Skillet Corn Bread               

 tags (edit): @Vogel @Tried Easy Bread  

 

Southerners are passionate about their corn bread, and perhaps the noisest of them all is Hoppin' John, who has broadcast this recipe far and wide in hopes of converting those who add sugar to their recipes. This one is pure and sensationally good, a foolproof recipe baked in an old-fashioned cast-iron skillet ("well seasoned and never washed", cautions Hoppin').

Ingredients

1 each large Egg
2 cups Buttermilk
1 3/4 cups Corn Meal Preferably Stone-Ground
1 1/2 teaspoon Bacon Grease Strained
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt


 

Instructions
 In a medium bowl, mix the egg into the buttermilk. Add the corn meal and beat it well; the batter should be thin.

Put enough bacon grease into a 9- or 10-inch cast-iron skillet to coat the bottom and sides with a thin film, then set the skillet in a cold oven. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. When it reaches the right temperature, the bacon grease will be just at the point of smoking. Add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the batter, beat in well, and pour the batter all at once into the hot pan.

Return the pan to the oven to bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the top of the corn bread just begins to brown. Turn the loaf out onto a plate and serve hot with lots of the freshest butter you can get your hands on.

NOTE: A compound butter with maple syrup is darned good on this hot bread.


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Yields: 8 Servings
     BEST AMERICAN RECIPES 2001-2002, p 243

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