Mom's Cornbread

[sila-lumenn.livejournal.com]

melilot_hill came up with a wonderful idea a couple days ago to share recipes that are traditional in our home countries, since we represent so many diverse cultures. The United States, itself, is quite diverse. Regional cuisine can be found everywhere!

As a Southerner, I grew up on pinto beans and cornbread. It is still one of my favorite meals today. Another day, I'll share my technique for cooking dried pinto beans. This is my mother's recipe for cornbread. She never measures anything in the traditional way. She tends to "eyeball" amounts and pour dry ingredients into her hand instead of a measuring spoon. I've attempted to convert her "eyeball" measurements into normal measurements, but you might want to adjust for your own tastes and climate (especially the baking powder and salt).

MOM'S CORNBREAD
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tbl baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 cups milk
1/4 cup vegetable shortening

Mix together dry ingredients. Stir in eggs and milk. Heat shortening in large cast iron skillet until just melted. Pour shortening into cornbread batter, leaving a few drops to thoroughly grease skillet. Mix well. Pour batter into hot skillet. Bake at 450 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

NOTE: All measurements are approximate. If the cornbread comes out to crumbly, you might need to add more milk next time. If it has a slightly bitter aftertaste, you should reduce the amount of baking powder a bit.

Comments

[sila-lumenn.livejournal.com]

You've heard of black-eyed peas?! That does surprise me, but in a very pleasant way. Some people I know right here in the USA don't know what black-eyed peas are! Of course, they're from the north, where they do horrible things like feeding them to the cattle! ^_~

I hope you enjoy your authentic Southern dinner.

[melilot-hill.livejournal.com]

I think they even sell black-eyed peas ("zwarte-ogen bonen" in Dutch ("zwarte-ogen" just means "black-eyed" and "bonen" means "beans") in the larger supermarkets, so I don't think I will have much problem finding those :)

In the Netherlands, they mostly feet corn to the cattle :) But it's a slightly different variety then the corn "we" eat.