Cornbread recipes

The best cornbread recipes are often older than dirt and passed down from generation to generation.

That's the general sentiment from numerous folks who sent in their recipes after a recent column on the traditional Southern cuisine.

Dixie Spivey of Belmont, for example, sent in a fried corncakes recipe which her late mother-in-law cooked for 60 years.

"The corncakes are delicious with a good Southern meal of sautéed collard greens, pinto beans and a choice of meat," Spivey wrote to us in an e-mail.

Mayonnaise is one of the many add-ins readers use to make their cornbreads moist, as Mildred Wilson of Shelby contributed a "Good Simple Cornbread" recipe with mayo as one of only three ingredients needed. There are "Favorite Cornbread" and "Best-Ever Cornbread" recipes, as well as "Creamy Cornbread" and "Cornbread Cheese Squares." One of the most intriguing is "Carrot Cornbread," fashioned after carrot cake and sent in by Elaine Ashley of Shelby. Just reading the recipe makes your mouth water.

Alan Stout of Gastonia, a Tennessee lad, said he grew up in a family of cooks (his dad was a navy cook during World War II). He offered plenty of ways folks could spice up their cornbread recipes, such as adding finely chopped chunks of cured pork skins for cracklin' cornbread, or fried pork rinds and fat back drippings for added flavor.

During the holidays, Stout said in an e-mail, his mother always made a nut-cornbread using black walnuts, hickory nuts, English walnuts or pecans. She would melt butter in the bottom of a well-oiled cast iron skillet, add a cup of brown sugar and scatter two teaspoons of ground cinnamon (or apple pie seasoning) before mixing the chopped nuts to the cornmeal mixture and pouring that on top. (The cornmeal mixture needs to have at least one egg, Stout said.) Once the cornbread is done, it needs to cool for about 10 minutes before turning it out of the skillet.

He also sent along directions for making cornbread journey cakes, which travelers wrapped in cloth, cotton, wool or linen to take with them during Colonial times and can still be wrapped and "taken on a journey" to a neighbor, church outing, reunion or hiking trip today, Stout said.

Simply take any basic cornbread recipe, add a half cup of flour, mix all of the ingredients well and fry in and iron skillet with about a half cup of oil. After the pan is hot but not smoking, use a large serving spoon to ladle the mix into the pan. You should be able to get three or four "journey cakes" into the pan at a time.

When the edges start to turn brown, turn them over and cook until both sides are nicely browned. Drain the journey cakes on paper towels to absorb the extra oil.

So whether you like your cornbread good and simple or like it with lots of different add-ins, there's bound to be a cornbread recipe here for you.

SOUTHERN RECIPE CRACKLIN' CORNBREAD

¼ cup all-purpose flour

1½ cup yellow or white cornmeal

½ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

1 cup sour milk or buttermilk

1 cup Southern Recipe cracklins (crumbled)

1 beaten egg, room temperature

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. (Reduce oven by 25 degrees if using a glass pan.) In a bowl combine flour, cornmeal, baking soda, salt, sour milk or buttermilk. Stir in the cracklins and the egg. Blend thoroughly. Pour batter into a medium-size baking pan (8½ by 4½ inches), greased if not using a nonstick pan. With a rubber spatula, smooth the surface. Bake 30 minutes, until it is well-browned. Yields 8 to 10 servings. Cracklin' Cornbread is best eaten warm. It can be frozen successfully but should be reheated in a 300° oven for 15 minutes before serving.

www.RudolphFoods.com

CARROT CORNBREAD

1 cup self-rising cornmeal

1/2 cup self-rising flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2/3 cup oil

3/4 cup sugar

2 whole eggs

1 1/2 cups grated carrots

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Sift together cornmeal, flour and cinnamon. Add and mix together oil, sugar and eggs. Fold in grated carrots and pecans. Bake in oiled pan for 25 minutes. (A 9-inch wrought iron pan works well.)

Elaine Ashley, Shelby

CORNBREAD CHEESE SQUARES

1 package (81/2 oz) corn muffin mix, mixed to package directions

½ cup Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack cheese - shredded

½ cup frozen corn kernels

¼ diced jalapeños (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease an 8-inch square baking dish with butter/PAM or shortening. Stir cheese, corn and jalapeños into packaged mixed corn muffin batter. Pour batter into baking dish and bake at 400° until golden, 15 to 18 minutes. Makes 6 servings

Shelley Murphy, Gastonia

CREAMY CORNBREAD

2 boxes corn muffin mix

½ cup oil

4 eggs

1 small can cream-style corn

½ tsp. salt

1 pint sour cream

Mix ingredients and bake at 350 degrees in a 9 x 13 pan for 35 to 40 minutes.

Carol Caldwell, Gastonia

HOMEMADE CORNBREAD

2 ½ cups of self-rising cornmeal mix

½ cup of Dukes mayonnaise

1 cup buttermilk

Mix the mayonnaise in the cornmeal and then add enough buttermilk to make everything really moist. Pour mixture into a hot cast iron skillet (10 in.) and bake in a 425 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until there is a nice brown color on top. Take out of the oven and let it set for a few minutes before plating it. Serve with pintos, fresh green beans, cabbage or anything that you like.

Shirley H. Benton

FRIED CORNCAKES

1 cup plain cornmeal

2-3 tablespoons self-rising flour

Water to thicken batter

1/3 cup vegetable oil (approx.) for skillet

Mix cornmeal, flour and water to make a fairly thick batter. Heat cast iron skillet on medium high and add oil. When oil is hot, spoon in a portion of the batter to the size of 2½ "cakes." Turn corncake after bottom is lightly brown. Continue cooking, turning as necessary, until both sides are nicely browned. Drain on paper towels. Add more batter to skillet, and if necessary, add more oil between batches.

Dixie Spivey, Belmont

BEST-EVER CORNBREAD

2 cups self-rising cornmeal

¼ cup sugar

2/3 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 medium onion (chopped)

1 15 oz. can cream-style corn

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup cheddar cheese (shredded)

1 small red bell pepper (chopped and seeded)

2 Tbs. parsley (chopped)

2 jalapeno peppers (seeded and chopped)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Combine cornmeal and sugar in medium bowl. Stir in oil and eggs. Add onions, corn, buttermilk, cheese, bell pepper, parsley and jalapeno peppers and stir to mix well. Pour batter into pan and bake about 1 hour or until brown. Cut into squares. Serves 12 to 15.

Lorraine Dalpiaz, Gastonia

GOOD SIMPLE CORNBREAD

2 cups self-rising cornmeal

¼ cup mayonnaise

Water to thicken batter

Preheat oven to 370 degrees. Mix ingredients well, pour into pan and bake until done. Makes muffins, corn sticks or one large cornbread cake.

Mildred Wilson, Shelby

FAVORITE CORNBREAD

2 sticks margarine, melted

2 cups self-rising cornmeal

2 cups buttermilk

3 eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place a 9-inch skillet in oven while preheating. Mix ingredients and pour into hot skillet. Bake 25 to 30 minutes until nicely browned. Invert onto serving plate and serve hot, in slices, as desired.

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