how to make a pan of “real cornbread:” “First get a good cast iron skillet. An old, well-seasoned, and well-used one is best. It may look greasy and caked up on the outside, but that just means you’ll get a better crust. Into this pan goes a big spoonful of drippings. Butter is good, but bacon grease is best—gritted with tiny flakes of the meat and redolent with its tangy savor. Put the skillet in an oven where the fire is already white-hot and scorching—about 450 degrees. Dump some cornmeal— about two cups worth—in a big bowl. Mountain people prefer white cornmeal because its got a sharper taste and tenderer texture. Put in some salt for savor, and a little baking soda and baking powder just for a little rise, but not too much. Remember real cornbread is never puffed-up or self-important. Crack a big egg in the middle and break it with your wooden spoon. Add milk—about a cup and a half worth. Sweet milk is just fine, but if you’ve got buttermilk you’ve got good eating. Stir it up and about then your drippings should be good and hot. Take your skillet out of the oven and swirl it to coat it. It should crackle and pop like the laughter of your cousins when your daddy just told a good one. Pour the grease into the batter, mix it quick, pour the batter back into the skillet, and pop it into the oven. Now here’s the hard part. You’re going to have to wait for twenty to twenty five minutes. And while you’re waiting you’re going to start to smell the sweet, buttery scent of the corn, the seductive salt of the bacon grease. And when you pull that skillet out of the oven, the cornbread will have a golden-brown glistening crust that will crack crisply as you make that first slice. And when you pull that first wedge up out of the pan, a little cloud of corn-sweet steam will rise up into your face.”
Posted on: Fri, 04 Oct 2013 05:34:01 +0000
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