SAVORY BUTTERMILK CORNBREAD

 

Remember the old 

Southern saying, 

“If there’s sugar in the cornbread, 

there’s a Yankee  

in the kitchen!” 

My trusty iron skillet is older than dirt

If you’re looking for a sweet cornbread, you won’t find it here; in my way of thinking, real cornbread is not sweet.  This is southern-style corn bread, plenty of buttermilk and sour cream, and not a touch of sugar.  This is some tasty cornbread ~ just ask Bubba...

The Only Cornbread Recipe You'll Need: Dragonwagon's Skillet-Sizzled Corn Bread!

She, Crescent Dragonwagon, that is, came to understand, cornbread “not only is hot, just baked cornbread delicious, it evokes ~ powerfully ~ the heart, soul, and taste of home.”

Amen!  CORNBREAD, I love cornbread!

After making this cornbread, I know why it was the single most requested recipe at the Dairy Hollow House in Eureka Springs, Arkansas!

I’ve tried what seems like a ton of cornbread recipes and I’ve made more than one from this great cookbook by Crescent Dragonwagon.  I’m just trying to figure out what took me so darn long to make this one!

Crescent Dragonwagon is her real name ~ read here ~ or buy her great cookbook, if you want to know more about it.

Dragonwagon’s cookbook, The Cornbread Gospels, is a surprising eccentric read, filled with curious antidotes and tales along the cornbread trail from the Appalachians to the Rockies to the Green Mountains.  I was hooked from the beginning to the end ~ this is just not a recipe book to take up space on your kitchen counter, it’s at home in any room.

Here’s a sample of what Crescent Dragonwagon has to say about this cornbread:

"This is the cornbread I served when I owned and ran Dairy Hollow House; it was its single most requested recipe.  It is the first Southern food I ever learned to fix and the one that started me on my cornbread journey.  I learned how to make it in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn, New York, in 1969, when I was very young and living in a brownstone with 7 other people.  Viola, the soft-spoken lady friend of a kind neighbor, taught it to me.  Viola was from Georgia, and it was she who initiated me into baking cornbread in an already-hot skillet.”

Cornbread batter over sizzling butter-oven ready!

To me, the secret of this recipe may just be the already-hot skillet that’s filled with melting butter that’s brought to a sizzle.  And stone-ground cornmeal only makes the bread even better.  If you’ve been around my blog a while, you know it’s stone-ground cornmeal and grits in my kitchen.

This cornbread truly surprised me, and Bill too.  It is simply delicious!

Thank you, Crescent Dragonwagon for the great recipe, great cookbook!

Author: Pam

Dairy Hollow House Skillet-Sizzled Cornbread

This cornbread recipe, courtesy of Crescent Dragonwagon, is the best you will ever make! Use stone-ground cornmeal for a crispy crust, made in a sizzling iron skillet. It is my "go-to" cornbread recipe!

prep time: 15 MINScook time: 20 MINStotal time: 35 mins

INGREDIENTS

• Vegetable oil cooking spray
• 1 cup unbleached white flour
• 1 cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt (I added ½ teaspoon)
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1¼ cups buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup mild vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons butter, or mild vegetable oil

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Spray a 10-inch cast iron skillet with oil and set aside.
3. Sift together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl.
4. In a smaller bowl, stir baking soda into the buttermilk.
5. Whisk in the sugar, egg and the ¼ cup oil.
6. Put the prepared skillet over medium heat, add the butter, and heat until butter melts and is just starting to sizzle.
7. Tilt the pan to coat sides and bottom.
8. Pour wet ingredients into the dry and combine them quickly, using as few strokes as possible.
9. Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake the cornbread until it is golden brown, about 20 minutes.
10. Let cool for a few moments, and slice into wedges to serve.

This cornbread is the créme de la créme of cornbread! 

Enjoy!

Homey Tamale Pie

I like authentic tamales, but to be honest, making them from scratch scares the heck out of me.  Enter, tamale pie, a great swap for the real thing!

This is another recipe from Martha Stewart’s, Martha’s American Food cookbook, from The Southwest section of the cookbook.  I’ve said it before, this cookbook is on my “favorites” list. 

No shredding meat, neither cornhusk wrapping, nor steaming needed here:  The casserole is layered with the flavors that make authentic tamales, a product of Mexico, so delicious, but with distinctly American ease and with beef or pork being swapped out for lean turkey. 

I use Nora Mill Granary's stone ground cornmeal for the extra crunch

This tamale pie is a tasty example of Tex-Mex cooking that I like cooking here in the Midwest, especially in the cold weather we’re having now:  it’s all of 2 degrees out there now, wind chill –9 degrees; that's on top of the 19.8-inches of snow we had Sunday ~ won't be going to our beach today!

It’s really delicious down to the last bite ~ give it a try!

Tamale Pie

Adapted

Ingredients:

5½ cups water

2 teaspoons salt

1¼ cups yellow cornmeal*
1 tablespoon butter
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 serrano chile, finely chopped
1½ pounds ground turkey breast
1 can (14 ounces) plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
½ cup low-sodium chicken stock

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon dried oregano

¼ teaspoon cayenne
8 pimento-stuffed green olives, sliced
4 ounces (1¼ cups) Monterey Jack, grated
Cooking spray
Assorted garnishes, such as chopped tomatoes, red onion, sour cream, jalapeño pepper slices, for serving

Method:

Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan, add salt.

Whisking constantly, add cornmeal in a slow, steady stream, switching to a wooden spoon when cornmeal becomes too thick to whisk.
Reduce heat to medium, and cook, until thick and creamy, about 15 minutes.
Stir in butter, and keep warm over low heat.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Coat a 2-quart baking dish with cooking spray.
Heat oil in large skillet, over medium-high.
Add onion, garlic, bell pepper, chile, and a pinch of salt.
Cook, stirring often, until onion is golden and vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
Add turkey, and cook, breaking into bite-size pieces, until cooked through, about 5-7 minutes.
Stir in tomatoes and juices, stock, chili powder, oregano and cayenne.
Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring, until most of the liquid is absorbed and mixture resembles chili, about 10 minutes.
Stir in olives and season with salt and pepper.
Spread 1½ cups cornmeal into bottom of prepared dish.
Spread turkey mixture on top, then spread remaining cornmeal on top.
Sprinkle with cheese.
Bake until golden brown and cheese is melted, 35-40 minutes.
Let stand 15 minutes.
Serve with garnishes.
*I use stone-ground cornmeal for extra crunch.

ENJOY!

Easy Cornmeal Honey Biscuits

You can whip up these little biscuits in no time!

I’m pretty much hooked on anything cornmeal, and these tasty biscuits fill that craving perfectly.

You can use plain cornmeal, if you prefer ~ I’m a fan of stone-ground cornmeal for its crunchier texture.

With this easy recipe, from Food Network Magazine at hand, it's a piece of cake to have freshly-made biscuits on your dinner table. 

They’re plush, lip-smacking goodness with a little crunch, and a little heat!

Easy Cornmeal Honey Biscuits 
Adapted

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups flour
1/3 cup stone-ground cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt1/8 teaspoon cayenne
6 tablespoons butter, cold and diced

2/3 cup milk*
1 tablespoon honey

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cayenne in a large bowl.
Work in butter with your fingers until crumbly.
Stir in milk and honey.
Let sit for 5 minutes.
Roll dough into 8 balls, place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Brush with milk.
Bake for about 12 minutes until golden.

*Food Network recipe calls for half-and-half.  I use 2% milk.

ENJOY!

Southern-Style Cornbread Lightened Up

Cornbread is a favorite of mine and I found this lightened up version that’s delicious.  I’m not saying it’s better than the traditional cornbread, but it fills the bill for a cornbread craving!

This cornbread is moist and fluffy with a bit of tang from the buttermilk.  It’s adapted from a Cooking Light recipe; using stone-ground cornmeal to give it a great coarse sandy texture.  Simple, good and easy!

Southern-Style Cornbread Lightened Up 

Ingredients:

1½ cups stone-ground cornmeal

3 tablespoons flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup fat-free or low-fat buttermilk
Egg substitute equivalent to 1 egg
1 tablespoon canola oil

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Coat and 8-inch square baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Add cornmeal and flour to a large bowl.
Whisk in salt, baking powder and baking soda.
Make a well in the center.
Combine buttermilk, egg substitute and oil in a small bowl and mix thoroughly.
Pour buttermilk mixture into well of dry ingredients and combine, do not over-stir.
Pour into prepared pan.
Bake 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cut into squares and serve warm. 

ENJOY!!!

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog, @My Kind of Cooking for great tips and delicious easy recipes.

Dragonwagon’s Cheddar-Scallion-Black Pepper Cornsticks

Crescent Dragonwagon is the creator of this recipe and The Cornbread Gospels.  It’s a unique cookbook though with all types of recipes using cornmeal.   

Before I go on with the recipe, I just want to thank Kat @sweetkatskitchen for the fantastic “Gooseberry Patch Baking Recipes Organizer" I won in her giveaway.  It’s filled with many pockets for recipes and great tips are on each pocket also.  Kat has an excellent blog chocked full of delicious baked goodies.  She has had a busy holiday season ~ baking for her customers.  And now, I finally have a way to organize all my newspaper and magazine recipe clippings!  Thanks so much, Kat!  Go check out Kat’s website, you’ll be glad you did!

Cornbread is a good thing that turns into a great thing when they’re sticks!  It’s like a little miniature cornbread of your own!  They take being baked in a corn stick pan ~ a heavy cast-iron mold shaped like tiny ears of corn.  Corn sticks have a great crunchy texture because a larger surface area is exposed to both the direct air of the oven and the cast iron molds.  If you favor REALLY crunchy corn sticks like we do, use stone-ground cornmeal for extra crunch.  Like I’ve said before in several posts, I can not buy stone-ground cornmeal locally so purchase it from Nora Mill.

Probably, most any batter can be used for corn sticks. Since it is easy for the batter to stick to the pan, the trick is to grease the molds very liberally and place them into the oven until sizzling hot, almost smoking, before adding the batter.  The corn sticks turn out a beautiful golden color!

 

These Cheddar-Scallion-Black Pepper Cornsticks are in Crescent Dragonwagon’s words, “jazzy enough to make you say ‘WOW’ with each bite!”  You want a sharp Cheddar cheese. “The scallion-black pepper mix is better than it has any right to be,” Crescent is right!

Here’s Dragonwagon’s recipe:

Cheddar-Scallion-Black Pepper Cornsticks

Adapted

Ingredients:

1½ cups flour

1¼ cups stone-ground yellow cornmeal

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 to 1½ teaspoons coarse freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 cups (8 ounces) very finely grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese

2 eggs

1½ cups buttermilk*

¼ cup (½ stick) butter, melted

3 scallions, chopped very, very fine

Vegetable oil cooking spray (Crisco)**

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and black pepper in a large bow, stirring very well.

Remove 2 tablespoons of this mixture and toss it in a small bowl with the finely grated cheese.  Set aside.

Beat eggs and buttermilk together in a medium bowl, then beat in the melted butter. 

Stir this into the flour-cornmeal mix with just a few strokes-it shouldn’t be fully incorporated yet.

Sprinkle with the scallions and cheese and stir a few more times, just until combined.

Spray the corn stick pan very liberally with oil, and spoon the batter into the molds about three quarters of the way full.

Bake until the corn sticks are crusty and golden, 18 to 20 minutes.

Cool briefly in the pans, then turn out onto a rack to cool a little more.

Serve warm.

YUM!

Pam’s note:  I used 1½ teaspoons pepper.  

*The recipe calls for 1¼ cups buttermilk.  It was a thick batter so I increased it to 1½ cups.  

The recipe reads to fill the molds about three quarters of the way full.  I did this at first and after baking a couple, realized they needed to be filled almost full. 

**I liberally greased the pans with Crisco, (no cooking spray) heated them in the oven until very hot before adding batter and baking.

ENJOY!

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips, recipes and cookbook giveaway!

Blueberry Corn Muffins

I have baked a plethora of blueberry muffins and am thrilled when I see a new recipe for them.  This recipe definitely got my attention when I read it and tore it out of some magazine; now I don’t have a clue what magazine it was.  Anyway, blueberry muffins ~ corn muffins; they’re both great.  But combine the two, who would’ve thought?

These are so very delicious, I couldn’t believe it!  The blueberries and cornmeal with a little sugar and a touch of cinnamon is a wonderful thing.  I much prefer a muffin that is not terribly sweet and these have just the right amount of sweetness.  I used fresh blueberries; however, frozen can be used also but, do not thaw them before adding them to the batter.

These blueberry corn muffins are so good and the color is just-right with the corn meal addition.  And to make matters better, they are just as delicious a day or two after baking!

I really hope you give these a try as they are easy and filled with great blueberry corn flavor.  Yummy delicious warm or room temperature!

Blueberry Corn Muffins

Ingredients:

¼ cup butter, softened

¼ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup brown sugar, packed

1 egg

1 cup flour

½ cup stone ground corn meal

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ cup milk, whole or 2%

1 cup blueberries

Method:

In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars.

Add egg, mix well.

Combine flour, corn meal, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

Add to the butter mixture alternately with the mik.

Stir until just combined well, do not over-stir.

Fold in blueberries.

Spray muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray or use paper liners.

Fill each cup two-thirds full.

Bake at 400 degrees 18-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Cool for 5 minutes in pan.

Remove to wire rack.

Makes 12

This is now my favorite blueberry muffin and Bill’s too!

ENJOY, ENJOY!!!

Corn Bread Sticks

Isn’t corn bread one of the best of life’s little pleasures?  I love corn bread almost more than any other home-made bread and especially when it is baked as sticks. I like to serve it directly from the oven with a good portion of butter slathered on it.  Actually, I can eat it cold also.

Many corn bread recipes have a good share of sugar in them but, I prefer corn bread that does not hint of a sweet taste.  Also, I favor recipes which have an equal amount of flour and corn meal.  This recipe lives up to both of these conditions.  It has just the right amount of corn meal, flour and sugar with buttermilk to bind it; bacon drippings for added flavor and cayenne pepper for a kick.  

My corn bread stick molds are cast iron, very heavy!  I spread grease in the molds, and set them in a hot oven for 2-3 minutes, before filling with the batter and baking.  That provides a crunchy, crisp crust on the outside with each stick imprinted to resemble an ear of corn.  They're tender and delicious ~ easy to eat with crumbs kept to a minimum!

Corn Bread Sticks

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup yellow stone-ground cornmeal

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 beaten eggs

1 cup buttermilk

2-3 tablespoons melted bacon drippings

Method:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Grease cast iron corn stick pans well, place in hot oven for 2-3 minutes or until very hot.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cayenne pepper.

In a medium bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk and melted bacon drippings.

Add egg mixture all at once to dry mixture.

Stir just until moistened, the batter should be lumpy.  Do not over-stir.

Pour batter into greased corn stick molds, filling almost full.

Bake 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Remove from oven, cool slightly on a rack.

Serve warm.
Makes about 15 corn sticks

YUM!!!  ENJOY!!!

My Favorite Corn Bread

Here it is! You are going to bake the best corn bread you’ve ever had! Corn bread can actually save a ho-hum meal and is fast and easy to prepare.



Here it is! You are going to bake the best corn bread you’ve ever had! Corn bread can actually save a ho-hum meal and is fast and easy to prepare.

Corn bread recipes that have an equal amount of flour and corn meal appeal to me and this simple rustic recipe is my most used corn bread recipe. It’s a moist melt-in-your-mouth corn bread; best served straight out of the oven, piping hot with butter enticing you for a savory bite. It’s a great 
 addition to a meal and goes with just about anything.


 
Stone-ground cornmeal contains the germ, having a distinctive nuttier-flavor. If you are like me and can not purchase it locally, you can order it from Nora Mill Granary in Helen, GA.


Freeze extra servings to have on hand for busy days when you don’t have time to bake. This could also be used for making stuffing.

What is not to love about corn bread?


 
Favorite Corn Bread

Ingredients:

1 c. flour
1 c. stone-ground corn meal
1 T. sugar
1 T. baking powder
½ t. salt
2 beaten eggs
1 c. whole milk
¼ c. cooking oil

Method:
 
Grease a 9x9-inch baking pan; set aside. 
In a large mixing bowl stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. 
Make a well in the center of the dry mixture. 
In a medium mixing bowl combine eggs, milk and oil. 
Add egg mixture all at once to dry mixture. 
Stir just till moistened (batter will be lumpy).
Pour batter into prepared pan. 
Bake in 425 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes till a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. 
Cut into squares. 
Serve


Enjoy!