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Home baked
cornbread made with blue and yellow cornmeal |
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Cornbread is a common bread in United States
cuisine, particularly associated with the South and Southwest, as well
as being a traditional staple for populations where wheat bread was
prohibitively expensive. |
In some parts of the South it is crumbled into a glass of cold
buttermilk and eaten with a spoon, and it is also widely eaten with
barbecue and
chili con carne. In rural areas of the southern United States
cornbread is a common
side dish, often served with homemade butter, chunks of onion or scallions.
Cornbread crumbs are also used in some poultry stuffings; cornbread stuffing is
particularly associated with
Thanksgiving turkeys.
In the United States, Northern and Southern corn bread are different because
they generally use different types of corn meal and baking techniques. A
preference for sweetness and adding sugar or molasses can be found in both
regions, but saltier tastes are sometimes more common in the South, and thus
favor the addition of frying the bread with such additions as cracklins.
Sometimes, cornbread is crumbled and served with cold milk similar to cold
cereal. In Texas, the Mexican influence has spawned a hearty cornbread made with
fresh or creamed corn kernels, jalapeño peppers and topped with shredded cheese.
Skillet-baked cornbread (often simply called skillet bread or hoecake depending
on the container it's cooked in) is a traditional staple of rural cuisine in the
United States, especially in the Southern United States which involves heating
bacon drippings, lard or other oil in a heavy, well-seasoned cast iron skillet
in an oven, and then pouring a batter made from cornmeal, egg and buttermilk
directly into the hot grease. The mixture is returned to the oven to bake into a
large, crumbly and sometimes very moist cake with a crunchy crust. This bread
will tend to be dense, meant more as an accompaniment than as a bread meant to
stand on its own. In addition to the skillet method, such cornbread can also be
made in sticks, muffins or loaves.
A slightly different variety, cooked in a simple baking dish, is associated with
northern US cuisine; it tends to be sweeter and lighter than southern-style
cornbread. A typical contemporary
northern U.S. cornbread (referred to in the South as "Yankee Cornbread") recipe
contains half wheat flour, half cornmeal, milk or buttermilk, eggs, leavening
agent, salt, and usually sugar, resulting in a bread that is somewhat lighter
and sweeter than its more traditional southern counterpart. In the border states
and parts of the Upper South, a cross between the two traditions is known as
"light cornbread."
Baked cornbread is a quick bread that is
dependent on an egg-based protein matrix for its structure (though the addition
of wheat flour adds gluten to increase its cohesiveness). The baking process
gelatinizes the starch in the cornmeal, but still often leaves some hard starch
to give the finished product a distinctive sandiness not typical of breads made
from other grains.
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Cornbread Recipe Ingredients |
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1 cup
warm water
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1
tablespoon yeast
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4
tablespoons sugar
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1 cup
yellow cornmeal
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½ cup
white flour
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½ cup
whole wheat flour
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1
teaspoon salt
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Recipe Cooking and Preparation
Method |
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Mix water,
yeast and sugar. Let this sit for a few minutes
until it bubbles.
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Stir in the rest of the
ingredients, adding water until it is pourable.
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Bake in a greased 9x9 pan at
350°F (175°C, gas mark 4) for 25 minutes or until
the edges turn golden brown.
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