Homegrown Countrygirl's #6 Skillet Cornbread

While the whole rest of the food blogging world is posting romantic Valentine's Day recipes and menus to woo your lover, I'm going to do something different. I'm going to blog about something I love... something I'm passionate about...
Cornbread!

Hey, I'm not the only one! I've noticed that others are passionate about cornbread, too.People are serious about their cornbread! Need an example? Give a Southerner a piece of sweet cornbread made with sugar and see what happens. Or give a Yankee a piece of crumbly cornbread made with only cornmeal and no flour and ask what they think of it. Chances are you'll strike out in both cases.

So. Here's my favorite cornbread. This my recipe, and how I like it.

Maybe you'll like it, too...

I make this recipe in my #6 cast iron skillet which measures 9 inches across the top. And I use cornmeal that I grind from homegrown field corn... I'll show you that process... someday.

For now, let's just talk about the cornbread!

First, put some lard or bacon grease in an iron skillet and place skillet in oven. Turn oven on and start preheating to 450 degrees.While lard is melting, whisk together some cornmeal, flour, salt, and baking soda.In another bowl, measure out some buttermilk and add a couple of eggs. Whisk this mixture together, too..Your lard should be melted by now. Carefully remove that skillet from the oven and pour all but about 1 tablespoon of the lard into a small cup. Place skillet (with remaining tablespoon of lard in it) back into the oven.

Let the removed lard in the small cup cool slightly. Then add it to your buttermilk and eggs and whisk againPour buttermilk mixture into dry mixture, blend together with whisk (mixture will loose enough to stir with a wire whisk).

Remove hot skillet from oven again and pour batter into skillet. It will sizzle as you pour it in.Return to oven and bake until done... it won't take long, only about 12-15 minutes.

Here's a piece I slathered with butter and honey... it just seemed like a good idea (and it was)...HOMEGROWN COUNTRYGIRL'S #6 SKILLET CORNBREAD

4 tablespoons lard (or bacon grease)
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs

Place 4 tablespoons lard in 9 inch iron skillet and place skillet in oven. Turn oven on to 450 degrees. Combine cornmeal, flour, salt, and baking soda in a bowl and whisk together to blend. In another bowl combine 1 cup buttermilk and 2 eggs. Whisk together. Remove skillet from oven and pour 3 tablespoons of lard into a small cup. Leave remaining 1 tablespoon lard in skillet and return skillet to oven. When lard in cup has cooled enough to add it to the buttermilk mixture, add it to the mixture and whisk again to combine. Pour buttermilk mixture into cornmeal mixture, whisking with wire whisk to blend. Remove skillet from oven. Pour mixture into skillet. It will sizzle when you pour it in. Return skillet to oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden on top and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Fried Green Tomatoes with Fresh Buttermilk Dressing

Tangy, soft, and almost sweet on the inside. Crispy, crunchy, and salty on the outside.

Addictive.

If you've ever eaten fried green tomatoes before, you know what I mean.

Once you've thought about these you can't stop thinking about them until the moment when you can finally put one in your mouth.

I like to dip fried green tomatoes in cool fresh buttermilk dressing and eat them while they're still almost too hot to eat... while I'm standing at the stove frying some more of them to stuff into my mouth.

Patience and restraint are not my strong virtues. But if standing in front of a skillet licking grease off my fingers can be considered a virtue, I might be redeemed. Because I can do that.

FRIED GREEN TOMATOES

Green tomatoes, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
Beaten egg
Flour
Finely crushed saltine crackers
Salt & pepper
Bacon grease
Vegetable oil (optional)

Put the beaten egg, flour, and crushed saltine crackers in 3 separate bowls. Add a bit of salt and pepper to the saltine crackers. I use about 1/2 teaspoon of each to 1 cup of crushed saltines. (I realize that saltines already have salt in them but I like a bit more.)

Melt bacon grease (with a bit of vegetable oil, optional, or use only vegetable oil, but if you do that, don't say you got the recipe from me.. no one will believe you) in a skillet and heat until it's hot enough for frying. You'll want the hot oil to be about 1/4 inch deep.

One by one dip each tomato slice in the beaten egg, then dredge in flour, dip in beaten egg again, and then push down into bowl of crushed saltine crackers so that each tomato slice is covered well in crumbs.

Place in skillet and fry for a few minutes on each side, until gently browned. Remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain excess grease.

Serve hot with Fresh Buttermilk Dressing!

FRESH BUTTERMILK DRESSING

1/3 cup mayonnaise (use a commercial brand or make your own)
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves, very finely chopped (this is equal to about 1/4 cup of slightly packed fresh leaves, before chopping)
1 tablespoon fresh chives, snipped into tiny flecks with kitchen scissors
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, rubbed off the stem
Salt & pepper to taste (I use about 1/4 teaspoon of each)
A pinch of garlic powder
A pinch of white pepper

Mix everything together with a fork and chill until ready to use.

Tortillas

Flour, grease, salt, and water are all you need to make these soft, chewy, easy tortillas.

Spend a few minutes to mix your ingredients and form the dough into balls. Cover with a damp cloth and let them sit for several hours or overnight. After they have rested roll them out and cook them, one at a time, on a dry iron skillet.

Now comes the hard part. You have to ignore everything you've ever learned about putting something warm into a plastic bag. If you are not using them right away, put them into a plastic bag while they are still warm. They will stay soft for a few days if you do this.

TORTILLAS

Whisk together 2 1/2 cups flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Cut in 1/4 cup bacon grease until mixture looks like coarse crumbs.

Pour in 3/4 cup boiling water and mix together. Form into 1 1/2" diameter balls. This recipe makes 8-10 tortillas that easily fit in a 9" or 10" iron skillet.

Place the formed balls of dough on a plate, cover with a damp cloth, and let sit at room temperature for 2-8 hours. The longer these rest the easier they are to roll out and they make softer tortillas.

When ready to cook, roll them out to 1/8" thickness on a lightly floured surface and cook, one at a time, on a hot dry iron skillet. Cook each side for just a minute or less. Let them get a few warm brown spots. They puff up while cooking and then flatten again when removed. Let each tortilla cool briefly, but put it into a plastic bag while it is still slightly warm. The tortillas can be placed right on top of each other in the same resealable plastic bag.

When the bag has cooled to room temperature place it in the refrigerator until ready to use.

To make whole wheat tortillas replace a portion of the all purpose white flour with wheat. Wheat tortillas have a nice nutty wheat taste but they do not keep well like tortillas made with 100% all purpose flour.

Monster Cookies

Meet the Monsters.
Normally quite monstrous, they will do anything for one of these tasty cookies.

If you make these cookies you can get your own Monsters to do anything you want, too.Here's what you do:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Whisk together the following dry ingredients and then set them aside:

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch cinnamon or dried parsley (optional)

Melt 1/3 to 1/2 cup of lard, grease, or shortening. I like to use bacon grease for these.

Add lukewarm water to grease to make it all equal 1 full cup.

Pour into a small bowl. Let grease and water cool enough to add an egg. Then whisk in 1 egg.

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir.

Roll or press out to about 1/4 inch thickness on a floured surface.

Cut into big or small pieces, depending on the size of your monster.

Place on an ungreased baking sheet. (These can be placed close together and then broken apart easily later if they connect while baking.)

Bake for 30 minutes.

Turn oven off and leave cookies in oven overnight.

These cookies will keep for several weeks in an airtight container. (But they won't last that long.)

I know that these are tasty enough. I'll tell you a secret... I've tried them myself.

One time I even fed one to my brother in law. (Shhhh. Don't tell!)