Black Skillet Southern Cornbread

Southerners can get pretty worked up about their cornbread. I posted a very old Mexican Cornbread recipe last year, but this is just plain ole cornbread, which I served with my speckled butter beans. Some cooks, like myself, enjoy a slightly sweet cornbread so add a couple of tablespoons of sugar to the batter. Others will declare that blasphemy. Some cooks swear by using buttermilk, others say you should use regular whole milk ("sweet milk").

I have personally never had cornbread I did not like. All in all cornbread is very earthy, peasanty, and forgiving. You really can't go wrong and you don't even have to break out the appliances, a bowl and spoon work just fine. If you have saved some bacon drippings, use that for the shortening, though I have seen the old ladies of the family melt vegetable shortening and use that, with delicious results. I prefer using buttermilk, but in a pinch I have even used water. If you have a black iron skillet, use that for the best crust.

Add sugar, or honey if you please. I did not add it here because I was planning ahead for leftovers, which I wanted to use for a cornbread stuffing that didn't want to be sweetened. Almost all the cornmeal sold in the South is self-rising, so if yours is not, you will need to add 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder and 1/2 tsp. salt to each cup of cornmeal.

Black Skillet Southern Cornbread
1 3/4 cups self-rising cornmeal
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
2 - 3 Tbsp. sugar, optional
3 Tbsp. bacon drippings or other shortening

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix together the eggs and buttermilk. Stir in the cornmeal, and sugar if using, until well blended. Place the bacon drippings into a black iron skillet and heat in oven until very hot. Working quickly, pour the hot fat into the cornmeal mixture, stir, and pour the batter back into the skillet. It should sizzle and this is when the great crust starts forming.
Bake for about 30 minutes, until very brown. Serve with butter.

Speckled Butter Beans

When I saw these heirloom beans at the store, I was flooded with memories of summer days growing up Alabama, and eating these beans fresh from the fields, with sliced tomatoes, and cornbread. Well, it will be a while before tomatoes are in season, but I did have some leftover ham from Easter, and I did make cornbread to enjoy with my butterbeans.

I am a real fan of beans. All kinds of beans. I make them often using a number of cooking methods, depending on how far in advance I planned. This time I used the quick soak method.

Beans & Ham
1 lb. dried speckled butter beans
Leftover ham
Water
Olive Oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt & pepper, to taste
Hot sauce for serving

Carefully sort through dried beans, inspecting for small stones or other foreign debris. Rinse thoroughly. Cover with water to an inch over the beans and bring to a boil. Boil for a couple of minutes, then cover and remove from heat. Let the beans soak for about an hour.

Drain and rinse beans, cover with fresh water, add the ham. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, cooking, partially covered until the beans are tender, about 1 hour, adding more water if necessary.

Saute the onions, celery, carrots, and garlic in olive oil, until tender, seasoning with salt and pepper. Add the saute mixture to the beans, along with some salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer together for about 30 minutes.

Serve the beans with hot sauce.

Faux Mounds Bars

I am not a big fan of dessert (unless you are talking about the French cheese course) but my husband is. Because I love my husband and love to please him, and because I love to bake, I bake desserts for my husband.

This is one of those recipes I have seen circulating for years. I don't know who originally came up with this one, but it couldn't be simpler. And Pritchard Parker liked them so that makes me happy.

Faux Mounds Bars
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup melted butter
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups flaked coconut
12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips, melted

Combine graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. Press into a 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Combine condensed milk with coconut and spread over the crust. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Spread the melted chocolate chips all over the top and let it cool before cutting into squares.

Asparagus & Pimiento Cheese Pie

I've made a few variations, using different veggies, of this recipe I first heard about exactly one year ago on NPR's All Things Considered in a feature called "How Low Can You Go?" in which chefs were asked to submit a healthy recipe to feed four for $10 or less. I posted one of my versions last summer and called it Savory Summer Pie.

What this boils down to is a biscuit with pimiento cheese and asparagus. Which is a very good thing.

Asparagus & Pimiento Cheese Pie

For the crust, prepare 1 biscuit recipe from the Bisquick box (or use your own recipe) and press into 9 inch pie plate. Use pie weights or another pie plate to keep the crust from rising too much. Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven to cool and lower the temperature to 350 degrees.

For the topping, mix together 2 cups hand grated extra sharp cheddar cheese, 1 small jar chopped pimientos undrained, 1/3 cup good quality mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard, and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.


Wash and dry asparagus, snap off woody ends, break into desired sized pieces and fill the crust lined baking dish.

Top with the pimiento cheese mixture and completely cover the asparagus.

Bake for 45 - 55 minutes, until well browned and the asparagus is tender.

Let the pie cool for about 10 minutes before cutting.

Miscellany

My Favorite Baby Girl


D-E-E-P Dish Asparagus Pizza

Swiss Steak, Rice and Gravy, Candied Ginger & Honey Glazed Carrots

Corn Chowder

Pimiento Cheese on Crackers with a Cup of Tea