Another Salvo in the Great Cornbread Wars

Admit it, the War Between the States will never be over as long as there is cornbread...

...and tea, and vegetables - especially sweet potatoes. To see what I mean, watch this short video from Mark Lowry:

Did you catch what he said about the cornbread?

I'm from the north. I make my cornbread with sugar. According to Mark Lowry, that makes it cake.

Maybe so, but I enjoy my cornbread!

I also make it from scratch.

Yes, that's corn. Popcorn, actually. I said I start from scratch!

And the next picture is wheat.

The bowl on the left has winter wheat - Prairie Gold. When you go to the store and the bread or flour bag says "100% white wheat," this is the wheat they're talking about. It's a much lighter color than the Red Chief or another hard winter wheat.

The bowl on the right is soft summer wheat. If you've ever seen "whole wheat pastry flour" at the store - usually in one of those bulk bins - this is the wheat you're buying.

I use the Prairie Gold or the Red Chief for yeast breads, but I use the soft wheat for any baking that doesn't use yeast - and that includes cornbread.

This is the bad boy that turns all my grains into flour (or cornmeal). He's so powerful, it's scary! But look what he does to a cup of that soft wheat.

Fresh ground wheat, all ready for baking. I use it within 10 minutes of grinding - no vitamins lost in this process! (If there's any leftover, I freeze it for future use.)

So now we're ready to make cornbread - northern style!

I got this recipe from a bag of cornmeal back in the dark ages. (The dark ages was BC - Before Children.) Over the years I've changed it to suit us.

This is me, thirty-some years ago,
when this recipe was new.
Oh, how the years fly!

Jan's Corn Bread

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or any whole wheat flour)

1/2 cup unbleached flour

4 Tablespoons sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 egg

I use a 10-inch cast iron skillet for my bread, but it also bakes well in a 8" square pan.

Preheat your oven to 400°. If you're using an 8" square pan, put the butter in it to melt in the oven while it's heating up. If you're using a cast iron skillet, put it on the stove on medium-low with the butter in it.

In a large bowl (I use my 2-quart bowl from Pampered Chef), stir together the corn meal, flours, sugar, baking powder and salt.

In a small bowl or a 2-cup measuring cup, beat the egg, and then add 1 cup milk and mix them together.

Check on your butter. Is it melted yet? If not, wait until it is. You want it melted, but not sizzling (although it smells wonderful just before it starts burning).

Once the butter is melted, add the milk/egg mixture into the dry ingredients, mixing it all together. Next, carefully pour the melted butter into the bowl. Stir until it's all mixed in.

Now pour your batter back into your skillet or pan. See how the edges start cooking as soon as the batter hits the hot surface?

Put your pan or baking dish into the hot oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. I actually bake it for 18 minutes here in our higher altitude.

Once the edges look crispy and the top is beginning to brown, take it out of the oven. Let it cool about 10 minutes, and then serve.

This is great with butter and honey, served with some chili or bean soup!

And if you call it cake, I'll forgive you. But I love this cornbread!

By the way, for the record, I like my tea unsweetened (preferable hot), my vegetables steamed and buttered, and my sweet potatoes roasted and seasoned with salt, pepper and cumin :)

How do you like your cornbread?