12-22-2023, 10:49 PM
Start with a good (White Lily is what I use) cornbread mix, bacon fat, cooking oil (I use grapeseed, but anything will do-even more bacon grease), an egg, and some buttermilk. And a cast iron skillet to cook it in.
Preheat the oven to 425 and throw in the skillet with 2-4 TBS of bacon fat depending on the size of your skillet.
For the batter, use equal parts cornmeal and buttermilk. For a #5 (8 inch) skillet I use about 1 cup of cornmeal and a cup of buttermilk. For a #8 (10 5/8 inch) I use a bit over two cups of meal/buttermilk, but this is totally variable to how fluffy you want the cornbread. I prefer a low fluff/crust ratio but my wife prefers the opposite so we have to compromise. It may take a few times to find what works best for you. Then add an egg (I've found one egg works fine for anything up to a #8 skillet. Anything bigger than that you need two.. Add a tablespoon or so of cooking oil and whisk everything together until well blended. That's the basic batter. You can doctor it up any number of ways by adding other ingredients in. Yankees like to add some sugar. Of course the classic Southern addin is pork cracklins. Many people like jalapenos. I've had good luck with bacon bits and even pepperoni. I also like to throw in some dried minced onions. The batter is a blank canvas-you are the artist. Let your imagination go wild-it will probably taste pretty good.
After the oven gets heated up, CAREFULLY remove the skillet with an oven mitt. Swirl the melted bacon fat around to coat the sides of the skillet. You want to have a shallow layer of fat in the pan. If you have too much, just dump the extra back into your batter and mix it in. If your skillet is not seasoned too well, err on the side of too much fat in the pan to prevent sticking.
Pour the batter into the skillet and bake until done-at least ten minutes but once again, this is a matter of taste. I prefer my bread to be well done with a crunchy bottom crust so I cook mine longer than those who prefer no crunch. It's going to take you a few tries to find what you like best but it's practically impossible to screw up
Preheat the oven to 425 and throw in the skillet with 2-4 TBS of bacon fat depending on the size of your skillet.
For the batter, use equal parts cornmeal and buttermilk. For a #5 (8 inch) skillet I use about 1 cup of cornmeal and a cup of buttermilk. For a #8 (10 5/8 inch) I use a bit over two cups of meal/buttermilk, but this is totally variable to how fluffy you want the cornbread. I prefer a low fluff/crust ratio but my wife prefers the opposite so we have to compromise. It may take a few times to find what works best for you. Then add an egg (I've found one egg works fine for anything up to a #8 skillet. Anything bigger than that you need two.. Add a tablespoon or so of cooking oil and whisk everything together until well blended. That's the basic batter. You can doctor it up any number of ways by adding other ingredients in. Yankees like to add some sugar. Of course the classic Southern addin is pork cracklins. Many people like jalapenos. I've had good luck with bacon bits and even pepperoni. I also like to throw in some dried minced onions. The batter is a blank canvas-you are the artist. Let your imagination go wild-it will probably taste pretty good.
After the oven gets heated up, CAREFULLY remove the skillet with an oven mitt. Swirl the melted bacon fat around to coat the sides of the skillet. You want to have a shallow layer of fat in the pan. If you have too much, just dump the extra back into your batter and mix it in. If your skillet is not seasoned too well, err on the side of too much fat in the pan to prevent sticking.
Pour the batter into the skillet and bake until done-at least ten minutes but once again, this is a matter of taste. I prefer my bread to be well done with a crunchy bottom crust so I cook mine longer than those who prefer no crunch. It's going to take you a few tries to find what you like best but it's practically impossible to screw up
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