parityanimal wrote: »

Howdy y'all. It's fantastic Friday! 71 with an expected high of 80 and 80% chance of precipitation. Still got that load of laundry to freshen and fold and need to feed the cats. Dishwasher is running now. Last night's pork and pinto bean soup, along with some warmed up Southern buttermilk cornbread, made a tasty breakfast. I think I have probably two more meals out of that.

I love this simple cornbread recipe. NO SUGAR ADDED. If one wants sweetness, one can drizzle honey on the cornbread later or use use honey butter (with or without cinnamon) as a spread.

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Southern Buttermilk Cornbread

Ingredients:

1 cup self rising cornmeal, white or yellow, doesn't matter. I just usually have white because it seems to be more available here.

1 egg.

1 cup buttermilk. Can substitute one cup of milk and a good splash or two of lemon juice or vinegar.

2 Tablespoons butter*. (You may, optionally, omit the butter from the batter but you will still need a small amount of butter or some other fat to grease the baking pan.)

For baking:

An 8 inch, well seasoned, cast iron skillet. Or an 8 inch cake pan but for real Southern cornbread, a skillet...

Instructions:

Put the skillet in the oven. Preheat the oven to 450 with the skillet in the oven. You can bake at a lower temperature, but a good, hot oven, along with the hot cast iron skillet, produces a very nice, crisp crust.

Combine the egg and milk, and whisk together until well blended. Add the cornmeal and whisk until the thin batter is smooth.

Put the BUTTER (not the batter yet!) into the hot skillet and place back in the oven for just a moment or two to get the butter partly melted, then swirl the butter around in the skillet to cover the bottom thoroughly and maybe up the sides just a bit. It should finish melting as you swirl it. If the butter gets a little brown, it doesn't matter and can even enhance the flavor of the cornbread but you don't want it burned too badly, so do this quickly.

Pour the melted butter into the batter and wipe any drips off the outside of the skillet. Do not scrape the skillet, as you need the butter that remains to keep the cornbread from sticking.

Quickly whisk the butter into the batter until blended and pour the batter into the hot skillet. Hopefully you will hear a nice sizzle when you do this and the outer edges will immediately, and fairly obviously, start to cook.

Place the skillet back in the oven and cook for 15 to 30 minutes, watching for the center to completely rise and the top to get golden brown. Insert a toothpick near the center and if it comes out clean, the cornbread is done.

Remove from oven. If desired, brush the top with more melted butter immediately. Cool slightly. If needed, run a table knife around the edge of the cornbread. Turn out to cool further on a rack. If desired, turn out first onto a plate and then flip onto the rack so the cornbread is right side up on the rack. Cool as desired, but best served piping hot or at least fairly warm. If you used a plate to flip the cornbread, you can slide the cornbread off the rack, onto the plate for serving. If you didn't flip the cornbread onto the rack, you can flip it onto a plate for serving. Either way, you get a nicer presentation if it's served right side up.

Cut into wedges and serve with butter for spreading. I usually cut 8 wedges, for 8 small servings.

It's best not to leave the cornbread in the skillet very long after baking, as cornbread is somewhat acidic and, left in the skillet too long, may damage the seasoning on the skillet.

The recipe may be doubled and baked in a 10 1/4 or 10 1/2 inch cast iron skillet if you need a larger cornbread to feed more people.

parityanimal wrote: »

What's the best way to arrange coals on a charcoal grill?