Feeling Corny

You know..for me...it's all about the carbs, man. I can make a meal out of nothing but bread and side salad and be quite happy. Bread makes my heart go pit-a-pat. Bread makes me weak in the knees. Bread is the single most important ingredient to any good meal.

I eat bread...therefore I run.

I made some cornbread to go with the chili the other day, and then realized that I'd need cornbread for the Thanksgiving dressing, if I can remember all the things that go in the dressing that my grandmother makes (I think I can...I think I can...), so I thought I'd share a basic cornbread recipe with you.

Even though everyone already knows how to make cornbread, right?

Well, that's too bad. I don't have anything else ready. We ate at the Talky Beer Place on Thursday, and at Potbelly last night, so I haven't cooked anything in two days.

So, here we go...



Start with a good corn meal. This is self-rising, because I'm too lazy to add the extra steps. But it's better than a box of Jiffy. Although - really...I like Jiffy. But not for dressing.

Add some oil or shortening to a cast iron skillet and heat it up on the stove, or in the preheated 450 degree oven while you mix the rest. This ensures that you get a good crust on the bottom of your bread. DON'T SKIP THIS STEP.



The only cast iron skillet I currently have is this grill pan, but it works just fine.

Dear Mom: See Christmas list suggestion above...

Tangent...My sweet Dr. SmartyPants thinks it's really disgusting that I won't let him wash this pan with soap. It's not. Good hot water and a scrubby are all you need. Please, please, please oil your pan before you put it away...Tangent done.

In a bowl, combine 2 cups of the self-rising corn meal with 1 tablespoon sugar (if you like a little sweetness...leave it out if you are weird don't.)

In another bowl, or large measuring cup, combine 1 1/3 cups milk with one slightly beaten egg. Or if you're like me, drop the egg in and give it a swirl to mix it up with the milk. ***edit...I just remembered...I used about one cup of buttermilk and 1/3 cup sweet milk when I made this...yummmm.



Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until smooth.

Pour the batter into the hot skillet.



I usually let it sit a minute to let the crust get all crunchy. I like crunchy crust.

Say that five times really fast. Ilikecrunchycrust. Ilikecrunchycrust. Ilikecrunchycrust. Ilikecrunchycrust. Ilikecrunchycrust.

Oh, never mind. It wasn't all that hard to say after all.



Pop it into the oven and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, until the top is golden brown.

Turn it out onto a cooling rack and guard it with your life, because someone in your house wants to grab it, slather it with butter and call it his.

And if you only have a cast iron grill pan, like me...enjoy the cute little cornbread bottom.



(ilikecrunchycrust)