Friday, March 3, 2023

Cornbread Cookin'

 Give a nice welcome to JJ reader Zerobear Polybear.  He graciously offered to submit a weekly recipe for your enjoyment so be nice as this is truly a labor of love for him.   Sometimes the simple things in life are the best and good ole cornbread is no exception.  Check out his recipe below.  

40 comments:

Anonymous said...

I already like this feature, KF. Plus one to the Bear. Nice job!

Anonymous said...

Looks delicious. Beans or peas and cornbread are a favorite at my house.

Anonymous said...

Appreciate the effort ZP! There are many multi-generational recipes still in active use by our extended family that my children and grandchildren grew up on, swear by and prepare for themselves to this day. Teach your children well ... and know they love you.

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed this, thank you, and now I'm hungry!
It also helps to cleanse some of the negative energy from the Kingfish site!

Unknown said...

Thanks KF this is great. Hope to see many more.Dont worry about negative posters—they cant cook!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this!
I am looking forward to the recipes!

Anonymous said...

As several here may know, share croppers originally cooked cornbread patties on the blade of a hoe, over coals, hence the name "hoe cake".

My mother, a debutante type who was a sorority president at SMU, nevertheless had a favorite lunch of rustic origin: black eyed peas ladled over cornbread.

Stuff About ZeroBear PolyBear said...

Thanks guys.

Robert W Neill Jr, Land Broker said...

That looks really good

Anonymous said...

This is wonderful! We need good positive things to read and enlighten us! Keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

Good stuff, keep the recipes and stories behind them coming, they are good for the heart and soul!

Anonymous said...

As I've gotten older, I love to cook meals for my family and routinely stretch things a little to get them to try new things. As the grandson of a sharecropper, I've heard many stories from my Mom. I'm certain she's familiar with these meals. I can't wait to try it. Thanks for sharing. Good stuff.

Anonymous said...

Frequent and unabashed negative poster here. ZP, it is a sagacious woman who knows that sugar doesn't belong in cornbread, and your grandmother doubtless resides in heaven for that.

Nothing beats stoneground cornmeal for the best cornbread, though. Although man-made, it is how God intended for it to be.

Hang Jiffy mix.

Anonymous said...

Great move! Who got dumped to make room for him, Bill Crawford or Sid Salter?

Anonymous said...

I love cornbread, in fact, I had some in my soup for supper tonight. One of my great disappointments in life was when I got to NYC to go to medical school in1952 and everywhere I went they only had things other than cornmeal! I look forward to some more good recipes. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

That looks good! Reminds me of my grandmother from Shaw, MS. I’m gonna make some this weekend!

Anonymous said...

Not trolling: is there a way to modify the recipe to duplicate the corn bread from Cock of the Walk.

Anonymous said...

Really enjoyed this!

Anonymous said...

@912, Cock of the Walk uses yellow cornmeal but you can add a handful of kernel corn, shredded cheddar, and diced jalapeños to get close to theirs. I think they also add grease/oil if some sort to their batter.

Anonymous said...

9:12 - Hold still while I womp you on the head with a small, cast-iron skillet!

Kay Jerome said...

That last picture about killed me.

I don’t measure but I add buttermilk until the batter looks like yours.
I was at a funeral when I was 18. A great-uncle asked me if I cooked. Yes, I did. Cornbread? Yes, I’m trying. He told me to put some oil in the skillet and put it in the oven when I turned it on. Big breakthrough.

Thank you for the stories, too. They are lovely and important.

Kay Jerome said...

That last picture about killed me.

I don’t measure but I add buttermilk until the batter looks like yours.
I was at a funeral when I was 18. A great-uncle asked me if I cooked. Yes, I did. Cornbread? Yes, I’m trying. He told me to put some oil in the skillet and put it in the oven when I turned it on. Big breakthrough.

Thank you for the stories, too. They are lovely and important.

Anonymous said...

Great idea. Thanks to you both.

Anonymous said...

Cornbread is made with cornmeal. Cake is made with flour. If you use flour in your recipe, you are making cake and you probably have yankee blood in your veins. It says so in the bible.

Kingfish said...

Just got his post for next week. It's a good one.

Anonymous said...

4:08 I see what you did there... but at 4:08 AM?

And hahaha's @ 10:53

Anonymous said...

Frequent and unabashed negative poster here.

Thanks for your loyalty and helping to pay the bills.

Anonymous said...

10:53am
Two departures from recipe: I never use flour, only corn meal as freshly ground as possible. Stone ground is great, as previous commenter opined. I add an egg for protein and yogurt since I keep plain yogurt on hand, not buttermilk, either of which will react with the soda for rising/leavening.

BTW, 'Spoon Bread', made from boiled corn meal, butter plus whipped eggs added after the boiled corn meal cools, then baked, is delicious, souffle'-like, and not raspy like skillet corn bread, which can over-brown at bottom and edges.

Anonymous said...

Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence portrayed 1930’s era prisoners at MS State Penitentiary in the movie “Life”. At breakfast, a huge, menacing and hungry inmate asked Lawrence “YOU GONNA EAT YOUR CORNBREAD?” It shows what an integral part of Southern subsistence cornbread was.

Anonymous said...

You want yo’ cawwwwnnn bread? Ain’t NOBODY gone got my cawn bread! Go gitcha own damn cawn bread! You gotta love Eddie Murphy.

Stuff About ZeroBear PolyBear said...

9:12 PM It has been a long time since we went to Cock of the Walk. I am a Jerry's fan, so we drive in that direction when we are going out for catfish.

If I were trying to match Cock of the Walk I would probably switch the corn meal to Yellow and drop the flour. To that I would add chopped onion, jalapeno peppers and green bell pepper. If it has whole lernal corn, I would add some of that. and I'd add a little shredded cheddar cheese. Then butter milk. If you like it spicy hot, use pickled jalapenos and add a little juice. If using fresh jalapenos remember the seeds and white membrane are hotter than the green part and you can use them to adjust the heat.

Some time later, I'll post a legitimate Jalapeno Cornbread recipe with photos - I have them, except mine uses white cormeal.

I do like Cock of the Walk's Greens and Jerry's doesn't serve them.

Anonymous said...

@ 1:12 said, "Thanks for your loyalty and helping to pay the bills."

You're welcome. And I am not at all surprised you neglected to thank me for my brutal honesty.

Anonymous said...

When I have a can, I like to open some hominy and let it drain and sit until it's nearly dry. I heat it and the oil on the stovetop until it's just starting to explode out the skillet, then pour the batter in. Deliciousness ensues.

Stuff About ZeroBear PolyBear said...

6:53 - We love Hominy too - usually the white Hominy. We make a taco soup that uses it. Maybe six months from now, I'll get around to that recipe. So much to cover. The lye they use to dissolve the corn husk creates part of the flvors of Mexican (TexMex) food I really like.

Anonymous said...

I do what my mama did. Preheat a cast iron skillet in the oven and pour the cornbread batter in it to bake. It sizzles and makes the best browned crust. Sugar and white flour do not belong in cornbread. Stone ground yellow cornmeal is best. If you want genuine, old-fashioned cornbread, add some pork cracklin's to the batter.

Anonymous said...

some of y'all ain't got much cornbread in your cornbread.

Kay Jerome said...

For those above who use stone-ground, Sciple’s Mill, DeKalb, Ms, grinds local corn. Search to get the hours. Beautiful place to visit plus gospel and country music two a Saturday nights a month.

Stuff About ZeroBear PolyBear said...

Kay - We once lived in Meridian and I have shopped at Sciple Mill many times. They are the oldest Water powered mill in continous operation in the USA, going back to 1790. That's pretty old. I have sciples Stone gtound corn meal, fish fry, and grits in my freezer right now and close to 100 photos. Maybe I'll do a photo post soon.

They are great people and you can buy their product at many stores around that part of the state. They will also sell to you by mail order. Another gem there is the Water Mill Oprey.

Anonymous said...

Way to go, PolyBear! I appreciate this.

My pants however, may never forgive you.

MBrookes said...

L love the recipe idea, and the cornbread sounds just right, although I do use only a large pinch of flour. One suggestion: Please don't make the writing so little. Some of your followers are old people and that little tiny writing is too hard to read.



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