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The Gift of Southern Cooking

Random House

Chapter One

Our Favorite Sour Milk Cornbread

Sour-milk cornbread is one of those quintessential foods of the South for which there are hundreds of recipes (and infinite variations). Although we'd never claim to have the "definitive version, Miss Lewis and I worked together on this recipe until we got just what we wanted: an all-cornmeal bread that's light, moist, and rich, full of corn flavor, with the tanginess of sour milk or buttermilk. Like all Southern cornbreads, it has no sugar--that's a Yankee thing.

Traditionally, milk that had started to culture was used in cornbread and other baked goods, both for its pleasant sharp taste and for a leavening boost (its acids react with baking soda to generate carbon dioxide). Since modern pasteurized milk doesn't sour nicely--it just goes bad--we use commercial buttermilk here instead.

This is a genuine all-purpose cornbread, delicious as a savory bread or even as a dessert, slathered with butter and honey. My mother and grandmother only made this kind of leavened cornbread (which they called "egg bread") for cornbread stuffing, and it does make superb stuffing. It's also delicious in a time-honored Southern snack: cornbread crumbled into a bowl with cold milk or buttermilk poured over. ManySoutherners--especially of an older generation--would call that a perfect light supper on a hot summer day, after a big midday meal.

1 1/2 cups fine-ground white cornmeal

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Homemade Baking Powder (see note)

1 3/4 cups soured milk or buttermilk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Serves 6-8

Preheat the oven to 450°

Mix the cornmeal, salt, and baking powder together in a bowl. Stir the milk into the beaten eggs, and pour over the dry ingredients in batches, stirring vigorously to make a smooth glossy batter.

Cut the butter into pieces and put it in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet or baking pan. Put the skillet in the preheated oven, and heat until the butter is melted and foaming. Remove from the oven, and swirl the butter all around the skillet to coat the bottom and sides thoroughly. Pour the remaining melted butter into the cornbread batter, and stir well until the butter is absorbed into the batter. Turn the batter into the heated skillet, and put in the oven to bake for 30-40 minutes, until cornbread is golden brown and crusty on top and pulls away from the sides of the skillet.

Remove the skillet from the oven, and turn the cornbread out onto a plate. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before cutting into wedges. Serve the cornbread while it is hot.


Note on Homemade Baking Powder:
Distressed by the chemical additives and aftertaste of commercial "double-acting" powders, Miss Lewis years ago started making her own baking powder--a traditional mixture of cream of tartar and baking soda. When I first used her formula (from her books, before we met), I couldn't really taste any difference. Soon, though, I realized that muffins and quick breads made with aluminum-sulfate-based powders left a metallic "tingle" on my tongue. Today, I make up a batch of this powder every week for use at the restaurant and bring a jar home for Miss Lewis. We recommend it for all the recipes here. If necessary, you can substitute commercial baking powder in equal amounts.

Sift 1/4 cup cream of tartar with 2 tablespoons baking soda together 3 times, and transfer to a clean, tight-sealing jar. Store at room temperature, away from sunlight, for up to 6 weeks.

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Excerpted from The Gift of Southern Cooking by Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock Excerpted by permission.
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