Oh pshaw, on Mon 16 Oct 2006 05:47:55a, Andy meant to say...

> The Cook said...
>
>> On 16 Oct 2006 04:02:16 +0200, Wayne Boatwright
>> <wayneboatwright_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>Oh pshaw, on Sun 15 Oct 2006 03:49:45p, The Cook meant to say...
>>>
>>>> On Sun, 15 Oct 2006 22:29:14 GMT, (TammyM) wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>Fixin' to make some for dinner. Along with the black bean soup as
>>>>>it's turned out to be a cool enough day for such. So what's your
>>>>>special cornbread recipe?
>>>>>
>>>>>TammyM
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Here is mine.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> * Exported from MasterCook *
>>>>
>>>> Corn Bread
>>>>
>>>> Recipe By :Betty Crocker Cook Book
>>>> Serving Size : 12 Preparation Time :0:00
>>>> Categories : Breads
>>>>
>>>> Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
>>>> -------- ------------ --------------------------------
>>>> 2 eggs
>>>> 2 cups buttermilk
>>>> 1 teaspoon baking soda
>>>> 2 cups corn meal
>>>> 1 teaspoon salt
>>>>
>>>> Heat oven to 450° F. Generously grease 12 muffin cups or corn stick
>>>> pans or a square pan 9X9X1 3/4". Heat in oven while mixing batter.
>>>>
>>>> Beat eggs. Beat in other ingredients with a rotary beater just
>>>> until smooth.
>>>>
>>>> Bake 10 to 15 minutes for corn sticks or muffins; 20 to 25 minutes
>>>> for corn bread.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Copyright: Betty Crocker Cookbook 1960
>>>
>>>Exactly the ingredients and proportions I use, except that I bake it
>>>in a preheated sizzling hot black iron skillet.
>>>
>>>I also use stone-ground cornmeal.
>>
>>
>> I have been using a combination of a white corn meal and a yellow
>> coarse ground meal (polenta type.) I also use a preheated cast iron
>> skillet with a little bacon grease melted in it an poured into the
>> mix.
>>
>> The white corn meal comes from an old mill about 10 miles from me. I
>> managed to get the meal before they made it self rising.
>
>
> Sadly, I've rarely ventured beyond Jiffy cornbread mix. Then I end up
> making popovers instead. My scratch cornbread almost always turns out
> gritty and crumbles too easily. Maybe an oven temp issue.

Good southern style cornbread *is* gritty, but it should also be moist and
not too crumbly. It *must* be a very hot oven of 425-450*, and the skillet
*must* be preheated to the smoking point of the fat put in it. You may
also not be using enough fat. For the proportions of the batter above, I
use about 1/3 cup of shortening or bacon fat, melted in the skillet while
it's preheating, then most of it stirred vigorously into the batter before
pouring the batter into the pan. Quick work of it is important. Also, the
typical supermarket cornmeal (like Quaker), is much too fine. It produces
a dry powdery texture. Using coarse stone-ground meal and buttermilk will
produce a cornbread that's steaming and moist.

--
Wayne Boatwright
__________________________________________________

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