Corn bread

[eleny]

My plain cornbreads never taste like the store bought that we like so much. I figure that the store bought has more sugar and flour in them. So, I double the sugar on the box label recipe and added a little more unbleached white flour to smooth out the texture. Today I tried another twist and substituted buttermilk for regular milk. I'm very pleased with how this one turned out. Slightly tangy but sweetened with the extra sugar. I also use butter flavored Crisco to grease the pan and egg substitute.

Do you add anything different to your cornbread to jazz it up?

[Shakespeare]

1. Well, here's the way my grandmother taught me to do it...

Mix equal parts (I usually use a cup and a half each) of yellow cornmeal and self-rising flour. Add one egg, 1/2 tablespoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of sugar (you can vary this depending on how sweet you like it, I often use 2 tablespoons), and slowly stir in buttermilk until your batter is the desired thickness (usually around a cup and a half). I think using buttermilk is key to having it taste good, by the way.

This recipe is 100% one of those "eyeball it" kinds--you just sort of get the hang of it, which I know doesn't sound very helpful, but it's really very easy.

When the batter's mixed, heat up a cast iron skillet and add bacon fat to generously coat the bottom (around 1/4 cup). Pour in the batter--you should hear it sizzle slightly, and see a thin "rim" of grease around the edges of the batter--and bake in a preheated oven at 375 for about 20 minutes (or until it's that perfect golden color on top, usually with the top crust cracked around the circumference).

I use this same recipe to make hush puppies, but also add spices, finely chopped onion, 1/2 cup creamed corn and much less buttermilk (batter should be MUCH thicker so you can spoon it into frying grease).

[Stinky The Clown]

2. Substitute the cheapest cremed corn you can find for some of the liquid

The cheaper stuff has more liquid and more sugars in it. Just measure it an use what you normally use to fill out the amount. Beyond that, use whatever recipe you prefer.

The result here is a wetter somewhat sweeter cornbrad with nice chunks of corn it. Not classic cornbread, to be sure, but a nice alternative.

[merci_me]

4. That's the way I do a quick cornbread, too

To be really quick about it, I use a couple of boxes of Jiffy cornbread mix.

When I'm taking cornbread for a side dish someplace, I make it as a big casserole (or two) and always come home empty handed. Then I fancy it up with layers of sour cream, caramelized onions and shredded cheddar. I also add drained whole kernel corn, along with the creamed corn, to the batter.

Mary

[livetohike]

3. Sometimes I add a small can of diced chilies

but usually just make it plain. If you want to see two dogs run around with glee, just say "corn bread" and they come running!

[Warpy]

5. I make my cornbreads

with heavy cream and a cup or so of frozen whole corn. I heat a cast iron skillet on the top of the stove until it's smoking hot, pour the batter in, and then stick the skillet into the preheated oven.

That seems to give me the most caramelized crust, something that adds a lot of sweetness along with the sugar in the recipe. The fat in the heavy cream makes it very moist, and the whole corn gives it an interesting texture.

The one thing I won't do is use a boxed mixture. How long has it been sitting there? I get cornmeal and flour from the local food co-op, and I know how quickly they turn it over.

[Floogeldy]

6. Does anybody remember Cinch Cornbread?

It came in a box. I thought that was the greatest pre-mix. They also had a recipe on the side of the box for cheesey jalapeno style, wherein you added creamed corn, shredded cheddar cheese, and fresh chopped jalapeno peppers. It was great!

B-)

[eleny]

9. Looks like it's a hard to find product

I Googled "Cinch Cornbread" and came up with a few hits, mostly recipes calling for it as an ingredient. But one company sells it by the case.
http://www.gilstermarylee.com/h2find.htm

[Floogeldy]

10. OH my gosh

I can't believe it. I didn't think it was made anymore. Thank you.

B-)

[BlackVelvetElvis]

7. If I'm making sweet cornbread

I like to add shredded sharp cheddar to it. I put in in the freezer for awhile before I add it to the mix. Wonderful with chili!

[SW FL Dem]

8. I hate to admit it but I use the Jiffy Cornbread mix,

I add a little sugar and a little vegetable oil. I only make it when I serve chili.

[Frogtutor]

13. Me, too! I like sweet cornbread, and Jiffy is easy and tastes great n/t

[DawgHouse]

11. I'm not a fan of sweetened cornbread

but my son LOVES it. If you like Boston Market cornbread, here's a recipe I found at topsecretrecipes some time ago.

BOSTON MARKET CORNBREAD

1 box Jiffy Mix Cornbread Mix
1 box Jiffy Mix Yellow Cake Mix
OR
2 boxes Jiffy Mix Cornbread Mix
1 box regular yellow cake mix
Mix both boxes according to directions and combine the batter. I generally use a large mix bowl and add both boxes together. I add the other ingredients all at once. If you have only boxes of jiffy mix, use a brownie size 8-inch square baking pan. If you use a box of regular cake mix, use a 9 x 13-inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees F until done. This takes about 30 minutes. Test for doneness.
Servings: 4

[eleny]

12. Can you clarify something for me?

Do you add all the ingredients from both the cake and cornbread list of ingredients? So, for instance, if each product requires one egg, I would then add two eggs?

Thanks! I'm sure my husband will love this. I was thinking of using my new bundt pan for it. I bet it would look cool.

[DawgHouse]

17. Yes, you would use two eggs

You just make each according to the recipe on the individual box, and then combine it all together. I haven't tried it in anything except a 13 x 9 pan.

[grasswire]

14. as far as I know....

....sugar in cornbread is a northern tradition, and southerners resist any sweetening in theirs.

I like the recipe right off the Albers cornmeal box. I just got an old Southern cookbook from the 1930s that has recipes for:

Tallahassee hush puppies
Southern Corn Custard
Corn Pudding
Hoe Cake
Southern Spoon Bread
Richmond Corn Cakes
Miss Lee's Southern Corn Bread
Corn Meal Muffins
Cracking Bread
Corn Sticks
Baked Hominy Grits
Corn Meal Mush
Corn Fritters
Corn Bread Fritters

......mmmmm. I love old regional cookbooks. The first recipe in this book is for Kentucky Burgoo. Ingredients:

600 pounds lean soup meat
200 pounds fat hens
2000 pounds potatoes
200 pounds onions
5 bushels cabbage
etc............

[eleny]

16. Love it!

200 pounds of fat hens?! if you could find one single fat hen these days it would be a small miracle. they knock them off before they develop even a thin layer of fat. but it made me smile to see that list of ingredients. i love the old cookbooks, too. i hope you start a thread aobut your collection.

[Frogtutor]

18. Isn't that funny? I'm southern, but my mom and I like sweet corbread;

Well, as far as Texas is southern. Not TOO sweet, just a little, and light and fluffy like cake. My husband, however, likes it the way my grandma used to make it: not sweet at all, half burnt, cooked in an oily iron skillet! Blech...

[Stinky The Clown]

19. Northern "Cornbread"

Have you ever eaten a corn muffin in NYC? No one calls them cornbread. They're corn muffins. Now, for all the world, they're cornbread cooked in a muffin pan, but ... nope ... up there ... not cornbread (yeah, okay .... whatever).

But they do give truth to the statement that northerners like cornbread sweet. They're a very popular deli breakfast item. They cut them in half and grill them in butter. When done in this classic NYC way, they drip butter and are nearly as sweet as a good danish!

I miss them.

edited for stoopit spelling

[cmf]

15. I do not like sugar in my cornbread

I will put in about one tablespoon in a batch. I like to put veggies in mine, though. Like corn kernels, jalepenos, onions, etc.

[grasswire]

20. the most "corny" dish I ever tasted....

...and by that I mean it tasted most essentially of corn...was a plate of sweet corn "tamales" at a Central American restaurant in Arlington VA. It must have been made with the scrapings of the corncobs as well as sweet fresh corn. The "tamales" were flat, with a layer of this "corny" filling inside. I'd give a lot for another plate.

[supernova]

21. I make classic cornbread

though, I have liked it with onions or jalopenos, especially hush puppies.

I make it without flour and sugar. Just corn flour, milk or buttermilk, and salt and pepper.

I add just enough milk to the flour and an egg to make it look like kinda heavy pancake batter. If you drop batter back into the bowl and the drop momentarily, just for a second, holds its shape before dissapearing, you're on track.

I don't measure anthying out; I learned to make it from my grandmother. And she taught me what to look for in the batter consistency.

To cook it, you have to have VERY HOT pans with oil in them. Heat them up in the oven (or on the stove) until they just begin to smoke. Test the pans by putting a little batter in. If the batter sizzles, the pan is ready. Pour the batter in the pans and shut the door. When the bread begins to pull away from the sides of the pan, flip the bread and let it brown on the other side. You should see a very nice deep, but not burned, crust on the bottom when you flip it.

Good with butter, homemade jellies and jams, honey, and of course molasses. I've made many an impromptu dessert doing that! :D :9

[mandyky]

22. I make a sort of scalloped corn bread

I don't make my own cornbread dough - I buy those little jiffy boxed ones. I add a can of whole corn, a can of creamed corn, 2 boxes of cornbread mix (cut back a bit on milk). Mix it all together, put half of the batter into pan, a layer of grated cheese (any kind) and then the rest of the batter and more cheese.

I've used Monterrey Jack, Cheddar and Colby cheese.

As for regular cornbread, even the boxed mixes I find too tasteless. I add sugar.