Crisy Corn Bread

Well, it's still pretty cold out these days and nothing tastes better on a cold night than a steaming hot bowl of chili.  Or beer.  Or both.  But what can get ANY better than some really great corn bread to round out the mix??

I found this recipe at All Recipes and if you're really looking for a good recipe for ANYTHING, this is a great site!!  Anything you dream can be found here, with photos of the final produce (love that) and each recipe is rated by the users, so you always know what's good!  Check it out!

So, here's a fool proof corn bread recipe that I tried once, and have never looked back with.  It's perfectly sweet, crunchy and heck - a big old blob of butter on it really is like the icing on the cake!!



Corn Bread
Makes: 2-8" cake pans or 1-13" cake pan

2/3 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 2/3 cups milk
2 1/3 cups flour
1 cup cornmeal
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt


2 Tbsp shortening


Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit






Start by creaming your butter and sugar together.  Room temperature butter works best.  And you can use a hand mixer or just a spatula to get a nice, light, well creamed mixture.

Now is a good time to change to a whisk.  Add the beaten eggs  and make sure it's all well blended.  No lumps, OK??  Go ahead and add the milk now, again - blend well.  See - the whisk works great!!

In a separate bowl, mix your flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt.

Add the flour mixture into they egg and butter mixture and give it a few good stirs until well blended.  You can borrow Loo Lee if you need - she's always good at checking out the mixing detail.

Next step is the KEY to getting that really great, crispy crust on a delicious corn bread.  Remember that shortening the recipe called for but never got used??  Now is the time to grab that stuff and smear all over your pans.  It's going to look like a lot, but never fear!!!

Leave the excess in the pan, and toss them into your preheated oven.  Remember the lesson with the Yorkshire Puddings??  Same theory here - hot pan + cold batter = crispy finishings!  So, let them sit in the oven until super hot (about 5 minutes) before adding the batter.

 

Nice and hot??  Now it's time to get them out of the oven, onto a heat proof surface for adding the batter.  Remember, the hot and cold combination may cause some spitting so keep safe!!

Share the batter between the two pans as best you can, and see - they're starting to cook already!  Oh, and get them straight into the oven!!

Bake for 25-30 minutes.  When are they done??  Before they're black, and when you touch the top, it's springy.  Or you can use a toothpick - it comes out clean from a properly cooked corn bread.  Or cake, if you're really interested.....

Place corn bread, still in the pan on racks to let them cool.  Now, from experience I know it's tempting to grab a knife and start hacking away at the stuff - but experience also has taught me that a) it's way too hot to eat, so chill out for a bit and b) the darn thing is just going to stick to the pan if you try to get it out too soon.  So relax for a bit, grab a beer,  your chili & fixings - start digging in!

Cut in the pan, or turn out.  What ever works for you.  And don't be surprised if there's only crumbs left at the end of the night.  This stuff tastes just as good cool as it does hot. 

Terrific the next day too (that's why we make two) and is perfect for sharing.  I bring it to work to make friends.

Enjoy, with friends!

--The Cook