Cornbread: Southern Style Comfort

Probably one of my most indespensible kitchen tools is a well-seasoned cast iron skillet. Great for sauteeing, frying, simmering, pineapple upside down cake, and, yes, cornbread. Skillets also used to be called spiders, by the way.

If you don't have a skillet, please just use a normal cake pan. A sautee pan will do weird things in the oven.

My recipe below contains buttermilk. Buttermilk is a traditional ingredient in cornbreads. You'll find links to recipes that don't require buttermilk below. Some of them use sweet milk, some hot water, and there is one that uses yogurt!

Even if you prefer a recipe with wheat flour, try it in a skillet. The texture is fabulous.

This bread comes out with a wonderful grainy texture, with crispy edges. Try spreading it with honey for breakfast, or try it with a bowl of fiery chili.

Recipe: Spider Cornbread Ingredients

• 1 1/4 C buttermilk
• 1 C stone ground cornmeal (Yellow is crunchier.)
• 1/4 C white flour
• 1 t salt
• 1 t honey or sugar
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 T butter or shortening

Procedures

1. Preheat the oven to 450 F.
2. Place the butter in the skillet and the skillet in the oven while you mix the batter.
3. Mix together the dry ingredients.
4. Beat the egg.
5. Mix the egg and buttermilk into the dry ingredients.
6. Carefully remove the skillet from the hot oven. Swirl the melted fat around to coat it. Pour the batter into the skillet.
7. Bake 30 to 40 minutes. Serve cut into wedges.

Variations

For a bit of variation, a punch of extra flavor, or to create a more thematic meal, try adding some of the following

• Crumbled, cooked, sausage.
• 1/2 C grated cheddar and 2 T cracked pepper
• 1/2 whole kernel corn
• Several finely chopped anaheim, poblano, or jalepeno peppers.
• 2-3 cloves minced garlic
• Chopped veggies, such as bell pepper or broccoli

Cornbread Recipes

• Basil, Roasted Peppers and Monterey Jack Cornbread
• Hot Water Cornbread
• Portuguese Cornbread (yeasted)
• Yogurt Cornbread
• Celeste's Mississippi Cornbread
• Buttermilk Cornbread
• Southern Style Cornbread

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