BS: Corn bread

Subject: BS: Corn bread
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 22 Aug 04 - 01:25 PM

On Sunday mornings I make a fairly elaborate breakfast for my family. This morning, it included my all-time favorite cornbread recipe, as follows:

Nebraska Spider* Corn Bread

1-1/4 cups corn meal (preferably the rough ground, non defatted kind)
1 Tbs light brown sugar
1 tsp soda (note, not baking powder, but soda)
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp melted butter for the batter
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups buttermilk
3 Tbsp fat for the spider*

Mix the dry ingredients and add the liquids which have been mixed together. Melt the spider-fat in a 10-inch spider (iron skillet), tip pan so sides are greased, and add the batter. Bake 20 minutes at 375 degrees. Cut in wedges and serve hot with butter (as if you need yet MORE butter!). I always serve this with honey or sorghum syrup. This is soft, really too soft to pick up and eat, I think, so you'll need forks.

*"spider" in this case is not an arachnid, but an iron skillet. In times gone past, it would have three legs cast as part of it, so that it could sit the in coals of a fire and bake. Thus the descriptive term "spider".

Anybody else have favorite corn bread recipes?

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Aug 04 - 01:59 PM

There's a wonderful Mudcat cornbread thread in existence already.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: pdq
Date: 22 Aug 04 - 04:12 PM

For a Tex/Mex style cornbread, leave out one egg (they make bread tough). Cut down greatly on the sugar, and substitute a can of creamed corn for the buttermilk.

I can't recall exact proportions, but the can of creamed corn changes the style completely. Add some fresh/chopped jalapena peppers (no seeds, thank you) for variety. Maybe some grated cheese on occasions. Have cold beer ready in fridge, Pearl or Lone Star preferred.

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: greg stephens
Date: 22 Aug 04 - 06:23 PM

What is soda exactly? Would it be sodium bicarbonate(baking soda in England)?.

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: wysiwyg
Date: 22 Aug 04 - 06:35 PM

Yes, Greg, it would.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: greg stephens
Date: 22 Aug 04 - 06:37 PM

Thanks, Susan . I think I will try this recipe.

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 23 Aug 04 - 06:21 AM

On this side of the puddle, Soda (the chemical) is normally assumed to be Caustic Soda - NaOH - Sodium Hydroxide - which would change the recipe somewhat...

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: Rapparee
Date: 23 Aug 04 - 09:58 AM

No shit! Certainly would spice it up some.

Try adding fried and crumpled smoked bacon (streaky bacon, but with lots of lean in it) and sharp cheddar cheese to the recipe. Or a few drops of your favorite hot sauce and sharp cheddar cheese.

If anyone's interested I've got a really fantastic recipe for grits souffle, as served in Williamsburg, VA.

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: jeffp
Date: 23 Aug 04 - 11:41 AM

That sounds awfully intriguing, Rap. I'd be very interested.

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: mg
Date: 23 Aug 04 - 12:06 PM

also spoon bread as served in Williamsburg and all over the south. mg

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: Kim C
Date: 23 Aug 04 - 03:04 PM

A friend turned me on to hot water corn bread about a year ago. Take 2 cups of cornmeal and dump 1 cup very hot to boiling water in it. Stir it up. Let it sit just a few minutes for the water to absorb - this will give the concoction enough stickiness to make patties.

Make patties, fry in hot oil. Should be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. YUM!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: Scoville
Date: 23 Aug 04 - 08:16 PM

Will have to try it. I usually prefer drier cornbread, and NOT sweet; it's especially good crumbled into chili.

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 23 Aug 04 - 08:43 PM

Kim C:   That's "fried mush" where I come from, and if you let it sit to get cold and set up, then cut as thin as possible, then fry it in bacon grease so that it gets sort of crispy, then serve it with maple syrup or honey, it's great!

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: Rapparee
Date: 23 Aug 04 - 09:52 PM

I'll get and post the recipe for grits souffle when I get home.

Another nice addition to corn bread is dill.

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: Rapparee
Date: 24 Aug 04 - 09:22 AM

Grits Souffle
(US measures)

2 cups milk
1/2 cup instant grits
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3 eggs, seperated (the yolks from the whites, not put on different areas of the room)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 1 1/2 quart casserole or souffle dish.

Scald the milk; add grits and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Add salt, baking powder, butter and sugar; mix well. Beat egg yolks and add to grit. Whip egg whites until they hold soft peaks; fold in. Pour into prepared the greased dish.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve hot; makes 6 servings.

Hint: before adding egg white, add 1/2 cup grated sharp cheese and a dash of Tabasco sauce.


--We were served this at Williamsburg, VA in 1976. Since grits isn't on the menu of most folks outside the South, and a grits souffle isn't on the menu of most folks anywhere, the serving went like this:

"Grits souffle?" WHAP!! onto the plate.
"Ah, thanks."

If you don't like grits, try this recipe. If you like grits, you'll love this. It's not at all what you suspect.

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: jeffp
Date: 24 Aug 04 - 09:36 AM

Thanks, Rapaire. Looks delicious. I may add a little jalapeno or chipotle before or after cooking, not sure which.

jeffp

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 25 Aug 04 - 09:38 AM

1) "No shit!"

Of Course - who would eat it then!


2) "Certainly would spice it up some."

At least you should not get heartburn, and should not need to take ant-acids...

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: Fibula Mattock
Date: 25 Aug 04 - 10:05 AM

Where the hell can you buy cornmeal in the UK? Sainsbury's don't seem to stock it... no surprise there. You can't buy wheatmeal for love nor money either, and I need that to make wheaten loaves.

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 25 Aug 04 - 04:21 PM

Corn meal is available in almost all supermarkets in the US, in my experience. However, it's usually been defatted, to make it last longer on the shelf. GEtting what I'll call "natural" cornmeal is harder. I generally have run into it only at actual grist mills where it's ground, which are sometimes found in historically oriented State and Federal parks. My friends and relations know that when they visit such places that have orders to buy some for me.

Wheat meal I'm not familiar with, but I suppose it might be available in similar settings.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: KateG
Date: 25 Aug 04 - 06:06 PM

Dave O

Try Indian Head brand, I've found it in most supermarkets, and it still has the bran and germ (with the oils). I keep it in the fridge or freezer, otherwise it goes rancid.

If that doesn't work Hodgson's Mill has whole grain corn meal and lots of other good stuff. (I'm partial to their multi-grain hot cereal with oats, soy and flax.)

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Aug 04 - 06:41 PM

Fibula: You may have to search for a product with a name other than "corn meal." Is the name "maize" used more often over there instead of the generic "corn," to distinguish it from other grains?

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: Rapparee
Date: 26 Aug 04 - 08:39 AM

I think it's also called "Indian meal" at times.

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 27 Aug 04 - 05:26 AM

For the benefit of the Brits
What are ' grits ' ?

eric

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: Rapparee
Date: 27 Aug 04 - 12:16 PM

Jes' check 'em out ratch ear, buddy-ro.

Cooked they have the consistency of thick mush and are usually eaten with red-eye gravy or butter (Yankees dump maple syrup on 'em, but a real Southerner'll find that cause fer reignitin' the Late Unpleasantness). Sometimes they'll be cooked up with cheese in 'em, too.

There are also hominy grits, which is dried hominy (pasole seco) ground in a stone wheeled mill.

Grits are usually made from white corn.

I dunno iffen y'all kin find grits real easy in England. Hayl, I don't think ya kin find 'em in Philadelphia real easy!

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 27 Aug 04 - 12:25 PM

"Grits", a/k/a "hominy grits" are the national dish of the US South.

They are a corn (maize) product, and take the form of fine white or sometimes yellowish particles, cooked into a sort of mush. If you have breakfast (or often any other meal) in the US South, you will get a serving of grits on the plate as a matter of course, much as in the American West you'll get hash browns. Grits fanatics generally, in my experience, tend to prefer the white grits.

The "mush" of grits is reminiscent to me of farina, or the trademarked hot breakfast cereal Cream of Wheat. Grits served as a matter of course with breakfast are usually expected to be eaten with butter, but there are those who prefer to pour syrup or honey on them.

Not being a Southerner myself, I can take them or leave them alone very nicely. And also, not being a Southerner, I have probably unknowingly made some controversial or even heretical statement above, so I'm putting on my flame-retardant underwear right now.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: catspaw49
Date: 27 Aug 04 - 12:56 PM

Click Here for one of many great grits threads!!!

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 27 Aug 04 - 02:08 PM

I don't want no
Corn bread, peas, and black molasses
At suppertime, Lord Lord Lord at suppertime.

Fibs, look for Maize flour, I think you want coarse ground. You could always buy some popping corn, and put it in the coffee grinder.
Giok

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: GUEST,MMario
Date: 27 Aug 04 - 02:18 PM

nope - popping corn is totally wrong to make grits.

VERY coarse ground maize flour might cook up like grits.

grits is to maize flour as pinhead oats are to oat flour.

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 27 Aug 04 - 02:24 PM

I was thinking corn bread MMario
Giok

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: pdq
Date: 27 Aug 04 - 06:23 PM

A Northerner goes into a Southern cafe and orders breakfast.

He tell the waitress that he wants scrambled eggs and bacon.

She writes it down, then asks "grits?".

He says "grits?".

She replies "yeh, hominy".

Not wanting to sound ignorant, he replies "oh, about a dozen".

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: Joybell
Date: 27 Aug 04 - 06:41 PM

Thanks everyone. With a husband who has late-onset diabetes it's great to get all these recipes using low GI products. We can get grits and corn/maize meal here in Australia if you know what to look for. The product we have that is labled "cornflour" is in fact wheat flour, though. See Stilly River Sage's post up there a bit. Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: DougR
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 01:18 AM

Sounds like a good recipe if you like sweet cornbread. I like mine without though. Buttermilk, egg, salt, soda, cornmeal, hot oil for the mixture, and that's really all you need to make good cornbread.

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: Dewey
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 04:53 AM

I'm On DougR side when it comes to cornbread, Cornbread is just that: BREAD not CAKE.

No offense, but most of the recipes posted here are, Northern "Johnny Cake" I may be from the north myself, but I do know the difference.

If you want SOUTHERN cornbread that sticks to your ribs, and Goes alongside of Pinto Beans (pinto beans and cornbread) the following are essential to get the texture and heaviness of the BREAD right.

1st

Start with and Iron Skillet (sorry, no cake pans, save that for your brownies) An Iron skillet in the oven makes the bread crisp)

2nd

Get the Pan Good And Greasy, think of a Well Greased Pizza Hut Pan Pizza and you'll get the idea. (you can grease it with bacon grease, corn oil, whatever you choose, just make sure the oils set in while baking and browns the edges to a hard golden crisp.

3rd.

AND MOST IMPORTANT!!! Use WHITE CORNMEAL *not* YELLOW CORNMEAL. WHITE CORMEAL IS COARSER AND HEAVIER THAN YELLOW. Yellow is the for northern johnnycake types who sip tea and put malasses on top.YELLOW GIVES THE BREAD A CAKE TEXTURE, NOT A BREAD TEXTURE.

4th.

Use Baking Powder, not Soda as the Leavening, and forget the eggs, Again, save them for your brownies and cookies that next time you want something to go with you capaccino.

Of course there are other rules and variations, but the southern aunthentic way is largely a conglomerate of the above. Cornbread sticks to your ribs, if made this way, any other way in my opinion and it is, "desert"

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: s&r
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 04:54 AM

In my childhood soda would have been washing soda - sodium carbonate - rather than sodium bicarbonate or sodium hydroxide.

Is semolina similar to grits?

Stu

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 08:19 PM

Well, actually sodium carbonate will work as a raising agent, but only if there is either some natural acid (eg, tomatoes, or citrus, etc) in the mix, or you have added some, such as vinegar. The bicarbonate will decompose quicker by just heat (the carbonate will too - but requires lots more heat!), and is easier to get a greater rise out of - like Martin Gibson.

:-)

Robin

Subject: RE: BS: Corn bread
From: pdq
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 11:07 PM

Trooper of Fools - Do you really need to pollute a thread on corn bread with this type of refuse?

Oh, I think Fool's Trooper left out one of the main ingrediants in his recipe:
                        "add 1 cup of bile"