Cornbread & Cast Iron Skillets

Ok, lots of people have lots of different ways to make cornbread. SOme like it puffy, some like it sweet, some like it dense, some like it moist. There are actually several different ways I like to eat my cornbread. But when I am looking for the baked kind (not fried—”hoe cakes”) the following recipe is what I always make.

When I graduated high school and left for college, everyone showered me with gifts, and money, and giftcards, and all kinds of crap. The best gift I ever received was a perfectly seasoned Cast Iron Skillet from my Mama Jean.

All my life, my grandmothers and mother taught me proper Cast Iron etiquette. The rules are simple: Don’t put soap on it. If you use soap on your Cast Iron, then you might as well have started all over. A well seasoned skillet is like a walk through history. My grandparents had skillets that had been passed through the family through the years. Mama Jean talked about a skillet that her Mama (“Big Mama”) had that had been around so long it remembered the times of open fires and wood-burning stoves. Mama Jean’s sister had a cast iron pot that was a hearth pot. One that was used to warm soup, stew, or chili on the open hearth fire. That’s just cool.

I saw all the members of my family make corn bread through the years, and I have distilled the knowledge into “my” recipe. I like my cornbread a little on the sweet side. Grab your skillet, put on some country music, and make yourself some Southern Comfort in the form of my cornbread….

For this recipe, you need to first play Country Music. And all though I love her, Taylor Swift doesn’t count. You need old school: Tammy Wynette, Hank Williams, Sr., Dolly Parton. Some good ‘ole “Tear In My Beer” stuff. It’s essential for the mood.

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. You’re gonna need to be wearing a tank top, cause it’s gonna get hot in here.

2 1/2 Cups Cornmeal

2 teaspoons Salt

1 Tablespoon Sugar (more if you like your cornbread like Pound Cake)

1 cup Buttermilk

1 cup Sweet Milk (Vitamin D milk to all y’all Yankees)

2 Tablespoons Butter

1 Tablespoon Bacon Grease

1 cup Flour

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda

2 Eggs

Mix all the dry ingredients. Mix all the wet ingredients. Combine the two. Let it set for 5 minutes. Heat your skillet to 400 degrees. (You should let this heat in the oven while it is pre-heating) Add the butter and bacon grease to the skillet. If for some reason (all though I don’t know why) you do not have Bacon Grease laying around–just substitute the Tablespoon of Bacon fat with another Tablespoon of butter. (Note to y’all. Please save all manner of Bacon grease. After you cook your bacon, strain your grease through a paper towel into a mason jar, and put it in the fridge. You will be instructed how to use it later.)

Pour the batter into the skillet. It should start to sizzle. Bake it for about 30-40 minutes till it is done.

While your corn bread is cooking, dance around the kitchen singing your Country Music. Remember whenever your corn bread is done….just because the skillet has a cute handle, it is still very hot. You can’t just grab it. (Believe me. I had to have my hand scraped off of a skillet handle one night–it wasn’t pretty)

Let me know how you like this corn bread. Or maybe if you have a different recipe. OH and I’m not gonna lie. If I am lazy, I just grab a Jiffy Mix, add a Tablespoon of Sugar to it, and call it a day.