Cornbread, Bread, and Biscuits
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Barb's Favorite Cast Iron Skillet Cornbread
2 cups of self-rising yellow cornmeal mix (I like Martha White's Yellow Hot Rize.)
2 eggs
1 ½ cups sweet milk or buttermilk if you have it
450 F
Makes one large skillet of cornbread.
Mix in bowl (don't over mix) and heat ¼ cup liquid veg. oil in cast iron skillet until sizzling and then pour excess oil into cornbread mix and then pour the mix into hot skillet. Bake 450° for about 20 minutes or until golden. That makes one very crispy skillet cornbread. You will need two skillets of this cornbread recipe for this dressing.
Barb's Dad's Favorite Skillet Cornbread
400 F
My dad’s favorite cornbread. No flour, no sugar! Preferably thin and crispy, chopped up into a tall glass of buttermilk or sopping up pot liquor from white soup beans or turnip greens. My dad had to teach my mother how to cook cornbread because it wasn’t eaten in the Lannum family. Granddaddy Lannum nearly choked to death on cornbread because of the graininess so it never appeared on the table again. But Dad didn’t like cakey cornbread with flour and sugar. It was not to be cooked in a pan but a cast iron skillet, thin and very crispy on the bottom, sliced down the center and slathered with butter.
2 cups self-rising cornmeal
1 egg
2 cups buttermilk
¼ cup vegetable oil or bacon grease
Mix until just moist. Pour mixture into a hot 10” cast iron skillet and bake at 400º for 20-25 minutes or until browned.
Butter Bombs - Mini Bite Sized Biscuits
400 F
The easiest biscuits ever! They are good served at any meal.
2 cups of self-rising flour
1 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup (1 stick) of melted butter
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 24 count mini muffin pan with non-stick spray. Mix the flour, sour cream and butter until well blended. Scoop spoonfuls of the batter into the muffin pan and bake at 400 degrees F for about 10 to 12 minutes. 24 mini muffins
These freeze nicely; just let them come to room temperature and either microwave or wrap completely in aluminum foil and reheat in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until freshened.
Cottage Cheese Dill Quick Bread
350 F
I used to make this easy dill bread with my left over cottage cheese when I made lasagna. It is a little dense, but makes a nice sandwich bread.
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons dried dill
1 cup cottage cheese, low fat is fine
2 large eggs
½ cup milk or buttermilk
¼ cup sugar,
½ stick melted butter
Preheat oven to 350º. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Dust with flour. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and dill. In a second bowl, stir together the cottage cheese, egg, milk, sugar and butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to make a fairly stiff batter. Spoon it into the pan and spread it evenly with the back of a scraper. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until it appears done. Let cool for about 30 minutes before serving.
Popovers: a Recipe from Neiman Marcus Cookbook
450 F
I learned to make popovers with this recipe. They are delicious and I loved to make them on snow days when I could sleep late and had plenty of time to make them. The resting time is very important. Don’t skip that step.
3 ½ cups milk
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 large eggs, at room temperature
Strawberry butter
Butter
Strawberry Preserves
Preheat the oven to 450°.
Place the milk in a bowl and microwave on high for 2 minutes, or until warm to the touch. Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a large mixing bowl.
Crack the eggs into the work bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk and beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until foamy and pale in color. Turn down the mixer to low and add the warm milk. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Turn the machine off and let the batter rest for 1 hour at room temperature.
Spray a popover (or muffin) tin generously with nonstick spray. Fill the popover cups almost to the top with the batter and place the popover tin on a cookie sheet. Transfer to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Turn down the oven temperature to 375°F and bake for 30 to 35 minutes longer, until the popovers are a deep golden brown on the outside and airy on the inside. Turn out the popovers and serve hot with strawberry butter.
Note: The key to making great popovers is having the eggs and milk warm before mixing. It is also important to let the batter sit for an hour before baking it. Popovers do not freeze well, and pre-made batter has a tendency not to work properly the next day.
Strawberry butter: Place the butter in the work bowl of an electric mixer and beat on high until light and fluffy. Add the preserves and beat until well combined. To serve, spoon or pipe the flavored butter into 2-tablespoon ramekins or onto side plates. Note: Keep refrigerated in an airtight container. This spread will last for two to three days.
Northern Cornbread
450 F
My son adores cornbread. Raised a good Southern boy, he ate Southern cornbread. Simple. Must be cooked in oiled (preferably by bacon grease) ancient cast iron skillet. Yellow cornmeal (preferably self-rising or add in baking powder, baking soda, and salt to regular meal), egg, buttermilk, oil. Can be poured into corncob fritter pan, made into pancake-like hoe cakes, but, forbid, not into a square aluminum pan. I told him about the Northern version with flour and sugar and he thought he might like to try it, for comparison, you know. Well! He said he liked it a bit more than the Southern version. Softer. Tastier. Lawd! He's ruint! That sugar and flour has ruint him! Note: if you add sour cream and corn to mix, it is spoonbread.
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 cups white or yellow cornmeal
¾ cup all-purpose flour
⅓ cup white sugar
4 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
Note: If you use self-rising cornmeal, that eliminates the need for the baking powder, soda, and salt. I prefer yellow cornmeal.
Preheat oven to 450º. Pour vegetable oil into a 10-inch cast-iron skillet and swirl oil to coat bottom and sides of skillet. Place skillet into preheated oven until very hot, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove skillet from oven. Whisk cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Beat eggs in a separate bowl and stir buttermilk into eggs. Pour half (2 tablespoons) of vegetable oil from the hot skillet into buttermilk mixture, retaining remaining oil in skillet, and beat until oil is incorporated. Mix buttermilk mixture into dry ingredients to make a smooth batter. Don't over mix. Pour batter into skillet. Bake in the oven until top is golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Cut cornbread into servings while in skillet; serve warm.
Sweet Cornbread Cake
350 F
This is a thick, sweet cornbread that tastes like you are eating cake. This is a no-fail recipe, you can't go wrong! If there are any leftovers, have the cornbread the next day for breakfast served with honey and butter.
1 cup cornmeal
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups white sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup melted butter
2 tablespoons honey
4 eggs, beaten
2 1/2 cups whole milk
Preheat oven to 350º and grease a 9” x 13” baking dish. Stir together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. Pour in the vegetable oil, melted butter, honey, beaten eggs, and milk, and stir just to moisten.Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, until the top of the cornbread starts to brown and show cracks.
Shirley Steven's Spoon Bread
375 F
Jake Stevens was friend and colleague of Roger's at the University of Missouri, Rolla, School of Engineering. Roger lived with them briefly until we bought a house. I visited one weekend and Shirley made this delicious spoonbread. We also enjoyed her homemade spice tea.
1 (8.5-ounce) package JIFFY Corn Muffin Mix
1 (14.75-ounce) can cream style corn
1 (15-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1/2 cup butter, melted (1 stick)
1 cup sour cream
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat the oven to 375° and lightly grease a 2-quart casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine the ingredients and mix well. Pour the mixture into the casserole dish. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until the spoon bread is golden brown and set.
Mexican Cornbread
400 F
My biology teacher in high school was Cleo Jordan, who made a fabulous Mexican Cornbread. Cleo brought this in one day for her students to taste. A brand-new recipe and taste treat. I don't know where she found the recipe. There were no Taco Bells or Mexican restaurants back then. You could buy tamales at an occasional roadside shack or gas station. Sometimes you could find a Pancho's in a larger town like Shreveport. I don't have her original recipe, but this is a reasonable facsimile. If using self-rising cornmeal, the baking soda and salt are not necessary.
1 (8.25 ounce) can cream-style corn
1 cup yellow cornmeal
¾ cup buttermilk
½ cup corn oil
3 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
3 eggs
2 small cans chopped green chilies or 2 finely chopped, seeded jalapeno peppers
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons butter
Preheat oven to 400º. Mix cream-style corn, cornmeal, buttermilk, corn oil, Cheddar cheese, eggs, chilies, salt, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl. Put butter into a 9-inch square baking dish. Melt butter in preheated oven, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour corn bread batter into the baking dish over melted butter. Bake in oven until golden brown, about 35 minutes.
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