Corn bread is unlike any other bread, with a deep corn flavor and slightly crunchy texture; few recipes deliver so much for so little work. The main recipe represents corn bread at its most traditional and most basic (some might call it slightly Spartan).
If you want to make corn bread, then just follow the steps mentioned below.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cups of buttermilk, milk (mixed with 1 tablespoon white vinegar if you want; see Step 1), or yogurt, plus more if needed
- 2 tablespoons butter, extra virgin olive oil, lard or bacon drippings
- 1 1/2 cups medium-grind cornmeal
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar, or more if you like sweet corn bread
- 1 egg
Steps:
- Heat the oven to 375°F. If you want to make sour milk (approximating buttermilk), warm the milk gently to take the chill off, 1 minute in the microwave is sufficient, and add the vinegar. Let it stay while you prepare the other ingredients.
- Put the fat or oil in an 8-inch ovenproof skillet or square metal baking pan over medium heat; heat until hot, about 2 minutes, then turn off the heat.
- Mix together the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix the egg into the buttermilk. Stir the liquid into the dry ingredients just enough to combine; if it seems too dry, add another tablespoon or two of milk. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top if necessary, and put in the oven.
- Bake for around 40 minutes, until the top becomes lightly browned and the sides have pulled away from the pan; a toothpick inserted into the center will come out clean. Serve hot or warm.
Lighter, Richer Corn Bread. Use 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) of butter. Increase the sugar to 1/4 cup. Use 2 eggs; stir their yolks into the buttermilk and beat the whites until stiff but not dry, then gently stir them into the prepared batter after the yolks and buttermilk have been incorporated.
Bake as directed.
Corny Corn Bread. Add 1 cup of fresh or frozen corn kernels or about 1 cup creamed corn to the liquid ingredients in Step 2.
Bacon Corn Bread. Before beginning, saute 1/2 cup of chopped bacon in 1 tablespoon grape seed, corn, or other neutral oil, bacon fat, or lard until crisp.
- Take out the bacon by using a slotted spoon, leaving the fat behind. Keep the fat hot and prepare the batter as directed; use the hot fat to prepare the pan in Step 2.
- Stir the bacon into the finished batter and proceed with the recipe. Corn and Bean Bread. Use 2 eggs and 1 cup of buttermilk or soured milk; omit the flour. Stir 1 1/2 cups well cooked white beans, pureed and strained, into the milk-egg mixture before adding to the dry ingredients.
Corn Muffins. To make the main recipe or any of the variations into muffins, grease a 12-cup muffin tin and put a paper cup in each if you like. Divide the dough among the cups and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
Related Tags: cornbread jalapeno sour milk creamed corn oil recipe -cheese, howto corn bread, how to makecorn meal bread, how to make cracklinscorn bread with bacon, how to make cornbread with bacon, how to make cornbread essay, how to make corn crisp, how to increase corn flavor in cornbread
Related Content: