Celeste's Mississippi Cornbread

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[Last updated January 27, 2001] You may also be interested in Celeste's Mexican Chocolate Brownies or Lazy Cook's Guacamole recipes.

I get some of the strangest requests from my clients. By popular demand, here is my recipe for real Mississippi Cornbread. It's a standard dish in my hometown of Greenville, Mississippi (The Most Southern Place on Earth), and has a wonderful texture and taste. This is not that sweet stuff full of flour and sugar that we call Yankee Cornbread or Johnny Cake. This is real cornbread! :-)

• 1 cup buttermilk (or 7 ounces of milk + 1 ounce vinegar or lemon juice, mixed and left to sit for about 30 minutes until curdled. If you're in a hurry, mix the milk and vinegar or lemon juice and microwave it for 20-30 seconds on high power.)
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup cornmeal, yellow or white (Stone-ground cornmeal is best, but not required. I prefer yellow for a more crumbly cornbread. My mother, who taught me this recipe, prefers white for a smooth-textured cornbread. We often compromise by mixing the two.)
• 1 teaspoon salt (use 1/2 teaspoon salt if you don't like your cornbread quite so salty)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder (if you're at high altitude, use 1 teaspoon baking powder, else the cornbread will rise too high, then fall)
• 1.5 tablespoons of bacon drippings or vegetable oil (try garlic-flavored olive oil. Excellent!)
• Optional ingredients for different tastes: Use any or all of these for a different taste, as the mood strikes you
  • 1/2-3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar
  • 1-4 finely chopped jalapeno or chile peppers (no seeds!)
  • 2 cloves finely minced garlic
  • 1/2-3/4 cup whole kernel corn

Pour drippings or oil into an 8-inch or 9-inch square baking pan. Heat pan in a 450 degree oven until oil is smoking hot.

While pan is heating, mix dry ingredients and any of the optional ingredients in medium-sized bowl. Beat egg into buttermilk. Add liquids to dry mixture, just until blended. Do not overmix!

Carefully remove the smoking pan from oven and pour cornbread batter into pan. If the oil is properly hot, then the batter will sizzle as it hits the oil. (This sizzle is what makes a nice, crunchy bottom crust.) Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the top crust is golden brown. Cut into wedges. Serve with butter or margarine.

Note 1: The batter will begin to rise as soon as the liquid and dry ingredients are mixed, so mix them right before you remove the hot pan from the oven.

Note 2: If you use a 10" round cast-iron skillet instead of the 9" baking pan, you should double the recipe without doubling the oil. If you don't double the recipe for the 10" skillet, your cornbread will be very thin.

Stokely Consulting, http://www.stokely.com
Email: Celeste Stokely | Peter Stokely
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