I've never seen cornmeal, though I am going to check tonight. I was going to use polenta. If I used buttermilk would that make it worth making? I'll buy it if I can find it, but authentic southern ingredients don't have a very high demand round here :(

"Authentic Southern Ingredients" include exotic things like Lard and Fatback.

Buster is the one who should be guiding you here. I'm a Yankee.

Cornbread is pretty straightforward.

And yes, go with the buttermilk.

Their ain't no Bacon fat in that , it CAN'T BE REAL !!!!!!

Oh and when you Do find some bacon fat and buttermilk also find a black iron skillet , heat your stove and light a burner on top,
after you mix up the corn bread mix ,
put the black iron skillet on the burner and melt the bacon greese ,
spread it around and THEN pour your mix in to the skillet ,
then into the oven and ENJOY !!!!
What this will do is cause a bottom layer that WILL seperate from the pan that tastes YUMMMMMMMMMY !!!!!! All crunchy and baconey tasteing !!!!!!

But either use the yoghurt (um, authentic to the modern South ;) ) or sour a half liter of plain milk with 30ml (two tablespoons) of either lemon juice or white vinegar -- this halves easily, think a tablespoon to a cup and let it stand five minutes before using. You can also simply stir some yoghurt into milk, 1:1. What you're trying for is milk + acidic zing. Makes the baking soda really go to work.

There are two basic kinds of American cornbread: Southern, which is simply a starch food and unsweetened, and Northern, which prefers to make cornbread sweet, though not as sweet as cake, which it otherwise rather resembles. What's the difference? Adding sugar. Whichever is eaten isn't, I think, rigidly observed by region, but professional Southerners (like professional Texans, but they sound a little different, as each Southern state has its own variation on the southern accent) will likely acknowledge that unsweetened cornpone is the traditional variety in their neck of the woods.

Oh, and frying polenta or cornbread, a/k/a cornpone, in bacon fat IS authentically Southern -- though it's the sort of thing you'd do before going out and plowing the bottom forty acres, the kind of thing Goodman John would have eaten a Ploughman's Lunch to fuel up for. Oldfashioned, that is.

Those chili peppers are optional, for a spiced cornbread. If you go with the chilis, you might consider grating some cheddar cheese on top.

The modern South is not "The South." As in "The South will Rise Again" South.

The modern South is a bunch of damnYankees relocated to Research Triangle Park, North Carolina and to the high tech corridor of Georgia to work computer and electronics jobs that just never went back North after the dot com bust.

I found both buttermilk AND cornmeal! From the packaging & location in the supermarket I assume both are used in Carribean cookery. So if my experiment goes well I can make it as many times as I like.

Thanks for the advice - I won't be taking the bacon or cheese advice for the moment as I'm trying to make a low fat version. Once I've lost some pounds - and perfected basic cornbread - I may become more adventurous.

I should stay out of this, because I use self rising meal and flour most. UG is correct about making sour milk in post above. The hot pan thing above is good also. Zippy. If you let pan cool a little after oven, it won't stick as much. I cook mine in a cast iron skillet and how much,what I put in mix depends on size of skillet. Some put oil, grease in mix. I use a TB spoon of bacon grease in hot pan, swirl around to grease pan and dump in mix. Sometimes I use no flour or maybe 3 TBs to a cup of meal. Also I cook nothing in my bread skillets but bread.
Son brought me a bag of the asskickin mix before X-mas. Wow! Just be careful of the package of pepper, it's like dust. Here's a little read on baking soda, powder. http://users.rcn.com/sue.interport/food/bakgsoda.html

I can't get the Ass Kickin mix over here any more - no UK sites seem to sell it & the US sites won't ship to the UK. Hence falling back on making my own.

Am I right in thinking a skillet is like a frying pan? I was going to cook mine in a ceramic overproof dish.

You're better off with a sheet cake pan of the dimensions stated on your recipe.

Skillet = frying pan. I concur with Wolf on using the cake tin or loaf pan, but I'd be hard pressed to describe any difference of results from putting a frying pan or a cake pan into the oven to bake this recipe.

ceramic overproof dish. It'll work if not too deep.

BB I have NEVER personaly cooked any corn bread , but i have seen it done , the best tasting used the bacon fat in the skillet , I just assumed it also helped it not stick , but well ,hell what do I know !!!

Right, but letting in cool for just a minute or so before trying to dump from pan will help.

Ass Kickin Chili
 

I fixed the Ass kickin chili today for dinner, supper and a few more meals. I didn’t use all the Habanero pepper; hey someone else might like to try it.
I took a chuck roast, trimmed and cubed it. Then to freezer for a few minutes, ran it thru food processor. Think I might have trimmed too much fat off. Guess I’m use to the store ground crap. I also add some ground Chipotle pepper, more chili powder, which I think might have been too old. More black pepper and cumin.
I truly think it needed more fat. Anyway I wouldn’t have paid for the mix. It was a X-mas present. The ass-kickin cornbread was good. BTW I’m working on a knockoff of it. Got the dried bell pepper today. :worried:

Peanut Butter Cookies - No Flour
 

3/4 c granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c peanut butter
1 tsp baking soda


Heat oven 350 degrees. ( calls for parchement paper on baking sheet but I didn't use any)
Mix sugar, egg,vanilla with mixer for 3 minutes on low.
Mix on medium until dough comes together, about 30 seconds.
Place 2-teaspoon balls one inch apart on baking sheet. Press down with fork or make indent with thumb and fill with jam. 1/2 tsp.
Bake until lightly brown. 12 to 14 min.


These are really really yummy!