My best cornbread

[jpw23]

Been experimenting with cornbread for a while now....here's what I got
2 cups self rising cornmeal
1/2 cup self rising flour
2 large eggs(beaten)
1/4 cup veg. oil
12 oz. can of cheap beer
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder(Brauma's ground up fine)
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375 and oil a large cast iron skillet with 1/4 cup of veg. oil and place skillet in oven while preheating

Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl
Add wet ingredients and mix well
Remove skillet from oven and pour in contents from bowl
Place skillet back into oven for about 15 minutes or until fork test is clean

Kinda spicy buit, not overwhelming, great with a large dollop of butter:biggrin:

[Sledneck]

drnenched in butters

[bbqbull]

Looks and sounds great jpw. Thanks for sharing.

[Keri C]

Don't know if you're interested, but here's this one of mine - blue ribbon at the Oklahoma State Fair in Tulsa in 2002. It makes a decent base for experimentation. These particular sticks were baked in a cast aluminum pan. When baked in a cast iron stick pan or skillet, they get much browner and crustier.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d42/Santa-C/MVC-532F.jpg

1 1/2 cups plain cornmeal (not cornmeal mix or self-rising)
1/2 cup flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder (preferably Rumford)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar (up to 1/2 cup)
1 1/4 cup milk (fat-free works fine)
1/2 cup vegetable oil (can cut to 1/3 cup, if desired)
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 400°F, placing pans in the oven while it heats. I use a total of 4 pans: 3 cast iron cornstick pans, 1 cast aluminum cornstick pan, and 1 non-stick scone pan.

Blend dry ingredients in a large bowl. Blend milk, oil, and eggs in another bowl, then add to the dry ingredients. Blend until all is combined.

Remove hot pans from the oven one at a time and slip a small amount of Crisco or bacon drippings (about 1/4 teaspoon) into each stick form, brushing it to cover all surfaces well. Place pans back in the oven for a few minutes--you want them to be very hot.

Remove hot pan from the oven, set on a heat-proof surface, and using a tablespoon from your silverware drawer, put a generous spoonful of batter into each form. You should have enough batter for 24 cornsticks and 8 thin crusty wedges.

Bake at 400°F until golden brown on the tops, about 15 minutes for the sticks and about 20 minutes for the wedges.

To remove cornbread from the pan, gently ease the tines of a fork under the edges of the cornstick and carefully pry up. If the pan was preheated and greased well, it should pop right out.

If you prefer, bake the whole recipe in a 9-inch cast iron skillet for about 30 minutes and cut into wedges to serve, or use a 13x9 pan and cut into squares.

Don't bake multiple batches with a single cornstick pan. When the pan cools between batches, it stands more of a chance of sticking. Try filling a single heated cornstick pan and putting the rest of the batter in a heated cast iron skillet.

Serve with pinto beans and fried taters, BBQ, or with just a cold glass of sweet milk.

[Meat Burner]

Keri, that looks tasty! Just told my better half, we are headed to Bass Pro tomorrow for a cast iron cornbread stick pan. We season by keeping in the oven, greased, and heat everytime we preheat the oven. Worked great on the 10 Lodge. Thanks for the post.:mrgreen:

[River City Smokehouse]

Keri, what is the purpose of pre-heating the cast iron skillet? Is it for the crust formation?

Also, if I were going to make a corn bread and wanted to add pulled pork to it, would I add it to the mixture after pouring it in the skillet or during the mixing of the cornbread recipe? I wouldn't want the pork to sink to the bottom.

[Meat Burner]

Keri, what is the purpose of pre-heating the cast iron skillet? Is it for the crust formation?

Also, if I were going to make a corn bread and wanted to add pulled pork to it, would I add it to the mixture after pouring it in the skillet or during the mixing of the cornbread recipe? I wouldn't want the pork to sink to the bottom.

Interesting...sounds good!

[River City Smokehouse]

Interesting...sounds good!
Pics to follow....tomorrow night or Tuesday.

[Keri C]

Meat burner, I believe that all of Lodge's offerings are now the Lodge Logic line. They did well when they came up with this - it's "pre-seasoned". NOT non-stick, but pre-seasoned. That's what all my cornstick pan are now. Treat them just like you would well-seasoned cast iron.

River, yes, the preheating is for crust formation, as well as to help keep it from sticking. I've made a BBQ Pot Pie before by putting leftover pulled pork and sauce in the bottom of a baking dish and pouring not cornbread but cheese grits over the top of it and baking it - same general approach, just a slightly different form of cornmeal. (see http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=401595) (http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=401595%29). You can't slice it like cornbread, but it sure was tasty. If you just want to add a little pork to the cornbread, I'd pour the batter in the skillet and gently lay your pork pieces on top of the batter before you bake it. The batter will probably bake up around it, but it shouldn't sink to the bottom.

[Plowboy]

I didn't know Tulsa was a state.

[keale]

SCORE!! 2 great sounding recipes in one thread! Awesome!!
thanks Todd! Thanks Keri!

[thirdeye]

SCORE!! 2 great sounding recipes in one thread! Awesome!!
thanks Todd! Thanks Keri!

That goes double for me too. Have either of you:

1. used some bacon drippings with the oil?
2. mixed in some crumbled bacon?
3. mixed in fresh cut corn or diced peppers?

[Keri C]

Plowboy, I didn't know it was a state either, but I don't argue with what the blue ribbon and the check say. :mrgreen:

Thirdeye, yes, yes, and yes. All good additions.

[swamprb]

I found three corn stick muffin pans at Thrift stores recently one was a Wagner aluminum and one was like Keri's Blue Ribbon winner, the other was a Lodge cast iron, which I re-seasoned. The aluminum pans turned out great but the muffins stuck to the Lodge. I'll try pre-heating from now on, Thanks Keri!

Brian

[Keri C]

Brian, I never HAVE been able to get my old cast iron cornstick pans seasoned well enough that they wouldn't stick. Those Lodge Logic ones I picked up, though, release the sticks SO easily with just a half a teaspoon or so of melted crisco or bacon grease heated up in them.

I'm now officially craving a big glass of cornbread and milk...

kc

[swamprb]

I got rid of two cast iron Wagners years ago and always regretted that move, but finding the aluminum ones and the Lodge and anticipating them sticking after coming out of the oven and to my surprise they popped right out of the pans and I let out a whoop and my family is wondering whats the big deal? Its only cornbread! Well for me 2 out of 3 wasn't bad!

Brian

[Keri C]

Its only cornbread! Brian

Sacrilege!!! Heresy!!! :mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:


If you ever find an old Grizwold cast iron skillet, get it. Best cast iron I've ever used. My favorites run from about 1900 - 1910. Smoother finish by far than current day Lodges - slick as a mirror.

[N8man]

JPW, Do you use yellow or white corn meal?

[Brauma]

That goes double for me too. Have either of you:

1. used some bacon drippings with the oil?
2. mixed in some crumbled bacon?
3. mixed in fresh cut corn or diced peppers?

I was gonna ask the same thing.

Great looking c-bread Jay & Keri. I love cornbread. Especially with chili.

[SmokeInDaEye]

This all sounds great! I was just about to make cornbread waffles topped with creole shrimp for dinner. May need to try one of these recipes1