Happy start of the week to you! And Happy Labor Day! Do you have big plans for the day? Or is your day free from labor? Either way, I hope you have a relaxing and enjoyable day.
My last week, did not go as planned… With that said, I did not do my normal meal planning on Sunday night, nor did I make the said unplanned meals throughout the week. All is good, though. And a new week is in front of us! Yay! I love fresh starts. So, with all the talk about real cornbread here last week, I thought I’d share the cornbread that my mother-in-love makes. It is a prize winning recipe! According to me, that is. Well, me, and every single person that I have made it for and/or shared the recipe with, agree with me. You will be a believer too, if you just make it!
I remember when I first made cornbread for The Salesman and did not know how his mama made cornbread, I added sugar to the cornbread – (insert gasp) Silly me! My first cornbread tasted more like a dessert than a side dish. I still remember the day when I asked my mother-in-love for her recipe, she laughed and sweetly said: “Lora, I don’t have a recipe, I just mix the ingredients together depending on what size iron skillet I’m using.”
She is the sweetest mother-in-love ever. Just not a sweet cornbread mother-in-love! Her ingredients did not include sugar!
She graciously told me she used:
Self-rising corn meal
Self-rising flour
Buttermilk
Wheat Germ – most of the time
And always, always, always:
An Iron Skillet
And
Oil for your skillet
Lately, I’ve become more appreciative of those that share their recipes. I’ve been on an adventure of a new way of eating, and as I try new dishes, and like them, I’d like to make them for The Salesman to try. I want him to like healthier foods, too! You know I’m competing with Pizza Hut and Hardee’s – well, basically most fast food establishments, don’t you?
My mother-in-love has shared so many recipes with me over the years. I am so thankful. The Salesman grew up as a meat-and-potatoes boy, and needless to say, I’ve changed my, and his, way of eating quite a bit. But, I want you to know that even though I usually only make this for company because The Salesman has bragged to them about how good it is, I believe it is one of the best cornbread recipes ever. It also has so many good memories attached to it in times around the table with family and friends.
In an effort of wanting to make a cornbread The Salesman liked, I asked my mother-in-love if I could watch her make the cornbread and tried to scribble down what she was doing. This recipe was scribbled somewhere in the range of 20-30 years ago. I did not put a date on my scribbles. In my best estimation, here is the recipe I made from watching my mother-in-love, time and again:
1 cup self-rising corn meal
1/4 cup self-rising flour
1 cup buttermilk
Wheat Germ – a few sprinkles
Iron Skillet
Oil for your skillet
1. Pour oil in your iron skillet, then put it in the oven.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 425.
3. Mix ingredients together.
4. When oven has reached 425 degrees, remove skillet (with a pot holder) and sprinkle a few pinches of corn meal in your skillet. Pour batter in skillet.
5. Bake for approximately 25 minutes.
6. Remove from skillet, slice and enjoy!
This recipe can be doubled for a large iron skillet.
When it comes out of the oven, and you have followed her directions perfectly, and it comes out of the skillet in one piece, you think you hear angels singing! Oh, it looks like this crispy, golden sphere of heaven…
And here is a picture of the top of the cornbread, which when I flip it out of the pan, becomes the bottom of the bread. I usually run a knife of spatula around the edge before I flip it out. It looks yummy from either side.
Now here it is served as an accompaniment to your meal…
But you may be tempted to make it the main course…
It is soo delicious! Try it and tell me that you too, want to give it a prize!
Enjoy!