I grew up eating cornbread on a regular basis. Mama and grandma's cornbread was of the standard southern variety. Always made of white cornmeal, usually flavored with bacon grease and always baked in a preheated cast iron skillet. It was always crusty, a bit salty and delicious. It is still my favorite way of making and eating cornbread. Later, I learned of other ways of making cornbread, using part white flour and sugar, with melted butter instead of bacon grease. While still preferring Mama's type of cornbread, every so often I'll make "Yankee" style cornbread just to be different. Aaron likes both kinds. There are some things that just cry out for a pan of hot, crusty cornbread...ham and beans, beef stew, macaroni and tomatoes. Here are my two favorite cornbread recipes.
Mama's Southern-style cornbread
2 cups white corn meal (either regular or self-rising)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder (omit if using self-rising meal)
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3 tbsp. oil or melted bacon grease
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Grease a 9 inch cast iron skillet (or 8x8 inch square pan) and place in the preheated oven to heat. Mix together the dry ingredients, then beat in the egg, buttermilk and oil/bacon grease. Spoon into the preheated pan and bake about 20-25 minutes, or until well browned and crusty. Cool a bit before removing from pan. Enjoy!
Rich "Yankee" Cornbread
1/2 cup butter (or ¼ cup butter and ¼ cup oil)
2/3 cup white sugar (decrease if desired, I only used 1/2 cup and it
was plenty sweet)
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8 inch square pan.
Melt butter. Remove from heat and pour in a large bowl, then stir in sugar. Quickly add eggs and beat until well blended. Combine buttermilk stir into mixture. Stir in cornmeal, flour, baking soda and salt until well blended and few lumps remain. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Enjoy!
