Wanted: Cornbread Recipes

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'm looking for a good cornbread recipe.

Specifically, I don't want anything too sweet (the recipe on the back of the cornmeal my wife buys is guilty of this), nor too fine (I'm looking for something with a bit of grit).

I'd also like at least a few actual kernels of corn in the cornbread and, if possible, I want one that can withstand the addition of jalapeños and cheddar cheese, depending on how much my wife likes me on a given day.

Any suggestions?

 

[Gilladian]

Just cut the sugar out of the recipe on the back of the cornmeal bag.

Use creamed canned corn in place of the milk and the egg (add milk by the tablespoon if it is too thick). Replace the egg with 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the corn, and the milk with equal volume of corn.

Add up to 1/4 c of grated cheddar cheese per cup of flour/cornmeal in the recipe. Choose a stone-ground meal for your "grittiness" or add a teaspoon of quick cooking grits to the mix.

The main thing to be sure of is that you don't add too much liquid (takes too long to bake and burns the tops) or stir too much while mixing (deflates the batter). It should be thick enough to plop off the spoon, but not so thick it stands in peaks. And it should be very slightly lumpy (not counting the corn lumps) while spooning into the muffin tins. And if you're baking in a pan, lower the temp about 25 degrees F. and increase the baking time by 5-15 mins.

Check allrecipes.com for excellent variants.

 

[James Heard]

My family recipe:

Put self-rising corn meal and one egg together in a bowl. Add just enough milk to mix the ingredients together so that the mix barely will fall off of a spoon turned to the side.

While you're doing that put a cast iron cornbread pan on the stove on high with just a bit of vegetable oil in the bottom so that it doesn't stick or splatter and heat until the oil just barely starts to smoke. Immediately turn off the heat, pour the corn mix into the skillet (carefully, because it will want to pop and splatter), wait a few seconds for the cornbread to firm up slightly around the edges and put in a 450 degree oven until golden brown.

I've never tried putting corn in the mix, but I've sprinkled jalapenos and cheese onto the top, as well as chopped bacon and cheese alone, and it seems to hold up well. When taking my cornbread out of the skillet try to do it while it's still hot. If you let it sit and cool off any it sometimes wants to stick to the cast iron.

It's not a sweet or cake cornbread by any stretch.

 

[Eeralai]

National Corn Bread Winner

This is a little more than what you asked for, but it is awesome. No actual corn in it, but jalapenos. It is a whole meal in itself. I just baked it a few weeks ago for the first time, and both my husband and I really liked it.

National Cornbread Winning Recipe

 

[Pyrex]

I like this recipe for Portugese Cornbread from FoodNetwork.com

 

[JDJblatherings]

cornbread for 6-8 people to have a helping or two.

1 cup flour
1 to 1.5 cups cornmeal (denser and grittier the more cornmeal you use)
1 cup milk, whatever type you like
sweetener- 1/4 cup of sugar works for me.
1/4 cup of some sort of fat - I use veggie oil for this (the only thing I use veggie oil for is baking),I don't think you need this if you use cream or buttermilk for your milk.
2 level teaspoons baking powder
1 egg, beaten


put the flour and the cornmeal in a bowl gently mix
Stir in baking powder
Stir in sugar
Stir in egg
Stir in milk
Stir in fat

I use a fork when mixing and it does the job fine for me; don't have to whip it just mix it. i find it works better to get all the dry stuff mixed before you get to the wet stuff. If you don't mix the flour and the cornmeal toghehter before you add the milk you can get "pasta balls" of flour mixed here and there in the finished cornbread (not very noticebale but I can tell when they are there).

put the whole thing in a generously oiled pan. I use olive oil for this myslef.

cook at 400 degeees until it is done. start looking at it in 20 minutes, it could be doens as soon as 25 in a glass baking dish bt it takes longer in a iron pan but comes out with nicer crispy sections on the edges if you do use an iron pan.





replace about half the flour with cream of wheat. You get cornbread with a lot of body.