This Charming Kitchen

That's right, Charming readers -  it's cornbread time!

This is my grandmother's recipe for cornbread, which has served me well.  I make it in her cast iron skillet, which she probably inherited from somebody else and is well over 100 years old.  I suppose you can make corn bread in another type of pan, but I don't know how to do that.  If you are really committed to good corn bread, though, you need to lay your hands on a cast iron skillet.  They are great to have anyway and I use mine for all kinds of stuff, including oven baked french fries and broiled salmon... but I digress.

Back to the cornbread.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup yellow corn meal
• 1 cup all purpose flour  (I recommend White Lily if you can get your hands on it)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups butter milk
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or Crisco
• 1 1/2 cups frozen corn (optional)

Directions:

•  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Grease the skillet with the vegetable oil and/or Crisco.  Now, I think this next step is key.  Put the skillet in the oven while it preheats.  You need the oil to get hot. 
• in a bowl, mix dry ingredients.
• in a separate bowl, whisk eggs, buttermilk and butter
• add buttermilk mixture and cornmeal mixture together and stir until batter is just combined.  If you are using the frozen corn, mix that in.
• when oven has finished preheating, remove skillet and hot oil and add the batter.  If you've done this right, it should sizzle up and create the beginning of the crust that you are looking for.  If the oil is not hot enough, it will just absorb into the batter and make greasy cornbread.  
• Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes until top is golden brown and sides pull away from the pan. 

This is best served warm, but you can store in an airtight container for a couple of days.  In the south, you can mix your day old cornbread with milk or buttermilk and have it for dessert the next day.

Just sayin.