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The Thing About Cornbread. Or is it Corn Bread?

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A Blogger's Burden


Fresh from my oven: Southern cornbread in cast iron skillet
The major burden of having a blog is that the blogger actually needs to blog something from time to time.   Good intentions don't cut it.  Postings have to be posted. Today I  realized that my one, and only, post on Berkshire Pundit was more than three months ago.  Learning to do this correctly means learning to look everywhere for inspiration, then actually doing it.

What does that have to do with cornbread?  

One of my Facebook pals posted a photo of cornbread in a cast iron skillet and commented about fond childhood memories of cornbread and brown beans.  It's a Southern thing. Much of Texan and  New Mexican cuisine is heavily influenced by southern cooking. My own grandparents came to New Mexico through Texas by way of Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, as did many others. 

Coincidentally,  I had prepared a beans and cornbread meal a few days prior and commented about it on FB including a reference to my ongoing crusade to educate my fellow Massachusetts and neighboring New York neighbors on what I consider to be actual Southern/Southwestern style cornbread.   I find most local offerings of  "Southern style" cornbread to be dreadful.   The comment, inexplicably (to me, anyway) disappeared from Facebook.  Now I have inspiration for a rant ......  I mean "blog post."

Cornbread or Corn Muffins in a Pan?

My experience with locally served cornbread is usually dreadful. What is offered is often indistinguishable from corn muffins. They are loaded with both sugar and flour instead of being made primarily from corn and are baked at a temperature that does not produce a good crunchy crust.  This post is getting a bit long.  I'll include my favorite (superior!!) cornbread recipe in a later blog post.

 BTW: I found my original FB response:

I have been successfully (sometimes) educating my fellow Massachusetts residents (Some say Massholes - a moniker we proudly wear) on the difference between REAL southern-southwestern cornbread and the sweet corn-muffin-disguised-as-cornbread concoction often served here.
Rule # 1: NO Sugar,
Rule # 2: NO Flour.
Rule # 3: Buttermilk.
Just made a batch of Beans and Corn bread (the good kind) Monday. Delicious.


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