This is my cornbread, the one I offer up as what real cornbread ought to be: skillet-born, sugar-free, and bacon-blessed. Heating the bacon drippings in a cast-iron skillet is important. When the batter hits the hot fat, it sizzles and starts forming a deeply browned, crispy bottom crust that tastes like a good hushpuppy. Some people omit flour from their cornbread, but I find that it helps hold the cornbread together when it's cut, particularly when I use coarse stone-ground cornmeal.
My sweet daddy and I grind our own cornmeal on a 1923 Meadows Mill that my great-grandfather, Papa Will Reece, bought new. The mill is considered portable, but it weighs several hundred pounds and must be hauled on a stout trailer. It's powered by a hit-or-miss engine, one of the first machines used in farming. Daddy hauls the mill and engine to heritage festivals and such all over the country. The whole operation is really something to see.
For your cornbread, seek out the best whole-grain stone-ground cornmeal available in your community or order it from ansonmills.com. Fresh whole-grain meal is quite perishable, so store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer.
You can replace the bacon drippings with 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, although the crust will not be as crisp or flavorful. Do not preheat the butter and oil in the oven or they will burn. Instead, heat them on top of the stove until the butter stops foaming and the oil is sizzling hot, just before adding the batter.
Recipe information
Yield
Makes 8 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
1 Place the drippings in a 9-inch cast-iron skillet. Place the skillet in the oven as the oven preheats to 450°F.
Step 2
2 Whisk together the cornmeal, flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and buttermilk, pour into the cornmeal mixture, and stir just until blended.
Step 3
3 Remove the skillet from the oven and scrape in the batter. It will sizzle and pop, so be careful. Return the skillet to the oven and bake until the cornbread is firm in the middle and golden brown on top, about 25 minutes. Serve hot.
