Simply Cornbread
As a child, every year a few days before Thanksgiving we had a Simple Meal. The meal was meant to replicate the humble nature of the first Thanksgiving, and—in a world where there is so much hunger—remind us of all we have to be grateful for. It consisted of bowls of homemade chicken soup with rice, carrots, and celery; cups of fresh New England apple cider; and my favorite: crumbly squares of warm cornbread with fat pats of butter melting on their tops.
To this day, cornbread is one of the things I look forward to most at Thanksgiving.
Tucked away in a basket at the end of the table, cornbread may lack the show-stopping nature of the turkey and the desserts, but to me, it’s the one food that truly embodies the spirit of the holiday. Homey, straightforward, and honest, cornbread is comfort food at its best. Each November I bake up a batch, and as the toasty aroma fills my kitchen, I reflect on all those Simple Meals I ate as a child.
This year, inspired by one of my favorite cookbooks, The Cornbread Book: A Love Story with Recipes
Enjoy, and please share your own cornbread recipes, add-ins, and renditions!
Photograph from jeff_w_brooktree on Flickr
About the author: Lucy Baker is a graduate student in the writing program at Sarah Lawrence College. Before returning to school to pursue an MFA, she was an assistant cookbook editor at HarperCollins. She lives in Brooklyn and is currently obsessed with all things fennel.
Maple-Walnut Cornbread
- makes 9 pieces -
Ingredients
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
5 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon maple flavoring (optional)
1 cup milk
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup chopped, toasted walnuts
Procedure
1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray an 8x8 or 9x9-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Sift the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
3. In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg with the maple syrup and maple flavoring (if using).
4. Add the milk, the oil, and the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until everything is combined (mixture will be slightly lumpy). Fold in the walnuts.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for about 25 minutes, until the cornbread is browned slightly at the edges and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
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8 Comments:
I tend to get annoyed when people say that their regional variation of whatever food is the best, but when it comes to cornbread, I just have to insist that NO SUGAR (and that includes maple syrup) is the only way to go. I grew up in Northwest TN and we had cornbread from a black iron skillet with dinner almost every night. I'm not saying that sweetened cornbread tastes bad, it just tastes like cake. And cake isn't good crumbled on top of purple hull peas with a spoonful of Gran's tomato relish.
justlikekatie at 3:55PM on 11/15/07
But you're talking about Southern cornbread; this is New England cornbread, which has just as venerable a history but is a different animal.
maggiesara at 5:07PM on 11/15/07
justlikekatie -
My mother is from the Knoxville area - the recipe her side of the family always uses (which has been passed on to us) is probably the same as yours - no sugar! Also, though I've used a glass baking dish in the past, I always use the cast iron skillet I was give several years ago.
stratusgd at 5:12PM on 11/15/07
That cornbread looks delicious but would never fly with my family. We're as southern as they come and they'd string you up by your toes for putting nuts and sweetener in cornbread. I actually enjoy the occasional sweet corn muffin but that's a deep dark secret. :o)
elderberry44 at 6:56PM on 11/16/07
Sugar in cornbread is heresy, a cast iron skillet necessity. It bugs me that non-southerners think anything southern food-wise is always sweet. (from Virginia; mother and father from Georgia)
Lilla at 1:18PM on 11/19/07
Oh-my-goodness! With respect to all the previous posters who sound like tradition-filled folks who love their corn muffins, I must say that adding walnuts(great Omega-3 fats) and maple syrup(not 'table' syrup) to a fluffy, warm, fresh-out-of the-oven-tasty corn muffin sounds like a muffin from heaven!
s30684 at 1:09PM on 11/15/08
With playful disregard towards the SCT's many comments listed above, I say, in the words of my Funkle,"Lighten up, Frances." It's just , "cornbread." Eye of the beholder in all.
PommeDG at 5:26PM on 11/15/08
The Maple Walnut Cornbread sounds great. It would go nicely with a free D'Artagnan turkey!
barrygreenberg at 9:41AM on 11/18/08