Cornbread

I finally made the cornbread from the Hipcooks cooking class. I never seem to have cornmeal in the house [probably for good measure or I’d eat cornbread all the time], so I had to make a special trip. I needed to use up the mustard greens in the fridge that were starting to look sad, so why not saute them with bacon and pour it all over the cornbread?

I’ve proceeded to eat the cornbread for breakfast, lunch, and dinner the past few days. As of this morning there were two slices left. Since I’m out of honey/agave/brown rice syrup, I’ve been smothering it in my friend John’s apricot jam. I’m planning on making soup tonight. For the record, I didn’t come up with the soup idea as an excuse to eat more cornbread. That’s just silly [however, ridiculously convenient].

The thing that surprises me about this cornbread is it’s not sweet. At all. I’m used to the sweet stuff, and had no idea that there was really any other way to do it. Google showed me that there is a heated cornbread debate between the North and the South. Maybe that’s what the Civil War was really about. Cornbread is might be worth fighting for.

I actually halved the recipe below. I only have a 9″ cast iron pan [that’s my excuse, but really I wouldn’t be opposed to twice the cornbread], and I might as well keep the cornmeal for another day. Another day = another batch.

Inspiration: Hipcooks Portland

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup corn oil + some to grease the pan with
• 2 1/2 cups milk [I used coconut]
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 3 tablespoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons salt

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 400º and grease a 10″ cast iron skillet.
2. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a bowl.
3. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, and oil.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and combine until incorporated.
5. Pour into the prepared pan.
6. Bake for 30 minutes. The top should spring back when you poke it, and a toothpick should come out clean.
7. Allow to rest for 10 minutes until digging in.