On Sat, 08 Nov 2003 04:25:14 GMT, Peggie Hall wrote:

JohnH wrote:

Well Peggy, we're just like family! Post that recipe!!

Ok

Put 2 tablespoons of lard or Crisco into an 8" cast iron skillet. (Must
be cast iron)
Put in oven and preheat oven to 425(F)

While pan is heating in oven, mix together:

2/3 cup stone ground corn meal (MUST be stone ground!)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup self rising flour
2/3 cup butter milk
break 1 egg into it, add enough water to bring liquid to 1 cup
(egg is optional only if hens are laying well...otherwise, just add 1/3
cup water to buttermilk)

When oven is up to temp, pour melted shortening into batter, mix quickly
and pour into preheated pan. Bake at 425 for 25-30 minutes.

This WILL NOT taste like, nor have the same texture as, any corn bread
made from a mix! Corn bread was originally what came to be known as
"soul food." In the old south, flour was a real luxury that only the
rich could afford in enough quantity to make rolls and biscuits...the
poor had to be creative. Corn was plentiful, and so were grist mills to
grind it...buttermilk is what's left after the butter has been churned.
So they learned to make bread from corn meal, butter milk and
lard....with just a little bit of precious flour and some baking soda.

Commercial mixes use ground up corn meal (stone ground meal is crushed
between two big rocks), and include sugar--something no self-respecting
southerner would ever dream of. So those who are used to "yankee"
cornbread prob'ly wont' like the real thing. But to a southerner there's
nothing better than real cornbread slathered with freshly churned butter
and clover honey with a farm breakfast of cured ham, sausage, eggs, and
grits (which are a whole 'nother subject)...biscuits would be an added
luxury.

Peggie
----------
Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987
Author "Get Rid of Boat Odors - A Guide To Marine Sanitation Systems and
Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor"
http://www.seaworthy.com/html/get_ri...oat_odors.html

Thanks! Now here's a quickie cornbread (?) that's not too bad.

1 pkg Martha Wash Cornbread mix
1 pkg Martha Wash cornmeal muffin mix.

Do the cast iron skillet in the oven trick.
Mix both pkgs of mix together, following both recipes.

I like to add some prefried bacon chunks, or some corn, or both, along with some
onions.

This ain't real downhome, but it's not a bad substitute if in a rush.

John
On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD