Wayne Boatwright said...
> 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,
Thanks for the pointers. I never tried a cast iron skillet, only a pyrex
baking dish.
I'll certainly have another go AND be sure to measure the oven temp with
a digital probe thermometer.
If it turns out better (which it will
, I'll certainly make it more
often.
Thanks,
Andy