Episode 32: Cornbread.
Cornbread. Eat it with chili. Eat it with soup beans. Eat it with greens. Eat it with butter. Eat it with honey. Eat it for dinner. Eat it for breakfast. As any southerner will tell you, cornbread is a fundamental food group.
In case you don't already know how, here's how to make it:
Here's what you'll need:
- Cornmeal.
- Egg
- Milk or buttermilk
- Butter
Before we begin, I want to say something about the value of a good well-seasoned cast-iron skillet. For southern cooking, there is
no more important cooking implement. But, if you don't have one, don't fret. You can still make perfectly passable cornbread with a regular pan.
Start the batter.
In a bowl, add your cornmeal, egg and milk or buttermilk. Your batter should have roughly half as much liquid in it as the dry ingredients, so, for instance, one cup of milk to two cups of cornmeal. If you are using a cornmeal mix, it will probably had wheat flour and a rising agent in it already. If your cornmeal has neither of these things, you will want to add a little baking soda (half a teaspoon for the quantity mentioned above) and might want to add some flour, as well--otherwise you may have a courser cornbread than you would like.
Pour it in the pan.
First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Put your butter in the pan and melt it in the oven. Once melted, very carefully (with oven mitts or pot holders) tilt the pan so that you grease the sides and then pour the remainder into your batter. Stir it in and then pour the batter into the pan.
Bake.
Cook for about twenty minutes to half an hour (cook time will depend on the pan size--and type). When the cornbread is golden on top, remove it from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes. If your pan is small enough, hold a sturdy plate upside-down over the top of it, then turn both the pan and plate over. Tap the bottom of the pan and, if your pan was greased well, the cornbread should slide right out.
...And that's cornbread! Next up, there's...