Southern Cornbread -
Skillet Style
by Michelle
Jones
If you are from the north, chances are you like sweet cornbread. If you are from the south, chances are you don't. Although this makes little sense to me because the complete opposite is true with tea! Yet this is the way it is, and if you put sugar in a true southerner's cornbread, he will tell you "that's not cornbread, that's a muffin!"
So, in honor of my southern husband and his southern family, I present to you the 'real' way to make cornbread. (Although be forewarned... some of us put syrup or honey on this kind of cornbread to make it sweet again, and are somehow accused of ruining it! And to my husband's chagrin, all four of our children prefer it this way too.)
I have two recipes I use for southern cornbread, and both are great. I believe the first one is more basic and traditional; it is also grainier in texture than the second recipe. The way I discovered this recipe was to watch my mother-in-law in the kitchen a few years ago and measure the ingredients as she made up a batch.
Being one of those southern cooks who doesn't normally use measurements, she was trying to tell me "just add some of this, and some of that," but I wanted it down on paper so I could pass it on to my children too. Now, not only do I have the recipe, and my children will have the recipe, but so will you! :o)
1 ½ c. self-rising cornmeal (I use yellow meal, but either is fine)
½ c. all-purpose flour
1 ¾ c. buttermilk (I use whole buttermilk, low-fat is okay too, but forget the
non-fat… the cornbread will not hold together or taste as good. And as
Granny says, add more if it's too thick, or less if it's too thin; the batter
should be wet but not soupy)
2 TBS of vegetable oil or shortening
2 c. self-rising cornmeal
1 1/3 c. buttermilk
1 egg
¼ c. vegetable oil or shortening
Okay, this is how I make the cornbread...
Melt 2-3 TBS of Crisco vegetable shortening in a black iron skillet, by placing the skillet into a preheated oven - 425 degrees. Meanwhile mix the remaining ingredients in a large bowl until well blended. You do not want too much time to pass before the shortening is melted because the cornmeal will start to rise. Once the shortening is melted and hot, pull the skillet from the oven and pour most (but not all) of it into the cornmeal batter. Stir until blended, pour cornmeal mixture back into the skillet and return to oven for 25 minutes.
You can tell the cornbread is done when it starts to brown around the edges. Remove cornbread from the oven and turn out, upside down, onto a wire rack to cool for a few minutes. When done correctly, the cornbread will be slightly crunchy on the outside, that's because of the small amount of hot shortening we left in the skillet.
If you prefer it to not be crunchy, all you have to do is add all of the melted shortening when adding it to the batter. After cooling the cornbread for a few minutes, cut into 8 pie shaped wedges and serve warm… and if you so desire, top with a pat of butter and a few swirls of honey or syrup! ;o)