Mama’s Southern Style Cornbread

Ingredient List:

• 1 cup Buttermilk
• 1 (or maybe 2) Eggs
• ½ tsp Baking Soda
• ½ tsp Salt
• 1 Tbs Sugar
• 1 cup or so of Aunt Jemima or Quaker yellow Corn Meal
• 2–3 Jalapeño Peppers (optional), topped, de-veined, seeded, diced and pre-sautéed for 4–5 minutes.

Instructions for Preparation:

In a well-seasoned medium cast-iron skillet, preheat some very good quality vegetable oil to the cooking temperature of 425˚. Be sure to round the oil to coat entirely the bottom and sides of the skillet.

In a medium to large bowl, add to the buttermilk 1 or 2 eggs and stir thoroughly. Mix the dry ingredients separately—save for the corn meal—and add to the wet ingredients, stirring very thoroughly.

Add 1 cup of corn meal. If you choose to use the second egg, you may need to add just a bit more. Stir in thoroughly. It’s better for the mixture to be slightly “wet” than to make it too dry.

Add the diced and pre-sautéed Jalapeño peppers if you’d prefer that option. You may also add a bit of red, diced and pre-sautéed red bell pepper if you wish.

Pour into the pre-heated skillet and return to oven for 22–25 minutes. At about 20 minutes, check by lightly thumping a wooden spoon in the center of the cornbread. When the retort sounds like a ripe watermelon, you’re pretty much done.

Serving Suggestion:

Remove from pan, invert onto a plate and slice. Split and add real butter to taste. Please don’t ruin this cornbread with margarine! That stuff’s only one molecule away from plastic and won’t match very well.

This ain’t no Yankee-made sweet cornbread. If you want that, go get a cake mix.

This cornbread goes especially well with the Potato Soup and Hunter’s Stew, also to be found in this collection of recipies. Try it also with pan-fried pork chops, fresh cooked mixed greens and especially pinto beans. It’ll do with just a chopped burger and some mixed vegetables as well.

From the Kitchen of:

Anna Millsap

29 January 2011