Cast Iron Cornbread recipe!

[Saviolo]

So, after we did the cornbread dressing recipe last week, we realized that we haven't done the recipe for cornbread that we used! So, we did a video on the cornbread here. My hubby took this recipe from a well-known Cajun fine-dining restaurant he worked at in Houston for a while. It's a delicious cornbread, super easy, and works well for the cornbread custard they do at that restaurant, or for this dressing, or as a side for soups and stews. As with many things in life, it's far more delicious when it's covered in butter!

There are certainly some opportunities to customize or personalize this recipe. We've done it with a little dollop of our fermented hot pepper relish, which is delicious in this. You can also add cheese (small cubes of feta or crumbled goat cheese work particularly well). The big trick with this one is to not over-mix it (you can see here we just barely got everything combined before baking) and to work with the mix quickly once it's well-combined. If it sits around too long it doesn't rise and the end result is not as nice. Also, if you don't have the 10" cast iron skillet, a similarly-sized cake pan will work just as well for this.

[Motley13]

1. No, no, no sugar in cornbread, this is not dessert

Obvious the chef is not from the South.

Here you go

Author Notes: Whether you like it slathered in butter or drizzled with honey, plain or with milk like I take mine, I give you cast iron cornbread: the classic buttermilk and bacon grease version of my youth. —Beth Kirby |

Makes one 9" skillet of cornbread

1 1/4 cups (175 g) cornmeal 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 3 tablespoons bacon grease, plus extra for greasing the pan 2 eggs, lightly beaten 1 cup buttermilk

Heat oven to 425° F.
Grease a cast iron skillet with bacon grease and place in the oven while it heats.
Mix the first four ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Cut in the fat with your fingers or two knives, mixing well until you have a sandy texture.
Combine the eggs and the buttermilk, add to the dry ingredients, and mix to combine well.
Pour the mixture into the hot skillet and bake for 20 minutes. Invert onto a plate. I like to serve it upside down with the nice crispy side up like my grandma did!

This recipe is a Community Pick!

[Bayard]

2. I like to add

A little bit of flour, so its not quite as heavy.

Fried cornbread fritters are also pretty tasty. Dang, I'm feeling homesick now!

[Saviolo]

3. He's from Texas, so not really "The South"

The recipe is from a well-known Creole/Cajun-style fine dining restaurant in Houston (Brennan's of Houston, a sister restaurant to Commander's Palace in New Orleans) that he worked at.

It makes a delicious cornbread, and the finished product does not have a lot of sweetness from the (relatively small amount of) sugar that is used in this recipe.

There are lots of ways to make a cornbread. It's one of those recipes where everyone has a different variation on it. I always shy away from saying "This is not authentic" or especially "this is not right" when dealing with a cuisine that has many variations. They're all delicious, this is just one presentation of it. As far as I'm concerned, flavour is more important than authenticity.

[dem in texas]

4. From an old Texas Lady

No sugar in the cornbread, ever!. I grew up in North Texas and lived many years in San Antonio and I never heard of sugar in the cornbread until I was an adult and moved out of Texas.

And when you make iron skillet cornbread, stick the dry, un-greased skillet in the oven when you start making the cornbread. When batter is mixed, take the skillet from the oven and spray some Pam on it (or a little oil). Pour batter in the skillet, You should hear it sizzle when the batter meets the hot iron. Pop it back in the oven and you will have a cornbread with a crisp brown crust and soft cornbread inside.

[Arkansas Granny]

5. I always melt my shortening in the oven and add it to the batter last.

When I pour the batter in the skillet it sizzles and starts climbing the sides of the pan. I use a little sugar in my cornbread. I like the taste and it helps develop that crispy, browned crust.

[japple]

6. My granny from Guadalupe County couldn't afford to put sugar in the cornbread she

made for her family of 12. My Georgia grandmother made the best biscuits I've ever eaten. Her daughter, Louise, made the most beautiful and delicious cornbread ever. It was baked in a skillet and had the most beautiful, crispy brown exterior. The inside was corny, salty, and had a grainy, substantial texture on the tongue. I live in Georgia now and cannot eat what passes for cornbread in some of the restaurants around here or what is served at potluck gatherings. I call it "corn cake." Cornbread is made for soaking up pot likker, whether from beans or greens. If you want dessert, put lots of butter on it and pour on the molasses or sorghum syrup. Blackberry preserves or apple butter are equally delicious.

[TBA]

8. You don't have to put the skillet in the oven

I heat mine on the stove while oven preheats. That way I can keep an eye on it. It should sizzle loudly!

[PossiblePasts]

7. My Grandma was from Eastern KY and used white cornmeal

with no sugar. Most of the time she would fry it and we would eat it with soup beans.
These days I use yellow cornmeal (usually Bob's red mill) and bake it in her cast iron skillet (with no sugar). We have moved around a lot and I always make sure that skillet is wrapped very, very carefully.

[TBA]

9. I was wishing to a friend that I had a cast iron skillet

and she said she thought she had on in her barn. Next thing I knew she brought me an old rusty skillet and a dutch oven. I cleaned them up and like you, they are by far my most prized kitchen cooking vessels.

The skillet never leaves my stove top I use it so often.

Word of advice: If you want one get an old one off ebay. Skip the new Lodge ones. They will never season properly.