medium bowl and whisk lightly. Add cornmeal mixture and stir until well combined. 4. Oil cast iron skillet and pour in batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until cornbread is golden around the edges and cooked through. Read more at http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipe/michael-smiths-cornbread/8544/#FVLo0ubGIskcEs59.99 - http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipe/michael-smiths-cornbread/8544/#FVLo0ubGIskcEs59.99 |
Replies:
Posted By: gonefishin
Date Posted: 22 October 2013 at 15:41
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I do love cornbread! Thanks for sharing!!! ------------- Enjoy The Food! |
Posted By: Rod Franklin
Date Posted: 22 October 2013 at 17:41
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Some day I'm gonna make cornbread from scratch. I always tell myself I'm going to. I always use the Jiffy Mix. I keep telling myself I should just make cornbread without the box, but I'm hooked I guess. Your recipe looks good to me. Maybe a little sweeter than I'm used to. I think the Jiffy has sugar in it too. I like that yours has 3 eggs in it and no wheat flour. Maybe, if I can keep my shaking hands off the Jiffy mix... ------------- Hungry |
Posted By: Rod Franklin
Date Posted: 30 October 2013 at 16:42
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Well, I made this cornbread tonight. What drew me to it was the use of 3 eggs and the fact that it has no wheat flour. I made it with only 1/4 cup of brown sugar instead of the 1/2 cup the recipe asked for and in an 8" cake pan instead of the cast iron skillet. Makes a real nice product. Great texture and taste. I can't just eat the Jiffy stuff plain, but this corn bread is a different story. It can stand on it's own taste wise. It's just me, but I would even reduce the sugar a little more. You would really have to like sweet corn bread to use the full 1/2 cup called for in the recipe. It does require an extra pan getting dirty, but it's worth it. It's a keeper and I won't be buying JIffy mix any more. Thanks AK1 for posting it up. Try it. It's good. ------------- Hungry |
Posted By: HistoricFoodie
Date Posted: 31 October 2013 at 07:11
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If it's sweeter than Jiffy, Rod, I would consider it a dessert. Jiffy, itself, is far too sweet for my tastes. Southern style cornbread, uses no sugar at all. And has a denser crumb than the Jiffy type. In fact, we have a name for the sweet, crumbly type typified by Jiffy. We call it "cake." Here's my favorite Southern-style version. It comes from a lady in the hills of SE Kentucky, who got it from her grandmother: Leonda's Cornbread 1 1/4 cups each self-rising cornmeal and flour 1 1/4 cups buttermilk 1 1/4 cups water Pinch salt Oil Mixt dry ingredients. Mix buttermilk and water and gradually add to the flour mix to form a thick batter. Add enough oil to a 10" cast iron skillet to form a layer about 1/4 inch thick. Prehead the skillet and oil in a 400F oven. Pour in the batter. Bake for one hour. Because you've preheated the oil, it's sometimes necessary to flip the bread about 3/4 through the baking, to keep the bottom from turning too crisp. This bread is best seved hot, with lots of butter. |
Posted By: Rod Franklin
Date Posted: 31 October 2013 at 08:29
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Cornbread with a touch of sweetness is fine by me, but AK1's offering with 1/2 cup of brown sugar would be considered cake by me and even with half that much sugar it was sweeter than I like, but all in all it's a great recipe. Brook, your recipe has that down South classic nature and I'm sure it's a good one and I like using buttermilk in such things. In fact, what I forgot to mention in my review was that I used some Half & Half that had begun to turn when I made it. And I agree, Jiffy is crumbly and sort of disappointing, especially compared to what I just made which can be enjoyed without anything added to it after it is made. I can't say that about any other cornbread I've eaten. ------------- Hungry |
Posted By: AK1
Date Posted: 31 October 2013 at 09:30
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Hi Rod, thanks for your opinion. When I made it last time, I didn't find it overly sweet, but then I don't eat corn bread alot, and that was the first time I had ever made it. I'm making Chili for dinner tonight, and of course I'm going to make corn bread again. I'll try it with 1/4 cup sugar this time. I'll let you know how it turns out. Darko
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Posted By: Rod Franklin
Date Posted: 31 October 2013 at 09:58
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How much sugar or if sugar at all is added is a personal preference. In the SE US, no sugar. The farther North the more likelyhood there will be sugar added. So, If you like it sweet then by all means use what you want. This recipe makes great cornbread. Thanks again. ------------- Hungry |
Posted By: MarkR
Date Posted: 31 October 2013 at 10:23
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My cornbread recipes are much closer to Brooks, no sugar. I've never made "Yankee" cornbread!  Just kidding, I do have a recipe for crispy cornbread that has 1 tsp sugar to 1 1/2 cups cornmeal. It's real good in corncob or wheat molds. But nowhere near 1/2 cup. ------------- Mark R |
Posted By: HistoricFoodie
Date Posted: 31 October 2013 at 14:47
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There are several differences between southern and northern cornbread. In general, they breakdown thusly: 1. Northerners, with one exception, prefer yellow cornmeal. Southerners prefer white. 2. Northerners prefer a sweet tasting cornbread. Southerners use no, or very little, sweeteners. 3. Northerners prefer a crumbly, cake-like crumb. Southerners prefer a denser, more bread-like crumb. Within those two frameworks there is lots of room for variations on the theme.
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Posted By: gonefishin
Date Posted: 31 October 2013 at 16:26
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Great discussion all! With cornbread...I think one should always take privileges with the sugar added. Never feel that you have to follow the recipe exact... I prefer a grainy, or corny, flavor to my corn bread. If you want sweet, don't forget that you can balance the "grain" of the cornbread with a drizzle of honey on top...or maybe rub the hot cornbread with a little butter...then sprinkle some sugar and ground cayenne...it not only adds a little bit of sweet and heat...but the dusting looks nice too! enjoy your grain! ------------- Enjoy The Food! |
Posted By: pitrow
Date Posted: 31 October 2013 at 19:50
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Apparently I fall into the 'northerner' category. I prefer yellow, never even seen cornbread made with white corn meal. I prefer a little sweet, but not so much that it's like cake. I'd take it unsweetened too, if I had some honey, or better yet, honey-butter to cover it with. As far as crumb goes, I guess I've only ever had it the 'northern' way, where it's very crumbly and doesn't hold together well. I think I'd actually prefer it the 'southern' way but I don't know since I've never had it that way. So I guess all that to say, I'm somewhere in-between. ------------- Mike http://lifeinpitrow.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow - Life in PitRow - My often neglected, somewhat eccentric, occasionally outstanding blog |
Posted By: MarkR
Date Posted: 01 November 2013 at 10:12
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Kinda funny, my family roots from St. Martinville Louisiana. My Dad would always insisted on yellow corn meal. Why I don't know but it's what I've always used. Probably because the primary use of cornmeal was for frying fish. Corn bread was secondary but common. I know in Alabama and Miss. it white meal. You cannot usually find white meal in Florida, just yellow. Probably because of all the "carpetbaggers" that keep invading the State. Pretty amazing how the demographic have changed here since I was a kid, entirely due to folks retiring and moving to Florida! If you're thinking about doing that, the sun never shines, it's always raining, it's always real hot and humid, there are no fish, the hunting stinks, the beaches are lousy, the people are worse and I never lie!  Oh, I forgot, there are no good golf courses either! ------------- Mark R |
Posted By: gonefishin
Date Posted: 01 November 2013 at 12:05
------------- Enjoy The Food! |
MarkR wrote:Posted By: HistoricFoodie
Date Posted: 01 November 2013 at 16:42
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I'd not given much thought to it, Mark, but as I recall they also prefer yellow around Metarie. Certainly that's what they use when frying oysters. But I don't think of Louisiana, particularly south Louisiana, as southern. It's a world of its own, down there, as you well know, with one of the few truly distinct cuisines found in America. |
Posted By: MarkR
Date Posted: 01 November 2013 at 21:24
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I think it's because the primary use is for batter frying. The cornbread goes along with the meal but it's a secondary use. The yellow cornmeal is crunchier when fried, for some reason? Ok, it's mo betta! ------------- Mark R |
Posted By: gonefishin
Date Posted: 02 November 2013 at 03:32
Okay...now you gave me a taste for some catfish! Next time I make it, I want to do a thin shaved catfish....MMmmMMmmmm! Dan ------------- Enjoy The Food! |
Posted By: Hoser
Date Posted: 03 November 2013 at 05:50
I'll be making this tonight with a big old pot of chili o have during the Patriot's game....will cut down the sugar as suggested and let you all know how it comes out.
------------- Go ahead...play with your food! |
Posted By: Rod Franklin
Date Posted: 03 November 2013 at 06:03
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I made it in an 8" cake pan. I scavenged just enough butter from the stick required for the recipe to grease the pan. I did not preheat the pan. The fact that the corn meal is cooked somewhat before hand does two things that I can determine. One, it makes everything quite warm before it goes in the oven so it cooked fine at 20 minutes at 425F, and two, cooking the corn meal first eliminated all those gritty cornmeal bits that plague (by my estimation) the results of other recipes. You're gonna like this. ------------- Hungry |
Posted By: MarkR
Date Posted: 03 November 2013 at 06:13
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Ok here's another. This will form a bit of "crust", or crispy. It is a 12' CI skillet. I microwave the butter to melt. Cornbread Crispy Ingredients 1 tablespoon lard or unsalted butter 1½ cups stone-ground cornmeal 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon sugar 1 large egg 1½ cups whole or low fat buttermilk (preferably whole) 2 tablespoons unsalted butter Directions 1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Grease a 12-inch skillet with the lard, leaving any excess in the pan, and place it in the oven. 2. In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients together. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg until frothy and then whisk in the buttermilk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix thoroughly. Melt the butter in a small skillet over low heat, and whisk the butter into the batter. 3. When the fat in the large skillet is smoking, carefully remove the skillet from the oven and swirl the fat around to coat the bottom and sides evenly. Pour the batter into the skillet; it should sizzle alluringly. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the top of the bread is golden brown and the edge has pulled away from the side of the skillet. Remove from the oven. ------------- Mark R |
Posted By: Hoser
Date Posted: 04 November 2013 at 02:14
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Okay....I made AK1's recipe for the game last night and had it with a nice bowl of chili....I was very impressed. I liked the density of the bread very much and the crumb was nice...you could pick it up and eat it without it falling apart and crumbling all over the place. I went with 1/4 cup brown sugar and was glad that I did...just a hint of sweetness to it. The wife and I are split on this one....she didn't like it at all because of the density, and that is precisely why I did like it. http://s694.photobucket.com/user/Hoser997/media/11313065_zps7233d23f.jpg.html">  ------------- Go ahead...play with your food! |
Posted By: AK1
Date Posted: 04 November 2013 at 10:38
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Thanks Dave! I made it last week again, but just used a 1/4 cup (maybe less, I eyeballed it!). I liked it better than the original recipe as well, not by much though. I may try it next time with very little sugar, just to see. Glad you liked it.
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Posted By: Rod Franklin
Date Posted: 20 November 2013 at 21:34
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I made this again a couple of days ago. I made a couple of changes to try to lighten the crumb a little and I think it worked. I used buttermilk to provide a little more acid. I upped the baking powder to 1 1/2 teaspoons to get a little more gas going in there. I used a rectangular pyrex baking dish instead of the round cake pan I used before and preheated it somewhat in the oven before hand. I wish I could find a way around making the cornmeal mush first, but I like the no grit feel of this stuff. Much better loft and noticeably lighter in texture. It still held together well too. ------------- Hungry |
Posted By: Hoser
Date Posted: 21 November 2013 at 02:52
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I was also thinking about upping the baking soda to 2 tsp and trying it again, but I may also just try to strike a happy medium between this recipe (for the crumb) and another one I like with pecans and a touch of maple syrup (for the wife's benefit)
I'm baking a ham Sunday, so that will mean pea soup next week, and that's when I'll play with it and let you all know how it came out. ------------- Go ahead...play with your food! |