Cooking Outside The Box

Okay, I’ll admit it. I wasn’t exposed to the “finer things” in life at an early age. I remember the first time I saw bleu cheese as a teenager, I worried that it was “bad.” I only knew American, Swiss and cheddar cheese. As far as corn bread went, I thought you only could buy a mix in a box (think Jiffy brand) and cook it in a 8 x 8 inch square pan. It certainly never had an appeal to me as a specialty side dish: I thought of it as a poor man’s bread.

1986, with an asymmetrical haircut

 

As a much more sophisticated college graduate who wore shoulder pads in her shirts and once sported an asymmetrical haircut in the yuppie days of the 80’s, I dined out with my friends often. Corn bread was sometimes served and what do you know? It was quite tasty and interesting. My first try was a Marie Callender’s canister of corn bread mix. At first it tasted sooo good but by the end of the too-big-to-be-a-trial container, I realized it was much too sweet and the texture was more like cake. Then, after I had my KitchenAid Mixer and began making bread, my friend Steve bought me a great book on bread making. It’s quite d0g-eared by now, but I found two recipes that I make all the time in the quick breads section.

 

One of these is for corn bread! It is my favorite. It is rich but not too sweet and not like a cake at all. It’s very similar to the one served at Z Tejas, except without the whole corn. (Adding 1 cup of frozen or drained canned corn to the recipe is a variation listed below the recipe in my book.) As a bonus for me, from the first time I’ve made this recipe I’ve enjoyed that it is baked in a pie plate. So, it is round and served in wedges. Now, how trendy is that???

Buttermilk Corn Bread from Bread by Beth Hensperger

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk*
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1. Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
2. In another bowl, mix eggs, buttermilk, and butter. Add to dry ingredients and stir until all ingredients are just blended. Take care not to over mix.
3. Pour batter into a greased 9 inch springform pan or pie plate.

Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven about 25 minutes until golden brown around the edges and a cake tester comes out clean. Let stand 10 –15 minutes before cutting in wedges to serve.
*When I don’t have buttermilk on hand, I substitute sour milk. To make 1 cup of sour milk, put 1 tbsp vinegar into empty measuring cup. Fill cup up to 1 cup line with milk, stir.