Recipes

Main & Side Dishes - Southern Vegetable Dinner

Alabama Cornbread


Also called Mississippi or Southern cornbread, this is the style of cornbread my mother and her mother would make. Since they were both born and raised in Alabama, I call it Alabama Cornbread.


Ingredients

2-4 tablespoons shortening (or bacon drippings)

1 1/2 cups self-rising white cornmeal

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 egg

1/2 cup buttermilk or whole milk

1/4 teaspoon baking soda if using buttermilk

water to make batter thick but pourable

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Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Put the shortening in an 8-9 inch cast-iron skillet and place on medium heat or in the oven while it is preheating. Combine the cornmeal and flour then mix in the egg and milk. Add water slowly until the batter is pourable (like thick pancake batter). Take the hot skillet from the oven and pour some of the melted shortening (about a tablespoon) into the batter. Then pour the batter into the hot skillet. Place back in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the outer crust is golden brown. After cooling a few minutes, turn the cornbread out of the skillet onto a serving plate. Because the batter was poured into a hot skillet, the cornbread has a delicious crispy crust.

Copyright ©  Mike Perry, 2011