HIGH

COUNTRY

CORNBREAD







1-1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups yellow cornmeal (commercial variety okay)
3 tsps baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup frozen corn kernels thawed
1 cup buttermilk (I use powdered buttermilk and water with an extra
shot of powdered buttermilk.)
3 large eggs (I use egg substitute and one real, dropped from the hen egg.)
8 tbsps melted and cooled butter or almond oil (I mix them half and half. Almond oil is healthier for the heart but more expensive. Bacon drippings are great and will be fondly remembered in the ambulance on the way to heart bypass surgery.)
1 tbsp vanilla (I use the blend of fake and real because it’s cheaper.)
1 round 10 inch cast iron pan

(1) Place oven rack in middle position. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. (2) Mix flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. If using powdered buttermilk, mix with above. (3) In blender mix brown sugar, thawed corn, and buttermilk, or 1 cup water if using powdered buttermilk, for a several seconds. (4) Add eggs and mix several seconds more. (5) With spoon or spatula make a hole in dry ingredients, pour wet ingredients from blender in the hole, fold dry ingredients into wet, add melted butter or almond oil, and continue folding until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in vanilla. (6) Coat bottom and sides of cast iron pan with canola oil or more butter. (7) Sprinkle bottom of cast iron pan with cornmeal for crusty bottom. (8) Pour and smooth mixture into cast iron pan. (9) Bake 25 to 35 minutes until golden brown. If a toothpick is stuck in cornbread and comes out clean, it is done. (10) Cool and serve with butter and maple syrup or honey.

The cornbread isn’t as good using an oven-proof glass baking dish. The cast iron pan gives the cornbread more heft. Some people favor cornmeal cake served in restaurants. This is not cornmeal cake, but cornbread with a firm, crunchy bottom crust. It does well as an accompaniment to Uncle Rolf’s Pork Chili Chinois, a dessert, or a late night snack with a glass of milk.