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View Full Version : (yet another food thread) - Corn bread



Rich Engelhardt
11-11-2011, 11:03 AM
It's cold and snowy today.
Sooooooo.
Today is corn bread day!

Simple Jiffy package, egg & milk - aluminum pan - 400* oven for 20 min.

Next time, I'd like to try my hand at skillet cooking and some real down South type pone.

Any favorite's anyone cares to share?

Dan Hintz
11-11-2011, 11:48 AM
Must be sweet cornbread with (quality Grade-A) honey to drizzle on every bite...

ray hampton
11-11-2011, 12:01 PM
I a still waiting for a good corn bread recipe, hold the sugar

Jim Koepke
11-11-2011, 12:51 PM
hold the sugar

???????????????????

That totally ruins my way of sprinkling a little brown sugar on top before it goes in the oven.

For some reason I got on a kick of buying the corn bread stick pans for making corn bread. After buying about a dozen it was discovered the package of corn bread mix only fills one pan. :(

So, I have been looking for scratch recipes and have found a few. One day we will have the kids here and I can make a big batch.

jtk

Belinda Barfield
11-11-2011, 1:37 PM
Sugar in cornbread is an abomination.

ray hampton
11-11-2011, 1:57 PM
Sugar in cornbread is an abomination.snowman

Belinda and I agree on a very important point

David G Baker
11-11-2011, 2:48 PM
Belinda, you are so right. With sugar it is no longer corn bread, it becomes Johnny Cake.

Stephen Tashiro
11-11-2011, 2:50 PM
To me, cornbread always looks better than it tastes. Maybe I should stop thinking about it as bread. "Corn cake", maybe?
Biscuits, on the other hand, are not as deceptive. They don't look appetizing to me and I'd much prefer toast. I think the pattern here is that I don't like baking soda in food.

Belinda Barfield
11-11-2011, 3:05 PM
It also depends on whether we are talking cornbread, hoe cake, or corn pone - three entirely different breads,

Stephen Tashiro
11-11-2011, 3:45 PM
It also depends on whether we are talking cornbread, hoe cake, or corn pone - three entirely different breads,

OK, expound. What are hoe cake and corn pone? No baking soda, I hope.

Belinda Barfield
11-11-2011, 3:55 PM
Hoe cakes are thin, sometimes almost lacy. Originally they were cooked in the field on a cast iron hoe blade. Basically cornmeal, salt, water. I prefer cornmeal, salt, and buttermilk. It really is sort of an acquired taste. Hoe cake and corn pone are both cooked in a cast iron skillet. Corn pone is cornmeal, salt, water or milk or buttermilk with egg(s) added and some folks add a little self rising flour, or all purpose flour and baking powder. Heat a cast iron skillet, add a little oil or bacon drippings and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan, pour in batter then finish off in the oven. Cornbread is baked in the oven, can have any number of things added like cracklin's, cheese, corn, sour cream, jalapenos, etc., and is usually made from yellow cornmeal. Hoe cakes are typically made from white cornmeal. Corn pone can be either.

ray hampton
11-11-2011, 8:04 PM
corn pone [no pon intend] I cook cornbread in the oven but hoe cake or pan bread are cook on the stove burners, never heard of cracklin in corn bread but bacon bits are similar
cast iron hoe, did they break ?

Belinda Barfield
11-12-2011, 7:49 AM
corn pone [no pon intend] I cook cornbread in the oven but hoe cake or pan bread are cook on the stove burners, never heard of cracklin in corn bread but bacon bits are similar
cast iron hoe, did they break ?

I have no idea if the story about the cast iron hoe blades is true or not, just what I've always heard. More than likely not and somewhere along the line hoe blades and cast iron frying pans got all confused in the story. I made a modified hoe cake last night - sort of a cross between hoe cake and cornbread. I do love cracklin' cornbread.

Rich Engelhardt
11-12-2011, 8:47 AM
Meh!
My cornbread ended up just being so - so.
I'm not sure what went wrong, but, it wasn't as sweet as I like it & it was real, real crumbly.

I think I'll just scrap the Jiffy packs idea and go the scratch route instead.

Maybe try some Rye and Injun instead.

Bonnie Campbell
11-12-2011, 9:28 AM
Dry and crumbly is usually due to over cooking. I still over cook mine at times.

If you don't mind packaged mixes, try Martha White 'Sweet Yellow' cornbread mix. It's one of the best sweet ones I've found. I do have to remind myself not to cook it as long as the directions say.

Rich Engelhardt
11-12-2011, 10:28 AM
Bonnie,
Thanks!
I'll keep a closer eye on the cooking times from now on.
The directions on the package called for one box of Jiffy, egg and milk - then poured into an 8"x8" pan - and 15 to 20 min in a 400* oven.
I used a pan that was more than twice that size & two boxes of Jiffy.
I suspected the batter wasn't as deep in the pan as it should have been & that contributed to the overcooking.

Aayhow - liked it and so did my grandson...which made me feel good since he's a pickey eater. He has no qualms about tossing somethng in the dog's dish w/just a little nibble out of it.

Ryan Mooney
11-12-2011, 2:13 PM
Although I reckon Belinda has me beat on styles there are two major styles I end up making:

Skillet style:
This recipe is pretty close to what I usually make (to lazy to actually type mine in :D - besides I'd have to look it up and I usually don't bother but just go by "feel" - mix the wet and add dry until the mix looks about right) http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2007/01/iron-pan-perfect-cornbread.html
The trick I've found with this one to get that "gritty" texture is to use coarser than usual cornmeal. I generally just grind my own which makes it extra fantastic. The home stone ground has a more variable texture so it settles in kinda like concrete does with continuous aggregate sizes so I can pretty much just skip the flour. The fresh ground also has a much richer "corn" flavor which fades pretty fast - in like a week or two.

"Cake" cornbread:
This is the more northern (you eat it with baked beans) style. Swmbo vastly prefers this one so its an ongoing battle in our home as to what sort of cornbread we'll end up with. There are about a 1000 recipes for this but they're all similar. Generally use the one from cooks illustrated or bitmans "how to cook everything".

There is also a third cornmeal/bread like substance I make that I'm hesitant to call "cornbread" because it doesn't really fit conventional definitions but its darn good (imho :cool:). This is basically my variant on scrapple somewhat modified. Usually make the base the night before and then eat with ~steak/salmon/etc.. for breakfast.

Base
- 2 C milk
- bring to a strong simmer
- 1C cornmeal
- stir into hot milk in a steady stream stirring constantly
- wisk 2 eggs with a splash of milk
- temper the eggs with some of the hot cornmeal mixture (basically add some of the hot back slow to the eggs to thin them and bring the temp up without cooking them so they get evenly mixed in in the next step)
- stir the eggs back into the cornmeal stirring constantly
- cook another couple of minutes until it thickens some
- pour into a greased loaf pan
- ** let set overnight **

Good morning:
- turn out and cut into ~3/8" thick slices
- "dredge" (coat) in flour
- fry in butter until golden and crispy
- enjoy with a little syrup, honey, sorghum, blackstrap, etc...

ray hampton
11-12-2011, 4:02 PM
I have no idea if the story about the cast iron hoe blades is true or not, just what I've always heard. More than likely not and somewhere along the line hoe blades and cast iron frying pans got all confused in the story. I made a modified hoe cake last night - sort of a cross between hoe cake and cornbread. I do love cracklin' cornbread.

the steel hoe that I use during my childhood was heavy enough , cast iron hoes and plough shares pre- dated the steel that we are lucky enough to have as a light metal , I did not intend to start a arguement

ray hampton
11-12-2011, 4:27 PM
Ryan, is your recipe the same as what some people call corn meal mush ?

Ryan Mooney
11-12-2011, 6:56 PM
Ryan, is your recipe the same as what some people call corn meal mush ?

Pretty close, except that I've never seen cornmeal mush made with eggs as a thickener (I reckon it certainly could be, but it usually isn't at least that I've seen). I actually got the idea from frying up some leftover cornmeal mush so its definitely related (and later added the eggs and refined the technique a smidge by making it a little thicker to start with).

Its also fairly closely related to "scrapple" but thats made with pork bits and cornmeal and is a lot different tasting (I actually discovered that scrapple existed after I'd served my recipe to someone who commented that it was similar :rolleyes:).

Matt Meiser
11-12-2011, 8:11 PM
We always used Jiffy until I found a recipe in the Americas Test Kitchen cookbook. I still haven't gotten the baking time right after a few tries, but I love the taste. There's another for skillet corn bread I want to try too.

Belinda Barfield
11-13-2011, 6:11 AM
Ryan, back when my parents ground their own meal that's what I used as well. Fresh is the best. Your third recipe is what is known in the south as boiled or scalded cornbread, but typically water is used instead of milk. This method of making cornbread supposedly originated in the south.

Out of curiosity, do you eat leftover cornbread broken up into a bowl of buttermilk? Everyone in my family loves this but me.

Belinda Barfield
11-13-2011, 6:12 AM
the steel hoe that I use during my childhood was heavy enough , cast iron hoes and plough shares pre- dated the steel that we are lucky enough to have as a light metal , I did not intend to start a arguement

No argument Ray. I just wanted to be clear that I didn't know if cast iron was actually used or not - just what I've always heard.

Jeff L Miller
11-13-2011, 11:59 AM
A vriation on a theme, Kelly's Corn Thang. She is part of a radio broadcast from So Cal (Mark and Brian) and her corn thang is something else. It does have a box of Jiffy corn bread mix in it but from there is takes a turn. We love it, and I would call it a cousin to corn bread....hope it qualifies.

Jeff

1 (one) CUP SOUR CREAM
1 (one) 7 OUNCE BOX OF JIFFY CORN MUFFIN MIX
2 EGGS
2-3 TABLESPOONS SUGAR
½ CUP MARGARINE
CHEAP CAN OF CREAMED CORN

8 ½ INCH CASSEROLE DISH (THINK YOU COULD ALSO USED SMALL BROWNIE PAN)
PREHEAT OVEN TO 375 DEGREES AND MELT MARGARINE IN PAN MIX ALL THE INGREDIENTS TOGETHER AND POUR INTO MELTED MARGARINE WHICH WILL THEN SURROUND THE MIXTURE. BAKE FOR APPROXIMATELY 40-45 MINUTES UNTIL THE TOP CRACKS AND THE SIDES ARE GOLDEN BROWN. YUMMY!!!!!!

Belinda Barfield
11-13-2011, 12:09 PM
A vriation on a theme, Kelly's Corn Thang. She is part of a radio broadcast from So Cal (Mark and Brian) and her corn thang is something else. It does have a box of Jiffy corn bread mix in it but from there is takes a turn. We love it, and I would call it a cousin to corn bread....hope it qualifies.

Jeff

More of a cornbread casserole but it qualifies. :D

Ryan Mooney
11-13-2011, 12:36 PM
Ryan, back when my parents ground their own meal that's what I used as well. Fresh is the best. Your third recipe is what is known in the south as boiled or scalded cornbread, but typically water is used instead of milk. This method of making cornbread supposedly originated in the south.

Out of curiosity, do you eat leftover cornbread broken up into a bowl of buttermilk? Everyone in my family loves this but me.

Do you know if the scalded cornbread is generally baked or fried after cooking up the mush? If I was just making mush I'd more likely use water (and then put heavy cream on it of course - the things I'll put heavy cream on make swmbo look on in horror, benefits of growing up with a milk cow).

Funny I've never tried the cornbread with buttermilk, but we always had regular bread that way (usually once it was a little stale/dry - break it up, add milk or buttermilk and a drizzle of honey as a treat). Doing that with cornbread sounds like something I'd like :D

The other cornbread based product I was only exposed to a few years back is cornbread stuffing! How did I not ever discover THAT before - wow, yum! Again I found cooks illustrated has a decent base recipe for that.

Harry Hagan
11-13-2011, 1:09 PM
Sugar in cornbread is an abomination.

I frequent two dining establishments in the neighborhood that provide free appetizers. The Mexican restaurant offers their homemade Chips & Salsa; while the diner, a fair substitute for home cookin’, has a sweet yellow-colored concoction they call "Cornbread". Ugh!

The diner owner just grins when I tell him dessert is usually served after the entrée and that he’d make more money selling a proper dessert rather than giving that stuff away.

Tony Joyce
11-13-2011, 1:25 PM
Out of curiosity, do you eat leftover cornbread broken up into a bowl of buttermilk? Everyone in my family loves this but me.

Crumbled in a bowl with butter and molasses, nom nom nom

ray hampton
11-13-2011, 2:35 PM
Crumbled in a bowl with butter and molasses, nom nom nom



molasses, do anyone eat sorghum anymore ? [no pun intend ]

Belinda Barfield
11-13-2011, 4:02 PM
Do you know if the scalded cornbread is generally baked or fried after cooking up the mush? If I was just making mush I'd more likely use water (and then put heavy cream on it of course - the things I'll put heavy cream on make swmbo look on in horror, benefits of growing up with a milk cow).

Funny I've never tried the cornbread with buttermilk, but we always had regular bread that way (usually once it was a little stale/dry - break it up, add milk or buttermilk and a drizzle of honey as a treat). Doing that with cornbread sounds like something I'd like :D

The other cornbread based product I was only exposed to a few years back is cornbread stuffing! How did I not ever discover THAT before - wow, yum! Again I found cooks illustrated has a decent base recipe for that.

I believe scalded meal, or scalded cornbread, is typically fried.

Cornbread with buttermilk, and sometimes chopped onions.

I love cornbread dressing, not stuffing. I refuse to eat anything cooked in a bird cavity.

When I make what is most commonly understood to be cornbread I start with White Lily Buttermilk cornmeal mix. I add an extra egg, which makes is richer, and more liquid than specified, which makes it moist. In my opinion the trick to a moist cornbread is to preheat the cast iron skillet in the oven with enough oil to coat the bottom of the skillet. Mix up the cornbread and immediately pour it into the hot skillet. Baked until golden on top.

I rarely bake square cornbread.

My other standard is a corn pone.
1/2 cup white meal
1/4 cup self rising flour
1 egg
Add enough buttermilk to make a medium to slightly thin batter and pour into preheated skillet immediately.
Bake.

ray hampton
11-13-2011, 4:45 PM
from whom do you buy your buttermilk ? how many people like to eat burnt cornbread ? my cornbread get cook in a cast iron skillet and I will eat the crust no matter how burnt and no box mix for for me , I prefer to mix my own

Belinda Barfield
11-13-2011, 6:06 PM
Ray, I usually just buy my buttermilk from the grocery. Over the summer I have been going to the farmer's market and buying milk and cream from a dairy in a nearby town. As a matter of fact, I just finished making butter. I'll be having that with some nice hot biscuits and some beef stew in just a little while.

Bill Moser
11-13-2011, 6:16 PM
As a matter of fact, I just finished making butter. I'll be having that with some nice hot biscuits and some beef stew in just a little while.

Now, that's just cruel...:rolleyes:

ray hampton
11-13-2011, 6:16 PM
you making your own butter, are you using a butter churn if by hand it take half of a day, BREAKFAST at your house will be SUNDAY every day of the week

Charlie Reals
11-13-2011, 7:41 PM
[QUOTE=Belinda Williamson;
Out of curiosity, do you eat leftover cornbread broken up into a bowl of buttermilk? Everyone in my family loves this but me.[/QUOTE]
My Mom and Dad would do that, not me. I don't care for buttermilk just to drink but my Dad would pour a big glass put pepper in it and drink it.

Ryan Mooney
11-13-2011, 9:21 PM
As a matter of fact, I just finished making butter. I'll be having that with some nice hot biscuits and some beef stew in just a little while.

FYI - a nice trick with homemade butter is to add a little sour cream with live cultures in it to the cream a day or so before you churn and then leave it sit out on the counter for 24-36 hours. The sour cream culture produces some diacetyl (which the nerdier amongst you may recognize as artificial butter flavor) making for a butterier butter. Some other cultures (buttermilk, etc.. most milk oriented mesophilic cultures work best, but we've even used yogurt as a culture).

Oh yeah - and hush puppies - speaking of fried cornbread like products. A friend introduced me to them when I visited NC a few years back.



I love cornbread dressing, not stuffing. I refuse to eat anything cooked in a bird cavity.

Heh, well I always cook in a casserole dish nowdays after having learned a bit more about food safety... but I still call it stuffing, habit I guess.

ray hampton
11-13-2011, 9:45 PM
what about corndogs, Is the coating cornmeal ? I want my chicken and catfish roll in a cornmeal coating not flour

Belinda Barfield
11-14-2011, 8:55 AM
you making your own butter, are you using a butter churn if by hand it take half of a day, BREAKFAST at your house will be SUNDAY every day of the week

I needed to work off a little frustration yesterday, so I used the "shake the cream in a jar" method. :D

ray hampton
11-14-2011, 11:46 AM
do you use a paint can shaker to churn butter ?

Belinda Barfield
11-14-2011, 12:13 PM
Funny you should ask Ray. We "acquired" (as in someone was throwing it away and the boss brought it back to the office) a paint can shaker just last week. I'll
have to find out if it will churn butter.

ray hampton
11-14-2011, 3:58 PM
If you can churn butter with a Mason Jar then I am sure that a can shaker will work

Milton Hill
11-21-2011, 12:50 AM
Mmmm! Cornbread!

MY recipe:
Preheat oven to 450
Mix dry ingredients:
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp salt
Mix wet ingredients:
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 egg

Lightly grease well seasoned cast iron pans and place in preheated oven
Heat pans until they just begin to smoke
Mix wet and dry ingredients. Don' over mix
Remove pans and pour or spoon mixture into pans. Mixture should sizzle
Bake until lightly brown
Remove from oven
Enjoy