Thank you!!!

It was such a unique approach to it with the bacon in the bottom. :-)
I'm adding your recipe back to the bottom of this post and cross-posting.
It's also gone into my recipe collection on the hard drive. <G>

Cheers!

In article .com>,
"PatDugan" > wrote:

> I'm honored! Of course you may.
>
>
> Pat
>
> ******
>
> Permission please to re-post this to rec.food.cooking, with credit to
> you? :-)
>
> Om.
>

From: "PatDugan" >
Newsgroups: austin.food
Subject: Tony's Southern Comfort/ Cornbread secrets
Date: 12 Nov 2005 18:27:43 -0800
*************

I'm fairly new here. I'm not a born Austinite (or Texan for that
matter). I'm originally from Appalachian KY, right across the border
from WV.

I thought I'd share a recipe given to me by an old man who used to work
as a cook for the railroad. I'm talking crew, not passengers. Our
trains tend to mainly haul coal.

I can't give you 'exact' measures, because I wasn't given any. You have
to 'eyeball' it.

First off, the cornmeal of choice in my area of the mountains is white
cornmeal. You're welcome to try it with yellow, if you prefer.


RECIPE:

Self-rising cornmeal (we'd use Martha White). Just pour some in a bowl
into it looks like you have enough.

A spoonful or two of flour

A spoon of sugar

A couple of eggs

Buttermilk until you have it the right consistency.

NO OIL (you'll see why in a sec)

Mix together


Pull out your cast iron skillet (I don't think this will work with
anything else)

Lay strips of your favorite bacon across the bottom to cover (don't
worry if it goes up the sides)

Pour your batter in and bake in a hot oven 'til golden brown and baked
through.

Flip out onto plate - bottom side up.

The bacon drippings will seep up into the cornbread to flavor it and
the bacon will crisp up and imbed itself on the (now) top crust.


Enjoy!


Pat
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack Nicholson

OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote:

> Thank you!!!
>
> It was such a unique approach to it with the bacon in the bottom. :-)
> I'm adding your recipe back to the bottom of this post and cross-posting.
> It's also gone into my recipe collection on the hard drive. <G>
>
> Cheers!
>
> In article .com>,
> "PatDugan" > wrote:
>
> > I'm honored! Of course you may.
> >
> >
> > Pat
> >
> > ******
> >
> > Permission please to re-post this to rec.food.cooking, with credit to
> > you? :-)
> >
> > Om.
> >
>
> From: "PatDugan" >
> Newsgroups: austin.food
> Subject: Tony's Southern Comfort/ Cornbread secrets
> Date: 12 Nov 2005 18:27:43 -0800
> *************
>
> I'm fairly new here. I'm not a born Austinite (or Texan for that
> matter). I'm originally from Appalachian KY, right across the border
> from WV.
>
> I thought I'd share a recipe given to me by an old man who used to work
> as a cook for the railroad. I'm talking crew, not passengers. Our
> trains tend to mainly haul coal.
>
> I can't give you 'exact' measures, because I wasn't given any. You have
> to 'eyeball' it.
>
> First off, the cornmeal of choice in my area of the mountains is white
> cornmeal. You're welcome to try it with yellow, if you prefer.
>
>
> RECIPE:
>
> Self-rising cornmeal (we'd use Martha White). Just pour some in a bowl
> into it looks like you have enough.
>
> A spoonful or two of flour
>
> A spoon of sugar
>
> A couple of eggs
>
> Buttermilk until you have it the right consistency.
>
> NO OIL (you'll see why in a sec)
>
> Mix together
>
>
> Pull out your cast iron skillet (I don't think this will work with
> anything else)
>
> Lay strips of your favorite bacon across the bottom to cover (don't
> worry if it goes up the sides)
>
> Pour your batter in and bake in a hot oven 'til golden brown and baked
> through.
>
> Flip out onto plate - bottom side up.
>
> The bacon drippings will seep up into the cornbread to flavor it and
> the bacon will crisp up and imbed itself on the (now) top crust.
>
>
> Enjoy!
>
>
> Pat
> --
> Om.
>
> "My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack
Nicholson

My my my my my! I'm adapting this method to my own favorite cornbread
recipe, but will omit the oil. And of *course* one must use a cast iron
skillet! Another type of pan?? It's just not *done*!! Happily, I'm lucky
to have three pieces of my Southern mama's well-seasoned cast iron, one of
which will I'll use to make what should surely be a comforting, bacon-y pan
of cornbread.

Thanks so much for sharing Tony's secret!

Spitz
--
"Home, James, and don't spare the horses!"

Spitzmaus wrote:
> OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote:
>
> > Thank you!!!
> >
> > It was such a unique approach to it with the bacon in the bottom. :-)
> > I'm adding your recipe back to the bottom of this post and cross-posting.
> > It's also gone into my recipe collection on the hard drive. <G>
> >
> > Cheers!
> >
> > In article .com>,
> > "PatDugan" > wrote:
> >
> > > I'm honored! Of course you may.
> > >
> > >
> > > Pat
> > >
> > > ******
> > >
> > > Permission please to re-post this to rec.food.cooking, with credit to
> > > you? :-)
> > >
> > > Om.
> > >
> >
> > From: "PatDugan" >
> > Newsgroups: austin.food
> > Subject: Tony's Southern Comfort/ Cornbread secrets
> > Date: 12 Nov 2005 18:27:43 -0800
> > *************
> >
> > I'm fairly new here. I'm not a born Austinite (or Texan for that
> > matter). I'm originally from Appalachian KY, right across the border
> > from WV.
> >
> > I thought I'd share a recipe given to me by an old man who used to work
> > as a cook for the railroad. I'm talking crew, not passengers. Our
> > trains tend to mainly haul coal.
> >
> > I can't give you 'exact' measures, because I wasn't given any. You have
> > to 'eyeball' it.
> >
> > First off, the cornmeal of choice in my area of the mountains is white
> > cornmeal. You're welcome to try it with yellow, if you prefer.
> >
> >
> > RECIPE:
> >
> > Self-rising cornmeal (we'd use Martha White). Just pour some in a bowl
> > into it looks like you have enough.
> >
> > A spoonful or two of flour
> >
> > A spoon of sugar
> >
> > A couple of eggs
> >
> > Buttermilk until you have it the right consistency.
> >
> > NO OIL (you'll see why in a sec)
> >
> > Mix together
> >
> >
> > Pull out your cast iron skillet (I don't think this will work with
> > anything else)
> >
> > Lay strips of your favorite bacon across the bottom to cover (don't
> > worry if it goes up the sides)
> >
> > Pour your batter in and bake in a hot oven 'til golden brown and baked
> > through.
> >
> > Flip out onto plate - bottom side up.
> >
> > The bacon drippings will seep up into the cornbread to flavor it and
> > the bacon will crisp up and imbed itself on the (now) top crust.
> >
> >
> > Enjoy!
> >
> >
> > Pat
> > --
> > Om.
> >
> > "My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack
> Nicholson
>
> My my my my my! I'm adapting this method to my own favorite cornbread
> recipe, but will omit the oil. And of *course* one must use a cast iron
> skillet! Another type of pan?? It's just not *done*!! Happily, I'm lucky
> to have three pieces of my Southern mama's well-seasoned cast iron, one of
> which will I'll use to make what should surely be a comforting, bacon-y pan
> of cornbread.
>
> Thanks so much for sharing Tony's secret!


I don't think this was Tony's secrets... the hot pan is old wisdom and
the bacon was an Appalachian secret(apparently)


>
> Spitz
> --
> "Home, James, and don't spare the horses!"

motorblade wrote:

> I don't think this was Tony's secrets... the hot pan is old wisdom and
> the bacon was an Appalachian secret(apparently)

Yes, I grew up with the "hot cast iron skillet" wisdom, and have never baked
a batch of cornbread in anything *but* hot cast iron. The "bacon on the
bottom," however, is new to me; I've done cracklin' cornbread, but that's
not quite the same thing.

So again, thanks to Tony, Appalachia, Pat, austin.food . . .

Spitz
--
"Home, James, and don't spare the horses!"

This is a lot like my grandmother's method, which I have always used. The
recipe is almost exact. We southerners believe in that self-rising flour
and cornmeal, which is white. Yellow cornmeal, generally, is coarser and
doesn't bake up as light and fluffy.

Instead of putting the strips of bacon in the pan, we use "bacon
drippins". We pour a layer of "drippins" in the cast iron skillet about
1/2 inch deep. When the batter is poured in, the "drippins" rise up around
the batter about half way.

In order to make a crispy crust on the bottoms and sides, put the
"drippins" in the skillet and put it in the oven while the oven is
heating. Pour the batter into the hot pan and the bottom and sides will
"set". Bake at usual.

There's not much in the kitchen that some bacon "drippins" won't improve
considerably - except your heart, maybe.

When my great-grandfather was in his 90s, we would tease him when he'd sit
down to eat his 2 fried (in sausage "drippins") eggs, two pieces of
sausage, 2 cathead biscuits (made with lard) slathered in homechurned
butter, and another biscuit hidden beneath the milk gravy made out of the
sausage drippins. We'd tell him that kind of food would kill him. He'd
laugh. But, it did kill him. He was 102. As he was fond of saying, "We've
all gotta go sometime."

Elaine, too

Yeah, my family did the bacon-dripping thing, too. EVERY kitchen
stovetop MUST have a container to save the drippings! It goes in
everything: meat, veg, bread, etc.

If you want food schizophrenia, grow up in Applachian KY with a mom who
was born and raised in the Azores Islands, Portugal. The best cooking
of two worlds.


Pat

On 16 Nov 2005, PatDugan wrote:

> Yeah, my family did the bacon-dripping thing, too. EVERY kitchen
> stovetop MUST have a container to save the drippings! It goes in
> everything: meat, veg, bread, etc.
>
> If you want food schizophrenia, grow up in Applachian KY with a mom who
> was born and raised in the Azores Islands, Portugal. The best cooking
> of two worlds.
>
>
> Pat
>
>

You said it! How people cook without bacon drippings is beyond me!

I had a friend whose ancestors were from Portugal .Oh, wow, was
that some great food. What is the name of that wonderful sausage? When I
was visiting in Boston we had it for breakfast and on Pizza (that was the
best pizza I ever ate) and on a bun, like a hoagie bun with all kinds of
stuff on it. Gee, it was great.

Elaine, too