Homestead mailing list

["Jerry W. Shepperd" <shepperd AT austincc.edu>]

When I saw your email, I called my African-born wife, who has cooked 
lots of cornbread on open fires as well as stovetops.  She agrees 
with Lynda.  Use one's regular cornbread recipe.  If you want the top 
of the cornbread brown, flip it just before it is done.  Be more 
careful than I was the last time I tried to flip it.  The cornbread 
landed on the floor.

If you substitute self-rising cornmeal for regular cornmeal, leave 
out the salt and baking soda.

1/2 cup buttermilk or soured milk (put 1 tablespoon of vinegar in 
regular milk to sour it)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 egg
3/4 cup cornmeal (some folks like to substitute 1/4 cup of flour for 
1/4 cup of the cornmeal)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons oil or butter, for the pan

For variations in taste, mix cheese, onions, chopped olives, chopped 
bell peppers, or chopped jalapenos in the batter.

And, enjoy.

Jerry S.



At 05:16 AM 11/6/2007, Lynda wrote:
> I just use my regular old recipe.  Heat the pan on a low heat with the lid
> on, just hot enough to melt the bacon grease and then pour in the batter,
> turn down the heat to simmer/low depending on your stove, slap the lid back
> on it and forget it for 30 to 40 minutes.
>
> I found that if I heat the pan with the lid on, I get a more even cooking
> and it helps retain the heat better.  If you put the lid on it cold, then it
> takes just that much more time for the heat to get to the top and radiate
> down onto the corn bread.
>
> Speaking of cornbread on top the stove, I remember my mother cooking
> cornbread and pies in cast aluminum pans when I was a kid.  They were
> Diamond Craft and she had a rack she set in the pans and then put a pie tin
> or cake pan on the rack and "baked" just like in the oven.  I was thinking
> about trying that with one of my cast iron pans.  Anyone else "bake" in
> their pans?
>
> Lynda
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Gene GeRue" <genegerue AT ruralize.com>
>
>
> > It's that time of year when I start craving cornbread. My old
> > computer-in-the-cranium says I used to make it on the stovetop in one
> > of the cast-iron skillets. Alas, the computer memory is defective.
> > Recipes, please.


"Silence is not always golden; sometimes it's yellow."