Cornbread

The first time I had cornbread, it was OK. A bit dry and crumbly, but OK. Anna Belle used a Jiffy (TM) mix, and so that's what I did, too. I had no idea that cornbread was supposed to be better than that.

There was a little restaurant in Evanston, IL, that served the best stew I've ever had, and really good cornbread with it. That started me on a quest for a recipe that would make a cornbread as good. All using a mix did was to eliminate the sifting together of dry ingredients.

There are certain basics to cornbread. Cornmeal, flour, baking powder, milk, fat, and eggs. Most recipes call for a sweetener of some sort, and I tried them all. Sugar, honey, brown sugar, molasses--I found out that you don't need any of them. Most recipes have you use two cups of combined cornmeal and flour, but the exact proportions vary. It could be one and a quarter cups of flour and the quarters of a cup of cornmeal, for instance. I even found a recipe (from WWII) that was all cornmeal, with no flour at all.

Here in Texas, I found the best cornbread in the world. It's moist, not crumbly, and as tasty as could be. It is made by Brendan's grandmother, Ginny. She gave me her recipe, and for some reason, I had to tweak it a bit, but I now make the second-best cornbread in the world. Here's how.

You start with an iron pan. If it's new, season it well. Do not use this pan for anything else. When it's time to make the cornbread, put a bit of bacon dripping in it and preheat it in the oven to 400 degrees F.

All the ingredients that you would normally keep in the fridge need to be at room temperature for successful cornbread.

Melt:

1/4 cup bacon dripping

Sift together:

1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder

Add to that:

1 cup stone ground cornmeal

Add to the melted bacon dripping:

1 cup milk and two eggs. Beat furiously. I use evaporated milk. It has a richer taste.

Combine the dry ingredients with the beaten mixture, but don't beat. Just get the lumps out. This is when you can add extras like chopped bell pepper, canned corn, or minced onion. Pour into your preheated pan (it should sizzle) and bake for 25 minutes, or until the top just starts to brown. Turn out immediately onto a plate. The bottom should be smooth and brown, and not stick to the pan. Serve while still hot.