It used to be pretty common for us to use this blog to talk about our food. Once I got pregnant with Scotty, all talk of food ceased, and though I have gotten my appetite back since later in my pregnancy, I hadn't yet had life return to normalcy enough to start cooking new things and talking about it. Well, I'm back, baby.
Last week I decided to try making "Southern Style Cornbread" from my Cook's Country Cookbook. Incidentally, I adore this book, which was put out by America's Test Kitchen. It's full of classic, old home-cookin' recipes, and each one was tested to come up with the best ingredients, the best methods, to turn out the perfect product. Greg got me this book last Christmas, right when we found out I was pregnant. It sat on the shelf for way too long before I started into it, and now I am really enjoying it.
Anywhooo, I was hankerin' for some cornbread and looked up the recipe. I found two: one for regular cornbread, and one for "Southern Style." Hmm, I thought, I wonder.... And since I didn't have the ingredients for the "regular" kind, I started in on the "Southern" kind. The book explained that this was not your "Northern" cake-like, sweet cornbread. When I think of cornbread, I think of sweet, cake-like stuff, and that was what my mouth was watering for. Well, this is definitely different! Though it was fun to make it in the cast iron, and it came out with a gorgeous crispy crust, it was NOT what my mouth wanted when my brain thought "cornbread."
We ate it with a very "Northern" recipe- a chili recipe from a woman in Yakima, WA. And this was some VERY Washington Chili. I can't really explain how, but trust me, it was Washington food. Hearty.
Greg and I decided we are definitely Northerners when it comes to our cornbread. Though we love so many things from the South, we really like our cornbread to taste like dessert.
Where do you weigh in on this issue?
5 comments:
I like my cornbread a little sweet, too. I usually serve it with butter and honey, too. I've never had "Southern" cornbread, though, so I don't really have anything to compare it to. :)
I ate mine the other night with butter and syrup and all the ladies looked at me like a nut. I guess they say I should be putting honey on it... Mom messed us up. that and cheese on the french toast...
I like it sweet too! I have a great recipe that uses bisquick and sugar and it definitely tastes like dessert. My dad got it from someone he worked with who got it from his grandmother from Louisiana. So who says you can't have sweet and southern?
I only know cornbread from Papa and Grandma, and it is sweet. We ate it HOT with butter and syrup, and COLD with milk and sugar. There is never enough corbread for me!
Whose recipe in Yakima? Was it Grandma's church cookbook?
Post a Comment