Southern Cornbread

[Red Owl]

I may be wrong but I think years ago (in the rural South- maybe "country North") "white" bread was looked at as expensive and not as good for you as corn bread. Corn bread with milk and eggs- you could live on it if you had to. Especially with a plate of beans.

 

[Notchy Bob]

All right, @JamesT , I followed your cornbread recipe to the letter. Fortunately, I had some Alabama King fine ground white corn meal on hand. I don't know how old it is, which means it is pretty old, but we keep it in the fridge so it was still good. I've found this type of meal is very hard to find where I live, which was kind of surprising.

Anyhow, I started a crockpot full of beef stew this morning, then took the dogs for a long hike in the woods. This afternoon, I rolled up my sleeves and tackled the cornbread.

As noted, I followed the recipe to the letter. I have found that most cornbread recipes specify a 9" cast iron skillet, while mine is 10-1/2", but that's what I have so I used it. It took about 25 minutes to cook, and required about 90 seconds under the broiler to make the top brown, but everything worked out as hoped. The pone slid right out of the skillet onto the cutting board. I cut a big chunk, and ate some plain and some of it with fresh cane syrup. It was really good, but "the acid test" was yet to come...

Would the Lady of the House like it?

I didn't say anything. She walked into the kitchen and saw it on the counter. She cut a little sliver and sat down to eat it, then got up and cut a big piece!

"This is good." My wife is a master of understatement. If she says it's good, it's really good. Then she said, "It's better than Lloyd's cornbread" (Lloyd is my brother, and a connoisseur of southern cuisine).

Then the clincher: "This recipe's a keeper."

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

 

[JamesT]

All right, @JamesT , I followed your cornbread recipe to the letter. Fortunately, I had some Alabama King fine ground white corn meal on hand. I don't know how old it is, which means it is pretty old, but we keep it in the fridge so it was still good. I've found this type of meal is very hard to find where I live, which was kind of surprising.

Anyhow, I started a crockpot full of beef stew this morning, then took the dogs for a long hike in the woods. This afternoon, I rolled up my sleeves and tackled the cornbread.

As noted, I followed the recipe to the letter. I have found that most cornbread recipes specify a 9" cast iron skillet, while mine is 10-1/2", but that's what I have so I used it. It took about 25 minutes to cook, and required about 90 seconds under the broiler to make the top brown, but everything worked out as hoped. The pone slid right out of the skillet onto the cutting board. I cut a big chunk, and ate some plain and some of it with fresh cane syrup. It was really good, but "the acid test" was yet to come...

Would the Lady of the House like it?

I didn't say anything. She walked into the kitchen and saw it on the counter. She cut a little sliver and sat down to eat it, then got up and cut a big piece!

"This is good." My wife is a master of understatement. If she says it's good, it's really good. Then she said, "It's better than Lloyd's cornbread" (Lloyd is my brother, and a connoisseur of southern cuisine).

Then the clincher: "This recipe's a keeper."

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

Hey Notchy Bob I'm so tickled you and the Mrs. Like it. I'm gonna make up a pan this weekend myself. I know some folks here say its not real Southern pone but its an old recipe out of South West Virginia. Thats southern to me. I never spent much time in the deep South although id enjoy it someday. I like that it uses no sugar and isnt a sweet bread. Thats my standard anyhow. Maybe you could throw in that beef stew recipe if you have a chance to.
Best regards,
James

 

[JamesT]

And speakin of South West Virginia I remember my Great Grandmother used to make biscuits every morning of the week. They would be eaten at all the meals of the day. I have never had a better biscuit. She lived to be 95 years old. Was born in the 1890s. Family came from Ashe and Wilkes Co. NC into Chilhowie,VA. I wish I could make a biscuit like that. Mine could break windows. The wife says I work the dough too much. Oh well

 

[Notchy Bob]

And speakin of South West Virginia I remember my Great Grandmother used to make biscuits every morning of the week. They would be eaten at all the meals of the day. I have never had a better biscuit. She lived to be 95 years old. Was born in the 1890s. Family came from Ashe and Wilkes Co. NC into Chilhowie,VA. I wish I could make a biscuit like that. Mine could break windows. The wife says I work the dough too much. Oh well

Yep... Biscuits are something else. I have never been able to get them right.

My paternal grandmother was the best biscuit chef I've ever known. She had a very large, oblong wooden "trencher" that she kept full of self-rising flour. She would drop a hunk of lard in it, work it with her hands, then pour in buttermilk and work it some more, then start forming biscuits. She never measured anything, and everything that woman cooked came out perfect. My Aunt Thelma inherited that wooden trencher as well as the art of making biscuits. She made them just like my grandmother. Dang, those were good.

Thanks again for the cornbread recipe! When Mama's happy, everybody's happy!

Notchy Bob

PS: I have happy memories of southwest Virginia. I used to play guitar and then banjo in an old-time band in the seventies and eighties. We went up there every summer to spend several weeks, hunting up old fiddlers and attending the fiddler's conventions in Independence, Sugar Grove, Mount Airy (in North Carolina, but close to the border), and Galax. Those were fun times.

 

[CaptnAndy]

Thanks very kindly. You can live on this stuff!

 

[Red Owl]

I really like corn bread with beans, seems to go together, especially if you toss chunks of ham in the beans. And a cup of black coffee.

 

[SOLANCO]

And speakin of South West Virginia I remember my Great Grandmother used to make biscuits every morning of the week. They would be eaten at all the meals of the day. I have never had a better biscuit. She lived to be 95 years old. Was born in the 1890s. Family came from Ashe and Wilkes Co. NC into Chilhowie,VA. I wish I could make a biscuit like that. Mine could break windows. The wife says I work the dough too much. Oh well

My grandmother's farm was in Rich Valley, not far at all from Chilhowie. She made biscuits in a woodstove seven mornings a week. Any a day old went to the hounds. Oh those biscuits were good with home churned butter and syrup!

 

[SOLANCO]

Yep... Biscuits are something else. I have never been able to get them right.

My paternal grandmother was the best biscuit chef I've ever known. She had a very large, oblong wooden "trencher" that she kept full of self-rising flour. She would drop a hunk of lard in it, work it with her hands, then pour in buttermilk and work it some more, then start forming biscuits. She never measured anything, and everything that woman cooked came out perfect. My Aunt Thelma inherited that wooden trencher as well as the art of making biscuits. She made them just like my grandmother. Dang, those were good.

Thanks again for the cornbread recipe! When Mama's happy, everybody's happy!

Notchy Bob

PS: I have happy memories of southwest Virginia. I used to play guitar and then banjo in an old-time band in the seventies and eighties. We went up there every summer to spend several weeks, hunting up old fiddlers and attending the fiddler's conventions in Independence, Sugar Grove, Mount Airy (in North Carolina, but close to the border), and Galax. Those were fun times.

Hello from someone with roots in Rich Valley. Over the mountain north out of Marion.

 

[FishDFly]

My grandmother's farm was in Rich Valley, not far at all from Chilhowie. She made biscuits in a woodstove seven mornings a week. Any a day old went to the hounds. Oh those biscuits were good with home churned butter and syrup!

Any small quantities of corn bread batter was fried and thus the formation of "hush puppies".

 

[Cpt Flint]

The best I’ve made uses Martha White self rising mix, buttermilk, egg, and a heaping tablespoon of Hellman’s Mayo, made only in a heavy cast iron skillet. The skillet is coated HEAVILY with Crisco. Placed in an oven at 425 and baked until golden brown on top. Do Not overcook! Or, read the directions on the package! Another way is to mix it a little thick, add chopped onions and fry it in butter like pan cakes. I made that at a hunting camp dinner once and caused a riot by not making it fast enough.

 

[Cpt Flint]

I forgot to say to heat the skillet on top of the stove until it is swimming in melted Crisco and beginning to smoke, then pour in the batter. It should sizzle a little as you pour it in.

 

[JamesT]

Hello from someone with roots in Rich Valley. Over the mountain north out of Marion.

My Father was born in Marion.

 

[1950DAVE]

Try cornbread with eggs for breakfast. I love it but since I don't do much of the cooking here I have to settle for leftover.
Dave

 

[user 48702]

 

[1950DAVE]

My little sister just came in from SF CA. She's a high falootin leftcoast lawyer. Mama made one of her favorite dishes last nite, cornbread and, yes, butterbeans. Thanks Gunny, I love to hear the Chocolatedrops.
Dave

 

[JamesT]

Try cornbread with eggs for breakfast. I love it but since I don't do much of the cooking here I have to settle for leftover.
Dave

Well yeah! Thats a fine meal!

 

[JamesT]

Oh yeah that's great! My wife sings that song to me. Haha for real. I love the overhand style the gal is playin the banjo with. Thats real mountain style. I two finger pick which is acceptable too.
James

 

[appalichian hunter]

Wah thet thar is some fine musik, drop my chaw and pass thet thar jug boys.

 

[frankie]

Thought id share this if anyone were looking for recipe. This is an old recipe from Southwest Virginia. It is not sweet and uses no sugar but boy is it good. Has a grainy taste to it. Nothing like your store bought mixes. It is most excellent right out of the oven. I will cut a few hunks, wrap them in linen, and store it away in my haversack. I do find that it dries out fairly quickly this way over a few days out of doors. My remedy for this is to fry up my salt pork on the fire then I put a hunk of the bread in the grease from the pork and just crisp up each side. It makes a fine breakfast, at least by my standards, when I'm in camp or the woods. Let me know if you like it. If you can't read the photo I can type it out.
James

View attachment 119676

thank you