Fresh Baked Corn Bread

Fresh Baked Southern Style Corn Bread

    I love corn bread.  My second mom used to bake it in a cast iron pan, she said it was Southern Style baked that way and that is the way I love it.  Of course the real Southern style is baked with bacon drippings.  And of course I love it that way.  My mom did use bacon drippings.  

    Corn bread is great with soups and stews in the cold winter months.  I love it cold with milk or just cold topped with butter and jam.  I love to make corn bread dressing with left over corn bread, but that does not happen often.  

    The cast iron skillet is the best way to cook corn bread.  The reason is the cast iron gets really hot and with the bacon drippings or butter it developes a great crust on the outside.  So good.  

    Another great way to make the corn bread really really great is to use fresh ground popcorn kernels for the flour.  I take the popcorn and grind it in my electric grinder and that is what I use for the corn flour.  I have found that for the white flour I will use amaranth or fresh ground barley flour.  It really makes the corn bread really wonderful and healthy.  

    The popcorn flour adds a really great texture to the bread and it really adds to the flavor.  It is deeper and did you know that popcorn flour is 25% less starchy compared next to regular corn flour.  Corn bread bakes quickly and is easy to make.  

    Recently, as I do once in a while,  I let my guard down and bought a bag Marie's Galendar's corn bread mix.  It was terrible.  My family would not even eat it.  It really is not even corn bread.  It's like a cake mix with some corn flour, and have you read the ingredients on the package.  Amazing that we eat products like that.  

    I have found that most packaged products we can make better and cheaper with natural ingredients and in less or the same amount of time.  So throw out the packaged stuff and get out your grinder.  If you don't have a grinder, go to www.chefbrad.com and order one.   

OLD FASHION CORNBREAD
Old fashioned cornbread baked in a cast iron skillett is the best, especially when you add bacon drippings.  

2 cup popcorn fresh ground
2 1/3 cup milk
2 cups Chef Brad’s Wonder flour or 2 cups fresh ground amaranth flour
¾ cup sugar or ½ cup Xagave
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
½  cup canola oil
2 tablespoons baking powder, Rumfords
2 tablepsoons butter or bacon drippings for baking.

Mix all ingredients in Bosch mixing bowl for 2 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place cast iron skillet in oven with 2 tablespoons bacon drippings or butter.  When skillet is very hot pour in batter.  Place back in oven and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until done.  Done is when a knife comes out clean when inserted into the center of the bread.  


Enjoy the Recipe.  Chef Brad~America's Grain Guy