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Kitchen Sink Hush Puppies | Pepper Jack and Ham Deep Fried Cornbread

April 17, 2012 by 12 Comments

 

I have a deep love for hush puppies that began -as so many things did- in my childhood in Kentucky. I was awfully young when we lived there and don’t have very many concrete memories of the place aside from creek stomping, salamander capturing, and sledding down coal piles in snow suits*, but one thing I do remember vividly is making occasional treks out of the holler and into the biggest nearby town for excursions that almost always ended in a trip to Long John Silver’s.

*No really. We did that. Being a family from Michigan, we missed our sledding hills and winter sports while living in Kentucky. My mom’s clever solution was to kit us out in snow suits and go sledding down a local coal pile.

Now, I know very well that hush puppies weren’t invented by or exclusive to Long John Silver’s  but it was my favourite part of the long haul into town and back. In all likelihood, it was what made me behave in public. Deep fried foods have that power over me and always have.

A fried fish dinner with hush puppies was my inevitable order and -truth be told- I ordered that every time just for the hush puppies. I pushed the fish around the greasy little cardboard clam shell case hoping I’d missed a piece of hush puppy here or there.

Dead crispy, dark golden brown, deep-fried nuggets of cornbread studded with onions: what wasn’t to love? The answer is nothing. And though my time in Kentucky was limited, my adoration for hush puppies remained. My mom didn’t do a ton of deep frying, despite the fact that her affection for all foods fried is as abiding as mine. She did break out the boiling oil for special occasion foods like lumpia and hush puppies, but it wasn’t a regular thing. I think this cemented the idea that fried foods -hush puppies, in particular- equaled celebration food.

I’m a little (okay, a lot) more loosey goosey with the deep fat frying than my mom. I’m pretty easy to persuade that it’s time for some deep-fried something or other.  When I got home from a successful vendor meeting for our local farmers’ market where I was introduced as the newest member of the management team (Shout out to Angelica Farmers’ Market: The best local producer and artisan market in Western New York!) I felt pretty excited. Where some people would take that excitement and go for a run, tidy a room, complete a project, I channeled it into HUSH PUPPIES! …Because that’s just the kind of gal I am.

I cranked up the heat under two inches of oil in a pan, spent five minutes chopping some goodies to toss in, measuring, and mixing, and in the time it took the oil to heat, I was standing by with my little scoopy thingy in hand, ready to get my fry on.

Here’s where the magic happens. When I dropped the first couple of scoops of hush puppy batter into the pan and the scent bubbled up  on the oil, my kids -who had been energetically flying around the yard, climbing trees and living in their imaginary worlds all day long- materialized behind me asking things like, “What smells so good?” and “Are those for us? Please say yes!”. My wee six year old said, “Are those for dinner? Or just part dinner?”

Hush puppies don’t take long, folks. This is not a delayed gratification food. When I pulled the first batch out a mere three minutes after dropping them in, the kids were standing by with forks in hand, ready to skewer on my say so. And skewer they did. Forks rammed down into those hush puppies so fast I feared for my fingers. Little teeth nibbled away and happy groans were heard. The same six year old who had previously asked what part of the meal these would comprise announced, “This is the best part dinner of my whole life. Ever.”

Unlike back in the day of the simple unadorned hush puppy, though, today’s were extraordinary. A plain hush puppy is good enough, mind you, but when you add minced ham, green onions and spicy pepper jack cheese to the usual chopped onions, you get a hush puppy that will, well, hush your puppies. We’re talking about what is essentially craggy, crispy, deep fried corn bread balls stuffed with creamy, spicy pepper jack, salty minced ham and two kinds of onions. These aren’t your standard issue Long John Silver hush puppies, people. Not by a long shot.

What do I serve these with? Mainly I serve them with this sauce and gorge myself, but I suppose there are those of you with more will power than I have and to you I say, “Serve them alongside fish dinners, with soup or salad, with chili or with a good supply of toothpicks and napkins on a buffet table.”

While you whip up something to accompany these, I’ll be over in my chair with my feet up trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for how many of these I ate. Carry on.

Some Notes:

  • I prefer these made with a nice coarsely ground corn meal. The widely available canister cornmeal will do alright, but for the ne plus ultra of hush puppies, go for the really gritty stuff.
  • Please, for the love of all things good in this world, grate your own cheese for these. It doesn’t have to be fancy cheese. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but don’t use the pre-grated cheese-in-a-bag. That cheese is coated with stuff to keep it from clumping which also has the net effect of making it melt in a way that isn’t as happy making. There’s a time and a place for the pre-grated stuff, but it’s not here.
  • Mince your ham into the itty-bittiest pieces you can produce. The same goes for the green onions and the sweet onions. It’s all about the distribution, folks. The finer you mince those things, the better the chances that you’ll get a little of everything in each bite. That is a very good thing. Trust me.
  • Don’t get fancy with the way you drop your batter into the hot oil. You don’t want perfection of shape on these. The irregular, jutting-out parts are the crispiest spots on the hush puppies. Those are the bits that render me powerless against them.

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Kitchen Sink Hush Puppies | Pepper Jack and Ham Deep Fried Cornbread

Kitchen Sink Hush Puppies | Pepper Jack and Ham Deep Fried Cornbread

These dressed up hush puppies are craggy, crispy, deep fried corn bread balls stuffed with creamy, spicy pepper jack, salty minced ham and two kinds of onions. Eat them as a stand alone snack or appetizer, or serve alongside fish dinners, soups, salads or chilis.

Ingredients

  • 2 inches of canola, peanut or vegetable oil, or lard in a high-sided, heavy-bottomed pot or skillet (or an electric deep fryer)
  • 1 1/4 cups cornmeal
  • 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 cup plain yogurt or buttermilk
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4-1/2 cup finely minced or chopped fully cooked ham
  • 1/4 cup finely minced or chopped green onions
  • 1/4 cup finely minced or chopped sweet onion
  • 1/4 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

Instructions

Place the oil-filled pot over medium high heat and bring the oil to 375°F. Line a bowl or baking pan with paper towels and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the corn meal, flour, salt, sugar, baking soda, black and cayenne pepper with a whisk. In a separate bowl, use the same whisk to thoroughly combine the butter, yogurt or buttermilk and egg. Pour that directly into the flour mixture, add all of the mix-ins, and use a spatula to stir everything together gently, just until no more dry pockets remain and it is combined evenly.

Use a 1 1/2 teaspoon scoop (or simply mound the batter on a teaspoon) to drop the batter into the hot oil. Fry only as many as can comfortably fit into the pan while leaving room for them to move around. Don't overcrowd that pan! Fry the hush puppies for 2-3 minutes per batch, flipping them about halfway through the cooking. Use tongs or a slotted spoon to transfer the finished hush puppies to the paper towel lined bowl or pan and let drain briefly before serving.

These are best when served hot, but are still great warm or room temperature. You can store leftover hush puppies in a paper towel lined, tightly covered container in the refrigerator and reheat them for just a few minutes in a hot oven to re-crisp them.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/04/17/kitchen-sink-hush-puppies/

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Bread, Comfort Food, kid food, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Side Dishes Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Corn Dog Bread

June 19, 2010 by 9 Comments

Summer and corn dogs are like winter and hot cider; you just hafta.

What is is about corn dogs that is so appealing?  Is it as simple as the whole “food on a stick” universal truth*? Or is it more complicated?  Maybe it comes down to the crazy appeal of the hot dog itself.  Perhaps it’s the hint of honey in the crispy-exterior, moist-interior cornbread.  Could it be the cultural association of fairs and festivals and carnivals and summer fun in sultry heat? The vinegar bite of yellow mustard dripping down the corn dog?  I don’t know.  All I know is that when you say ‘corn dog’ I make like Pavlov’s loyal companions and drool.

Alas, having chosen to live in the middle of nowhere as I have done, I don’t often stumble across carnivals and their vittles.  And I won’t settle for satisfying my corn dog cravings with an uninteresting box of frozen mystery hot dogs covered in cloyingly sweet cornbread batter*. The only solution is to take matters into my own hands.

*I know that fairs and carnivals probably aren’t serving up Zweigle’s or Nathan’s or Hebrew Nationals in their corn dogs, but somehow the ambiance of a fair makes up for it. I just don’t have the carnival barkers, brightly colored tents or enough tattoos to compensate at home.

Corn Dog Bread is the quickest, easiest, tastiest way to fill that corn dog shaped void in my psyche.  Of course, being unable to restrain myself, I added a few flourishes to the corn dog bread that bring it more into my wheelhouse; stoneground cornmeal, candied jalapenos and chopped onions.  But friends?  If you want the real deal, the most honest representation of corn dogs without a stick that you can possibly get, just go au naturel; use good old yellow cornmeal from the round canister and ix-nay the jalapenos and onions.  I won’t be hurt.

It goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway) that this is the ultimate in kid-of-all-age-friendly food.  Cut up into squares, it’s easily tucked into a bag to take with you to baseball practice, on a picnic, at the drive-in theater or just out on the front porch enjoying that sweet summer breeze.  And this is easily turned into a vegetarian-friendly entrée by swapping out the hot dogs for veggie dogs.  Please ‘em all, I say!

Whichever way you make it, spicy or plain, serve with a plate piled with barbecue beans and coleslaw for the ultimate summer meal.

Corn Dog Bread

Scroll to the bottom for an easy-print version of this recipe!

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup (4.25 ounces by weight)  all purpose flour
  • 3 cups stoneground cornmeal (15 ounces by weight) (You can use regular yellow cornmeal, but be sure not to use self-rising cornmeal here!)
  • 1-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3 Tablespoons honey
  • 2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic (garlic powder)
  • 1/4 teaspoon granulated onion (onion powder)
  • 4 eggs, beaten
  • 6 Tablespoons melted butter
  • 2-1/2 cups buttermilk (Don’t forget how easy it is to make your own real buttermilk!)
  • 8 hot dogs, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds (You can use leftover grilled hot dogs or fresh hot dogs; either is fine!)

Optional, but tasty:

  • 1/2 a cooking onion, peeled and chopped finely
  • 2 Tablespoons Candied Jalapeno or pickled jalapeno rings ~or~ 1 fresh jalapeno, sliced into 1/8-inch rounds

Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, soda, powder, salt and sugar with a whisk.  In a medium sized bowl or large liquid measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, melted butter and buttermilk.  Pour the liquid mixture into the dry mixture and stir lightly until the batter has mostly come together but still has some small lumps (Grandma’s notes specify to use a whisk.  I do what Grandma says.  It’s always for the best.)

Fold the sliced hot dogs and onions (if using) into the batter gently just until combined.  Scrape the batter into the greased baking dish and level the top.  If using the jalapeno rings, arrange evenly over the top of the batter.  Slide the baking dish into the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and it tests done*.

*A toothpick or cake tester stuck into the center of the bread will come out clean.


Slice into squares and serve warm or room temperature with the usual corn dog accompaniments -mustard, ketchup, and hot sauce- or not.

…Whatever you do, and however you make it, don’t forget those Barbecue Beans and coleslaw!

 

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Corn Dog Bread
Author: 
Recipe type: Main, Side
Serves: 8
 

Everything you love about corn dogs minus the stick. This is the taste of summer and fairs and perpetual youth.
Ingredients
  • 1 cup (4.25 ounces by weight) all purpose flour
  • 3 cups stoneground cornmeal (15 ounces by weight) (You can use regular yellow cornmeal, but be sure not to use self-rising cornmeal here!)
  • 1-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3 Tablespoons honey
  • 2 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon granulated garlic (garlic powder)
  • ¼ teaspoon granulated onion (onion powder)
  • 4 eggs, beaten
  • 6 Tablespoons melted butter
  • 2-1/2 cups buttermilk (Don’t forget how easy it is to make your own real buttermilk!)
  • 8 hot dogs, sliced into ¼-inch rounds (You can use leftover grilled hot dogs or fresh ones; either is fine!
  • Optional, but tasty:
  • ½ a cooking onion, peeled and chopped finely
  • 2 Tablespoons Candied Jalapeno or pickled jalapeno rings ~or~ 1 fresh jalapeno, sliced into ⅛-inch rounds

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish and set aside.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, soda, powder, and salt with a whisk. In a medium sized bowl or large liquid measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, melted butter, honey and buttermilk. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry mixture and stir lightly until the batter has mostly come together but still has some small lumps (Grandma’s notes specify to use a whisk. I do what Grandma says. It’s always for the best.)
  3. Fold the sliced hot dogs and onions (if using) into the batter gently just until combined. Scrape the batter into the greased baking dish and level the top. If using the jalapeno rings, arrange evenly over the top of the batter. Slide the baking dish into the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and it tests done*.

Notes
*A toothpick or cake tester stuck into the center of the bread will come out clean.

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Filed Under: Bread, Breakfast Foods, kid food, Main Dish, Meat, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Golden Cornbread Rounds

August 20, 2008 by 3 Comments

I’d like us all to observe a moment of silence for the baking ignitor in my oven.  (Silence from me, but not the children.)

Yes, that means my oven isn’t working.  We’ve had the most glorious stretch of fall-like summer weather in my memory and I can’t bake a loaf of bread in the oven.  But I’m not bitter.

Well, alright, maybe I am a little bitter.  But I’m also creative and stubborn.  I wanted fresh bread, dang it, and I was going to make it happen.  My husband, the Evil Genius, recently added a toaster oven and a large electric griddle to our kitchen.  I’ve not yet ‘connected’ with the toaster oven.  I have some sort of bias against it.  Maybe some day I’ll grow to love it.  But the griddle?  Where has it been all my life?  I can cook enough pancakes for everyone, a full pound of bacon, make French toast for a crowd, or make sausage and eggs for the whole family at the same time!  I decided, after a suggestion from the Evil Genius, that I could make English Muffins on the griddle.  (**This will be the subject of tomorrow’s post!  Please come back for the skinny.) The English muffins were so good, so great, that I thought I just might give griddle cornbread- NOT griddle johnnycakes- a whirl.

**I now interrupt my already rambling programme with a couple brief observations on cornbread.  It should be moist, and not at all sweet.  It should only be fit for stuffing after one day.  If there is any left after one day.  And most importantly?  My Grandma’s cornbread is the best cornbread in the whole world.  There is no discussion on that point.  It is so good that it could possibly save the world somehow.

Since I’m obviously partial to my Grandma’s cornbread recipe, I naturally turned to it in order to try out these griddle mini corn breads.  And unsurprisingly, they were delicious! The griddle and my English muffin rings tag-teamed to make the most gorgeous, golden-brown crusty, moist, individual sized cornbreads.  With a little sliced cheese and some homemade pickles on the side it made a lunch fit for 5 kings and 2 queens (referring to my baby sister and myself.)   And since my Grandma is a kind, generous, recipe sharing individual (don’t take my word for it- see for yourself), I know she won’t mind if I share the recipe with you all.  After all, when your cornbread can improve humanity it’d be a crime to keep it secret.

There is a chance I might receive a Nobel Prize for passing this cornbread recipe along to you.  I won’t let it go to my head.

 

Despite having eaten several of these within the past two hours I am getting hungry again looking at the picture.  These were so tasty.

The crust on the bottoms of these turned out so perfectly it was almost, just almost a shame to eat them.  I got over that feeling pretty quickly.

If I tell you that I was holding 7 people back, including me-self, from eating these long enough to take a picture would you be impressed?

Grandma’s Buttermilk Cornbread


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Golden Cornbread Rounds
Author: 
Recipe type: Bread, Side
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 10
 

These golden brown beauties are the ultimate way to eat cornbread; one perfect single-serving round at a time!
Ingredients
  • ½ cup all purpose flour
  • 1½ cups stoneground cornmeal- be sure not to use self-rising cornmeal, here.
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1½ Tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 3 Tablespoons melted butter
  • 1¼ cups buttermilk (or soured milk)

Instructions
  1. Preheat griddle or frying pan to 375°F. Liberally grease muffin rings (or their designated hitters) and set on griddle or frying pan to preheat as well.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, soda, powder, salt and sugar with a whisk. In a medium sized bowl or large liquid measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, melted butter and buttermilk. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry mixture and stir well. (Grandma’s notes specify to use a whisk. I do what Grandma says. It’s always for the best.)
  3. Use a ladle or large spoon to scoop scant ½ cups of the cornbread batter into the hot muffin rings. Allow the mini-breads to cook until you the cornbread is dark golden brown to medium brown on the bottom. If you’re in doubt as to whether the time has come to flip them, examine the surface of the batter. It should still be moist looking, but you should be able to slide the ring up without any batter pouring down the sides. Slip a spatula under the ring and cornbread, slide the ring up and off the bread, and carefully flip over.
  4. Continue to cook until the second side reaches a nice crispy brown. Remove to a cooling rack for a couple minutes. You don’t have to cool it for long, but you might want to leave it there long enough to prevent traumatic burns to the roof of your mouth. Resist the temptation. Trust me.

Notes
For this recipe you will need English muffin or egg rings. If you do not have either of these, you can cut the bottom and top off of tuna cans and wash them thoroughly or use round, metal cookie or biscuit cutters. They’ll all get the job done. If, in some alternate universe, you should happen to have leftovers of these they should keep well wrapped in plastic at room temperature for a day or so. You could conceivably store these in the freezer, but that’s uncharted territory for me. There are never leftovers. Ever.

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    Filed Under: Bread, Rebecca, Stretching your dollars, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , ,

    Cornbread Salad for the Weekly Cookbook Challenge – Part 3

    June 29, 2008 by 5 Comments

    As I mentioned earlier, I also made a half recipe of the vegetarian version of the salad this morning. If anything, it received an even warmer reception from my (expected and unexpected) audience. My husband and I work for a small church-related camp, and on Sunday, our next camper groups come in to begin their week. Which means lunch is the last meal our paid staff has alone together. Normally. So I thought I would bring these salads to share with everyone. Well, some of the campers arrived early, and so we had a lot folks who had a chance to try these out, and I have to say, I’ve had more requests for recipes after serving these than anything else I’ve made in a long time. And even more surprising—this vegetarian version seemed to be the favorite—seems to be the jalapeno!

     

    So, here is the process for this version:

     

    First, crumble the (nicely and unnecessarily cubed) cornbread into a large bowl:

    Cover with all the chopped and shredded goodies:

    Pour dressing over, mix and serve and devour again:

    Here’s the actual recipe—in the cookbook, there is just a paragraph telling you which ingredients are added, which are left out, but I thought it might be easier if you just had it laid out like the other recipe. Oh, and Elayne is a friend of the author who came up with this variation.

     

    ELAYNE’S VEGETARIAN VERSION OF PATSY’S CORNBREAD SALAD
     
     

     

     

    1 skillet of cornbread

    1 15 oz. can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

    ½ cup mayonnaise

    ½ cup sour cream

    ½ cup sweet pickle relish

    2 T. juice from sweet pickle relish

    2 T. chipotle barbecue sauce

    1 bunch scallions, finely sliced

    2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

    2 green bell peppers, cored, seeded, and finely chopped

    1 jalapeno pepper, cored, seeded, and finely chopped

    4 to 5 juicy ripe tomatoes, cut into medium-size chunks

     

    1. Coarsely crumble the cornbread into a good big bowl and let it dry out for a few hours.
    2. Stir or whisk together the mayo, relish, relish juice and barbecue sauce. That’s your dressing. Set it aside.
    3. When the crumbled cornbread has dried slightly, toss in the scallions, peppers, tomatoes, cheese and pinto beans. Toss well, so that everything is well distributed.
    4. Spoon the dressing over the top and stir thoroughly. Cover tightly and refrigerate until ready to serve. It can be made up to 24 hours in advance.

    My tweaks: Again, grape tomatoes were the tomatoes of choice. I could not find chipotle barbecue sauce, so I used a couple tablespoons of a spicy barbecue sauce and a couple tablespoons of a chipotle salsa. Also, since I know folks may not like biting down on a chunk of jalapeno, I tossed it into the small bowl of my food processor, chopped it up, and then added the rest of the dressing ingredients and blended it all together, pouring it over the salad at the end.

     

    These are definitely keepers.

    Filed Under: Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Main Dish, Valerie, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , ,

    Cornbread Salad for the Weekly Cookbook Challenge – Part 2

    June 29, 2008 by 5 Comments

    Okay, so I should read recipes more carefully—in looking at the recipe for the original cornbread salad recipe, I see the instructions ‘coarsely crumble the cornbread into a good big bowl and let it dry for a few hours.’ So my careful slicing and cutting into cubes was definitely wasted effort. I salvaged it this morning by coarsely crumbling my nicely cubed bread into a bowl:

    I then put the bacon on to fry, and while that was going on, I chopped all the veggies and made the dressing. Veggies done, bacon fried till crisp and drained on paper towel, dressing all mixed, I was good to go. First, add all the chopped veggies and bacon to the cornbread–Before:

     

    And after being tossed together with my impeccably clean hands:

     

     

    Next, pour on the dressing and mix (with an impeccably clean spoon!), place yummy portion on plate, decorate with a couple bits of reserved crispy bacon:

     

     

    And devour. This is absolutely delicious, and definitely needs the southern cornbread to make it work. The johnnycake of my youth would utterly fail here. Unless, of course, you add it as a dessert course drizzle with melted butter and maple syrup….mmmm….getting dizzy….love that cornbread! But we’ll save that for another post…

     

    I’ll follow up with the vegetarian version 2 later today… Oh, and here’s the recipe! Nearly forgot—and remember, for my purposes, I used half recipes so I could try both kinds of salad with one pan of cornbread!

     

    PATSY’S CORNBREAD SALAD
     
     
     1 skillet of cornbread

    ¾ pound bacon

    1 cup mayonnaise

    ½ cup sweet pickle relish

    ¼ cup juice from sweet pickle relish

    1 T. sugar

    2 sweet onions (Vidalia or other), finely chopped

    2 green bell peppers, cored, seeded, and finely chopped

    4 to 5 juicy ripe tomatoes, cut into medium-size chunks

     

    1. Coarsely crumble the cornbread into a good big bowl and let it dry out for a few hours.
    2. Cook the bacon, draining off all excess fat. “you want it cooked real brown and crispy,” Patsy says. When the bacon has cooled, crumble it coarsely and set aside.
    3. Stir or whisk together the mayo, relish, relish juice and sugar. That’s your dressing. Set it aside.
    4. When the crumbled cornbread has dried slightly, toss in the onions, peppers, tomatoes and crumbled bacon. Toss well, so that everything is well distributed.
    5. Spoon the dressing over the top and stir thoroughly. Cover tightly and refrigerate until ready to serve. It can be made up to 24 hours in advance.

     

    SO good…okay, a couple tweaks: First, I did a small dice rather than the finely chopped thing, because we like our veggies a little on the larger side. Tomatoes—no good ripe regular tomatoes around here yet, so I used grape tomatoes cut in quarters. And an almost tweak that was not needed—I’m used to using salt and pepper in my dressings, and I’m glad I didn’t—the salad is plenty salty enough, and doesn’t need the pepper, unless you really want it. Enjoy!

    Filed Under: Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Main Dish, Meat, Valerie Tagged With: , , ,

    Cornbread Salad – Part 1

    June 29, 2008 by Leave a Comment

    As part of my wanderings through the internet world of food, I came across a site that hosts a monthly cooking challenge: http://weekendcookbookchallenge.blogspot.com/.

     

    Every month a new challenge is issued around a certain theme—either a particular chef, a certain kind of food, etc. I believe the goal is to either use a cookbook you have but from which you have never (or rarely) used a recipe. Anyway, this month’s challenge was “Salads”—a challenge for me since I’m not much of a salad maker over all. And for my first time participating I wanted to do something different than the few salads I usually make—veggie salads, pasta salads, salads made with various fruits, etc. For some reason, a memory of Tuscan Bread salad popped into my head, but having no Tuscan bread, nor time to make it, and not knowing of anyone who makes such a product within 200 miles of here, I found myself contemplating other possibilities.

     

    I’d recently purchased a cookbook by veggie author Crescent Dragonwagon (love her name!) called The Cornbread Gospels; our family loves cornbread and other things made with good stoneground cornmeal, and I thought perhaps she might have something that would serve the purpose. At first I just found side dish salads to accompany whatever cornbread you might be making, but then I struck gold: Patsy’s Cornbread Salad, a non-vegetarian recipe, contributed by a Tennessee woman by the name of Patsy Barker.

     

     

    Cornbread Gospels by Crescent Dragonwagon

    The salad (and its vegetarian alternative) both require the use of true Southern cornbread—no flour, no sweetener, no baking powder, and this needs to be made the day before so there is time for the crumbled cornbread to dry before using in the salad. Crescent provides three suggested recipes that work with this salad; two used white cornmeal, and since I only have yellow, it made the decision easy! (By the way, the cornmeal I’m using is from a man who ground the corn right in front of me at the Bark Peelers’ Convention in northern Pennsylvania last year. I’ve kept an ever-dwindling supply in my freezer—best cornmeal I’ve ever had! But I digress…)

     

    So for part 1, I’ll give you the recipe I used, with notes on any tweaking along the way:

     

    SYLVIA’S OZARK CORNBREAD
     
     
      

    Vegetable oil cooking spray

     

    1 T. butter

     

    2 c. stone-ground yellow cornmeal

     

    1 t. baking soda

     

    1 t. salt

     

    2 c. buttermilk

     

    2 eggs

     

    1 T. mild vegetable oil

     

    1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
    2. Spray a 10 inch cast iron skillet with oil, add the butter and put it into the oven to heat. Meanwhile, stir together the cornmeal, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
    3. In a smaller bowl, beat the buttermilk with the eggs and oil.
    4. Combine the two mixtures. As always, be careful not to overbeat, stirring until wet and dry are just combined.
    5. Scrape the batter into the hot skillet and bake the cornbread until it is golden brown and crusty at the edges, 23 to 27 minutes. Serve hot in wedges. (Or crumble and dry overnight for your cornbread salad!!)

     

    Tweaks: I had no cooking spray, so I just poured a teaspoon or two of olive oil into the pan with the butter before heating the pan in the over. Also, I have no cast iron pan—my cast iron pans are all in storage in NY until we are done living between homes. I used my hard anodized Calphalon skillet instead, and it worked beautifully. But I think cast iron still works the best with regard to cornbread. Finally, I had no mild vegetable oil on hand, so I just used olive oil.

     

    (I wish I could describe to you how good this cornbread is, and how beautiful. The crumb is entirely different than I’ve experienced with the northern cornbread recipes I’ve used, and it really tastes like corn.)

     

    Anyway, back to salad prep: I let the cornbread cool a bit, removed it from the pan and set it on a rack to cool to room temperature. As you can see from the pics, both bottom and top of the cornbread acquired a nice golden brown crust.

     

    I then cut the bread into quarters, then strips, cut the strips crosswise in talk, and then cut into cubes, laying half the amount on two separate pans to dry overnight.

     

    The reason for the two separate pans is because I wanted to try both variations on the salad, so I’m making a half recipe of each to see which we prefer.

     

    Part 2 is coming right up!

    Filed Under: Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Main Dish, Product Reviews, Valerie, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , ,