My mother's cast iron

Secretariata wrote:

Woody wrote:

EvanB wrote:

Secretariata wrote: Kinda like maple syrup on grits.

What's wrong with that?

Grits.

Only deserve the best BUTTER! Maple syrup goes on hotcakes.

trOOf. Leave the syrup for pancakes, waffles or hoecake.

Grits need shredded sharp cheddar and crumbled bacon. For a lil' pick 'em up, diced jalapenos. Mmmm...

I have no idea of what's in my grandmother's cornbread recipe (I guess I need to bug my mom about that), but it damn sure don't have no sugar. That's some of that Yankee junk. And everyone knows they are just not civilized up there.

i have my great grandma's cast iron plus stuff i've picked up at estate sales over the years.

they say everything tastes like the last thing you cooked in cast iron, so if every other use is for frying bacon, then everything you eat will taste like bacon.

Zomby Woof wrote: OK, so let's have a recipe for this cornbread. My mom made it a lot when I was a kid, and it was great. My wife never heard of it, so whenever we're across the border, we grab some of that Jiffy stuff. I can't tell the difference between it, and the stuff my wife's made from scratch, so I need a recipe.

Okay!

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 Tbs baking powder
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup shortening +
2 Tbs shortening

Preheat oven to 450°.

Combine cornmeal, flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl and stir to combine. Measure the buttermilk and milk into a measuring cup and add the egg. Stir together with a fork. Add the baking soda to the milk mixture and stir together. Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and stir to combine.

In a medium cast iron skillet over medium heat, melt the 1/4 cup shortening. Add melted shortening to the batter slowly, stirring just until combined.

Then, in the same hot skillet melt 2 Tbs shortening. Pour the batter into the hot skillet and spread to even out the surface. Batter should sizzle when it makes contact with the pan. Cook on medium heat for 1 minute, then transfer to hot oven and bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Thank you.

In reply to friedgreencorrado:

I keep a "drippings" container in the fridge. Helps to make incredible cornbread and a small spoonfull helps to cook eggs. I know that I should eat lean meat but you gotta have that grease periodically. I made a small batch of gravy to go with the store bought biscuits this morning.

Good recipe but I would add buttermilk instead of regular milk. In reply to EastCoastMojo:

whenry wrote: In reply to friedgreencorrado: I keep a "drippings" container in the fridge. Helps to make incredible cornbread and a small spoonfull helps to cook eggs. I know that I should eat lean meat but you gotta have that grease periodically. I made a small batch of gravy to go with the store bought biscuits this morning.

I strain my bacon drippings and put them in ice cube trays and freeze them Once solid, toss them in a zip loc bag and keep them indefinitely in the freezer. Need a tiny bit of fat for frying and flavor? Toss one or two of the grease cubes in and you are ready to go. I have even saved spicy sausage grease for making jambalaya. Oooh yeah.

whenry wrote: Good recipe but I would add buttermilk instead of regular milk. In reply to EastCoastMojo:

You mean in addition to the buttermilk that's already in there? You dog.

ECM, I have copied and saved your corn bread recipe. I will make it soon to go with something I make....pulled pork, chili...not sure what yet, but it will go with it.

I will be forced to alter it to be Celiac friendly (gluten free), but I shall try to remember to report back on how it is.

Ooops, I missed the buttermilk. I am truly ashamed. In reply to EastCoastMojo:

Curmudgeon wrote:

Secretariata wrote:

Woody wrote:

EvanB wrote:

Secretariata wrote: Kinda like maple syrup on grits.

What's wrong with that?

Grits.

Only deserve the best BUTTER! Maple syrup goes on hotcakes.

trOOf. Leave the syrup for pancakes, waffles or hoecake. Grits need shredded sharp cheddar and crumbled bacon. For a lil' pick 'em up, diced jalapenos. Mmmm... I have no idea of what's in my grandmother's cornbread recipe (I guess I need to bug my mom about that), but it damn sure don't have no sugar. That's some of that Yankee junk. And everyone knows they are just not civilized up there.

red-eye gravy works right well also

EastCoastMojo wrote:

Zomby Woof wrote: OK, so let's have a recipe for this cornbread. My mom made it a lot when I was a kid, and it was great. My wife never heard of it, so whenever we're across the border, we grab some of that Jiffy stuff. I can't tell the difference between it, and the stuff my wife's made from scratch, so I need a recipe.

Okay! 1 cup yellow cornmeal 1/2 cup all purpose flour 1 tsp salt 1 Tbs baking powder 1 cup buttermilk 1/2 cup milk 1 egg 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 cup shortening + 2 Tbs shortening Preheat oven to 450°. Combine cornmeal, flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl and stir to combine. Measure the buttermilk and milk into a measuring cup and add the egg. Stir together with a fork. Add the baking soda to the milk mixture and stir together. Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and stir to combine. In a medium cast iron skillet over medium heat, melt the 1/4 cup shortening. Add melted shortening to the batter slowly, stirring just until combined. Then, in the same hot skillet melt 2 Tbs shortening. Pour the batter into the hot skillet and spread to even out the surface. Batter should sizzle when it makes contact with the pan. Cook on medium heat for 1 minute, then transfer to hot oven and bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!

how hot ?

wbjones wrote: how hot ?

Looks like you just leave it at 450 once it gets there. Usually if you have to change the temp, a recipe makes a big deal out of mentioning it.

that's the part I didn't know ... how hot a medium temp on the range was and how that would translate to the oven

wbjones wrote: that's the part I didn't know ... how hot a medium temp on the range was and how that would translate to the oven

Think of the stovetop and the oven as two different "devices". Stovetop's how to get it hot enough to mix the ingredients properly, but the oven does the baking. Medium on the range would just be turned about half-way up with the knob. To keep the cooking time shorter, you can "prepare" on the range while the oven pre-heats, the extra heat from the oven really doesn't affect what you're doing on the stovetop very much.

Medium on my range is 5 out of a possible 10. I have no idea how hot that is in degrees Fahrenheit. My oven runs a tiny bit hot, so 450° is probably more like 460°, but I have not tested it recently.

Here is some delicious cornbread, hot from the oven and slathered with softened butter, for your drooling enjoyment. I can't wait to hear your take on it, as it is the most delicious cornbread I have ever had. That coming from a gal born and raised in the south, I have had plenty of opportunity to eat cornbread. (For those with Griswold pans, this is skillet numbered 5 which measures about 8 inches across at the top)

Hot out of the oven:

Cut yourself a slab:

Grab the softened butter:

And go to town!

In reply to EastCoastMojo:

Mmm. I like it with chow-chow & blackeyed peas, tho..

This pic has pintos instead of blackeyes, but y'all will get the idea.

4cylndrfury wrote: Im really wanting a cast Iron griddle - Nothing is as good as eggs over easy, fried in the grease of the bacon and sausage you just cooked in cast iron.

I ended up with a cast griddle that has been handed-down thru my family ever since one of my ancestors brought it over on a boat from Gemany in the 1800's.

It's roughly 12x27 inches, and heavy as Hell. But I can put it on my grill and do a Helluva lot of good eats on it.

It's probably one of my most prized possessions.

friedgreencorrado wrote: In reply to EastCoastMojo: Mmm. I like it with chow-chow & blackeyed peas, tho.. This pic has pintos instead of blackeyes, but y'all will get the idea.

Mmmmmm! Do you have a recipe for that chow-chow? I have been a-lookin' for a good one. I have been wanting to do some canning, that's one I will do in big batches.

Mmmm... chow chow... mmmm... black eyed peas... mmmm.

'Lovin' don't last, cookin' do.'

grafmiata wrote:

4cylndrfury wrote: Im really wanting a cast Iron griddle - Nothing is as good as eggs over easy, fried in the grease of the bacon and sausage you just cooked in cast iron.

I ended up with a cast griddle that has been handed-down thru my family ever since one of my ancestors brought it over on a boat from Gemany in the 1800's. It's roughly 12x27 inches, and heavy as Hell. But I can put it on my grill and do a Helluva lot of good eats on it. It's probably one of my most prized possessions.

I'm even more jealous of you than I was of Margie. My family had the cornstick pans, but I don't think we ever had a griddle. Good on ya for using it!

Gotta admit, some of the reason we love using our cast iron so much is actually because of the family hand-me-down thing. SWMBO & I actually mixed ours up when we moved in together, we can't remember which one belongs to which family. But it's still a thrill to know the things had been in the hands of our ancestors.

In reply to EastCoastMojo:

Unfortunately, my paternal grandmother took that one to her grave. I do know that the green colored stuff I can find tastes a lot more like hers than the white or orange colored stuff I see passed off as chow-chow in a lot of supermarkets. Lemme send my mom an e-mail, she might still have my maternal grandmother's recipe.

friedgreencorrado wrote:

grafmiata wrote:

4cylndrfury wrote: Im really wanting a cast Iron griddle - Nothing is as good as eggs over easy, fried in the grease of the bacon and sausage you just cooked in cast iron.

I ended up with a cast griddle that has been handed-down thru my family ever since one of my anestors brought it over on a boat from Gemany in the 1800's. It's roughly 12x27 inches, and heavy as Hell. But I can put it on my grill and do a Helluva lot of good eats on it. It's probably one of my most prized possessions.

I'm even more jealous of you than I was of Margie. My family had the cornstick pans, but I don't think we ever had a griddle. Good on ya for using it! Gotta admit, some of the reason we love using our cast iron so much is actually *because* of the family hand-me-down thing. SWMBO & I actually mixed ours up when we moved in together, we can't remember which one belongs to which family. But it's still a thrill to know the things had been in the hands of our ancestors.

Actually, I had the opportunity to get 3 of the cast corn-stick pans when my dad passed. I don't have the time to make cornbread the way it should be made, so I traded those to my sister so I could get my dad's favorite hammer.

FGC, I am paternally grateful! Tell her I shared my secret cornbread recipe!

I asked my wife (a vegetarian) to buy me a small cast iron skillet. I didn't want any of the new Teflon free non-sticks as they are not as good and all this man-made synthetic stuff comes with disclaimers. I love my little skillet. Fried eggs FTW!

As for stuff from a grandparent I have my grandfather's old toolbox that has on more than one occasion saved me because of an odd part or tool hidden within.