Ally's Kitchen
Buttermilk Cornbread. Doesn’t need any fancy name or title. It’s just cornbread, and what’s in it? Buttermilk and cornmeal. Growing up in West Virginia, we ate a lot of cornbread. Mom made the best. The outside was crispy and crunchy almost like fried onion rings. And the inside was dense and moist almost like a rich pound cake or very moist coconut cake. Mom always heated her cast iron skillet, melted Crisco in it, then poured in the batter. The sizzle…oh, yes, the sizzle was a symphonic sound, then she’d quickly place it in a hot, very hot, oven. There was nothing fancy about this cornbread…we’d just add butter, maybe have some honey with it, or crumble it up in sweet milk or buttermilk. I’ve gussied up my cornbread on occasion, and I’ve got a video that shows you how to do this. I call it Luxurifying Cornbread…kinda fun to watch…the great thing about filming this was afterwards, the cornbread was devoured by the film crew! Now there’s one caveat to making cornbread that’s very essential, at least in my cornbread world…you have to use either Martha White or White Lily self-rising cornmeal, white cornmeal. Not to fret if your market doesn’t have it, Ally’s Boho Picks does! It’s in my Kitchen Stuff on page 2. Now if you decide not to use Martha White or White Lily, you’re on your own. I can’t take responsibility for how your cornbread turns out! This buttermilk cornbread must be share~ Weekend Potluck
Preheat oven to 450
Makes: One 9-10” cast iron skillet of thin cornbread
What you need:
2 tbl Crisco
2 cups Martha White or White Lily self-rising cornbread
1 ¼ cups buttermilk
3 tbl butter
Note: You can ‘boho’ this cornbread anyway you like. Put some jalapenos, sliced peppers (red, yellow, green) on top before baking. Add some drained corn, green onions, apples, pears to it. You’re only limited by your imagination!)
What you do:
Place a cast iron skillet over medium heat and melt the Crisco. Reduce heat to keep it hot but not let it burn.
In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the cornmeal and buttermilk and blend and mix thoroughly. The batter should be the consistency of cake batter or mixed concrete (bad example, I know, but about the right consistency!). If you want it a tad thinner, put a splash of ‘sweet milk’ in there! This cornbread will be somewhat thin (about 1 ½” thick ) crispy and crusty on the outside and moist on the inside.
Pour the batter into the hot skillet. You will hear a sizzle. Good. Bake for about 25-30 minutes in a preheated 450 oven. You’ll know it’s done because the top will start to have ‘crater’ like cracks and become golden brown. Now give it a shine of melting butter on top!
Remove and let rest about 5 minutes before cutting and serving hot!
©Alice D’Antoni Phillips Ally’s Kitchen
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