Cornbread

Corn bread sweetened with sugar must be a Yankee invention, because corn bread in the South is always a savory staple. We like to keep it simple, but don't stint on the fat, whether butter or bacon fat (or oil, if you must). Corn bread, corn muffins, and corn sticks should all be cooked to a dark shade of golden brown and turned out while hot, the steam rising fragrant with the aromas of corn and bacon, as you break into them.

This recipe is used to prepare Mexican Corn-Bread Pudding.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. To accompany Oyster Spinach Bisque with Corn Bread Croutons.

This moist bread is best fresh from the oven, but it can also be made ahead and reheated.

The following corn bread is not to be eaten on its own; it's meant for stuffing, so we've deliberately made it dry.

Also try this with scrambled eggs, omelets or a big bowl of chili.

This corn bread is on the dry side — ideal for our dressing (see Pork Chops with Pecan Corn Bread Dressing and Cider Gravy) but not for eating on its own. Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 30 min

If preparing this corn bread for the New England Sausage Stuffing , make it one day ahead.

Serve with additional honey, if desired.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Many southerners object to the practice of adding sugar to corn bread, but associate food editor Alexis Touchet, who grew up in Louisiana, is all for it. Sugar, in fact, is listed as an optional ingredient in the recipe for "pain de maïs nonpareil" in The Picayune's Creole Cook Book, first published in 1901. It's important here that your cast-iron skillet is well seasoned and thoroughly preheated—you want the batter to sizzle when you pour it in.