The Cornbread Gospels Read Online Free Page A
Author: Crescent Dragonwagon
Shiitake Mushrooms with Garlic and Coarse Salt
*
Pumpkin Bisque or Gumbo
*
B READBASKET :
Dairy Hollow House Skillet-Sizzled Cornbread
Glazed Maple Oatmeal Cornmeal Rolls
*
Butter • Blackberry Preserves
*
Slaw of Carrots and Red and Green Cabbage, with Curried Vinaigrette
*
Roasted Chicken, Herb-Stuffed Trout, or Trio of Stuffed Vegetables
*
Roasted Potatoes, Carrots, and Onions • Slow-Cooked Green Beans with Cherry Tomatoes and Olive Oil
*
Chocolate Torte, or Mixed Sorbets
D AIRY H OLLOW H OUSE S KILLET -S IZZLED C ORNBREAD
M AKES 8 WEDGES
This is the cornbread I served when I owned and ran Dairy Hollow House; it was its single most requested recipe. It is the first Southern food I ever learned to fix and the one that started me on my cornbread journey. I learned how to make it in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn, New York, in 1969, when I was very young and living in a brownstone with seven other people. Viola, the soft-spoken lady friend of a kind neighbor, taught it to me. Viola was from Georgia, and it was she who initiated me into baking cornbread in an already-hot skillet.
I’ve served this cornbread to a president (Bill Clinton) and a princess (Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia). Countless people have told me it’s become their house cornbread and signature dish—the one they take to potlucks and serve to company. While I love cornbreads of all kinds, I come back to this one over, and over, again.
Vegetable oil cooking spray
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1¼ cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
¼ cup mild vegetable oil
2 tablespoons butter, or mild vegetable oil
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spray a 10-inch cast-iron skillet with oil and set aside.
2. Sift together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl.
3. In a smaller bowl, stir the baking soda into the buttermilk. Whisk in the sugar, egg, and the ¼ cup oil.
4. Put the prepared skillet over medium heat, add the butter, and heat until the butter melts and is just starting to sizzle. Tilt the pan to coat the sides and bottom.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and combine them quickly, using as few strokes as possible. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake the cornbread until it is golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool for a few moments, and slice into wedges to serve.
T RUMAN C APOTE ’ S F AMILY ’ S C ORNBREAD
M AKES 8 WEDGES
Everything about this straight-up cornbread—not sweet, not fancy but for its two eggs—points to it being an early creation, not far from sustenance. For that, maybe because of that, it has a purity that is hard to beat, as well as a winning, light texture.
This is adapted from the recipe of Sook Faulk, who gave it, and other family recipes, to her niece Marie Rudisill (Truman Capote’s aunt) in 1946, with “the understanding that [she] would share them with Truman Capote, [her] sister’s child, who had been brought up in Sook’s hometown, Monroeville, Alabama.”
1 tablespoon butter or bacon drippings
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups stone-ground white cornmeal
1. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Place the butter or drippings in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet, and place it in the oven.
2. Combine the eggs and buttermilk in a small bowl or measuring cup, whisking together well with a fork.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, salt, baking soda, and cornmeal, stirring well to combine.
4. Stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients, beating just until the dry ingredients are moistened, no more.
5. Pull the skillet from the oven. It should be good and hot, with the fat sizzling. Swirl the pan to coat it. Quickly transfer the batter to the hot skillet and return the skillet to the oven.
6. Bake until browned and pulling away from the skillet, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve, hot, in
*
Pumpkin Bisque or Gumbo
*
B READBASKET :
Dairy Hollow House Skillet-Sizzled Cornbread
Glazed Maple Oatmeal Cornmeal Rolls
*
Butter • Blackberry Preserves
*
Slaw of Carrots and Red and Green Cabbage, with Curried Vinaigrette
*
Roasted Chicken, Herb-Stuffed Trout, or Trio of Stuffed Vegetables
*
Roasted Potatoes, Carrots, and Onions • Slow-Cooked Green Beans with Cherry Tomatoes and Olive Oil
*
Chocolate Torte, or Mixed Sorbets
D AIRY H OLLOW H OUSE S KILLET -S IZZLED C ORNBREAD
M AKES 8 WEDGES
This is the cornbread I served when I owned and ran Dairy Hollow House; it was its single most requested recipe. It is the first Southern food I ever learned to fix and the one that started me on my cornbread journey. I learned how to make it in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn, New York, in 1969, when I was very young and living in a brownstone with seven other people. Viola, the soft-spoken lady friend of a kind neighbor, taught it to me. Viola was from Georgia, and it was she who initiated me into baking cornbread in an already-hot skillet.
I’ve served this cornbread to a president (Bill Clinton) and a princess (Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia). Countless people have told me it’s become their house cornbread and signature dish—the one they take to potlucks and serve to company. While I love cornbreads of all kinds, I come back to this one over, and over, again.
Vegetable oil cooking spray
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1¼ cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
¼ cup mild vegetable oil
2 tablespoons butter, or mild vegetable oil
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spray a 10-inch cast-iron skillet with oil and set aside.
2. Sift together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl.
3. In a smaller bowl, stir the baking soda into the buttermilk. Whisk in the sugar, egg, and the ¼ cup oil.
4. Put the prepared skillet over medium heat, add the butter, and heat until the butter melts and is just starting to sizzle. Tilt the pan to coat the sides and bottom.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and combine them quickly, using as few strokes as possible. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake the cornbread until it is golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool for a few moments, and slice into wedges to serve.
T RUMAN C APOTE ’ S F AMILY ’ S C ORNBREAD
M AKES 8 WEDGES
Everything about this straight-up cornbread—not sweet, not fancy but for its two eggs—points to it being an early creation, not far from sustenance. For that, maybe because of that, it has a purity that is hard to beat, as well as a winning, light texture.
This is adapted from the recipe of Sook Faulk, who gave it, and other family recipes, to her niece Marie Rudisill (Truman Capote’s aunt) in 1946, with “the understanding that [she] would share them with Truman Capote, [her] sister’s child, who had been brought up in Sook’s hometown, Monroeville, Alabama.”
1 tablespoon butter or bacon drippings
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups stone-ground white cornmeal
1. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Place the butter or drippings in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet, and place it in the oven.
2. Combine the eggs and buttermilk in a small bowl or measuring cup, whisking together well with a fork.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, salt, baking soda, and cornmeal, stirring well to combine.
4. Stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients, beating just until the dry ingredients are moistened, no more.
5. Pull the skillet from the oven. It should be good and hot, with the fat sizzling. Swirl the pan to coat it. Quickly transfer the batter to the hot skillet and return the skillet to the oven.
6. Bake until browned and pulling away from the skillet, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve, hot, in
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