Every year, my Great-Uncle Kermit in Mississippi (he’s 94!), plants corn in his garden. Last summer, I asked him why he loves corn so much. He said that he could not remember a year of his life when he didn’t plant corn. Both sides of my mother’s family were sharecroppers who grew and picked cotton in the summers while their little ones slept in baskets underneath shade trees. As early as the age of three, the children joined in the planting and picking. Uncle Kermit said they took the field dried corn to the mill where it would be ground for fresh cornmeal. I can only imagine how wonderful that cornbread tasted!
My grandmother served cornbread just about every evening for supper. If not cornbread, then we had buttermilk biscuits. She would flip the hot cast iron skillet of fresh baked cornbread upside down onto a serving platter. If any bits stuck to the pan, she would lay a hot dish towel over the skillet to steam the cornbread loose. She left the skillet to rest over the cornbread and removed it right before we sat down at the table. Warm and crisp cornbread, soft butter and a pot of honey or cane syrup would all be grouped together on the table. During the high heat of summer, the previous nights cornbread would be crumbled into a tall glass, then drowned in cold buttermilk with a pinch of sugar. A great breakfast or light lunch.
Cornbread recipes are regional - from the southwest versions that call for poblano peppers and cheese to the northeast where cornbread tastes and looks more like cake. Down in Louisiana, cornbread is often made in casserole dishes with condensed milk and creamed corn - and let me tell you - that is every bit as decadent as it sounds! And then we have southern-style cornbreads, which remain my favorite, because of their crispy crust to creamy filling ratios.
Below, you’ll find three recipes for cornbread. It is my hope, you’ll attempt at least one of them in the near future. The first recipe is my own, and just like my grandmother, I serve it crispy side up. Unlike her, I do not use self-rising cornmeal, eggs or any oil. I will also ask you to make homemade baking powder, which is far easier than it sounds. Because we are working with pure cornmeal - the aluminum in commercial baking powders would completely overtake this simple cornbread.
Personally, I think cornbreads laced with bacon fat are king. However, I have also included a recipe for cornbread made with ghee in a nonstick pan. Not everyone eats pork or has a cured cast iron skillet. I made a pan of this for my dad last week and he absolutely loved it. I always have my doubts that the crust will brown and turn out, but this cornbread bakes up beautifully.
The final recipe is for old fashioned cornbread muffins. This recipe was passed down to me from Emily, a woman who used to cook at the Selma Country Club. The club’s kitchen is currently under renovation, following a horrific tornado that hit Selma last year. These cornbread muffins are so delicious - Emily said she gained at least ten pounds during her first year of working at the club - all from cornbread. She instructed me to get self-rising cornmeal, fresh eggs, buttermilk, sweet milk (known to everyone outside of the south as whole milk), butter and sugar. Yes, sugar in the cornbread. Those pearls were clutched honey, but I proceeded on. When she started to mix everything up, I asked her for measurements - she looked shocked - said she makes cornbread by sight and if I wanted to learn, I just needed to watch her make them. I watched, made notes and happily ate all of her wonderful cornbread muffins. The recipe is not complicated in any way, but it will ask you to use a little instinct when it comes to figuring out how thick or thin you prefer the batter to be. She also used a stand mixer, which I had never seen done before. I tried to mix a batch by hand - and it did not turn out the same. You are looking for a pourable batter that looks like pancake mix. Self-rising cornmeals vary which is why this recipe might take a little detour from the measurements below. If the batter looks too thick, add a tablespoon more of sweet milk.
For paid subscribers to Southern Flavor, the recipes are below (plus a surprise cornbread recipe from Tina Turner!). For everyone else, this is where our cornbread journey ends. Thank you for being here and for supporting my work. If you are enjoying these stories and recipes, consider forwarding this to a friend?