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This is one of our favorite comfort-food meals. It's also very good with ground beef if that's what you have on hand. To the filling, I add a can of chopped green chilies for flavor, and some salsa; the filling really does need moistness for contrast with the cornbread. However, that also means that the layer of cornbread batter on top can't be too thick, or the layer next to the filling will still be batter-y. Therefore, I spread a thin layer of cornbread batter in the bottom of the pan, bake it until golden, then spread the filling on top, and finish with the rest of the cornbread batter.

I've been making yogurt for 15 years, usually a gallon at a time. I wish I had a site to link to so I could give more complete instructions and information. I use Braum's milk (chain in central south states), so I don't know how other brands of milk work. I used to buy unpasteurized milk from a local dairy, and it worked fine. I use a picnic cooler for the culturing period, and Brown Cow yogurt (I like their flavor better than others, but I haven't tried Fage). You want a good yogurt that contains several different types of bacteria, because each one inhabits a different part of your intestines. You have to have an accurate thermometer and know how to check the accuracy at your elevation -- cheap ones can vary by as much as 15 or 20 degrees.

You have to heat the milk to at least 180-185 degrees to kill harmful bacteria, and this also helps the finished yogurt be thicker. If you want it even thicker, you can heat it to 200 -- this changes the proteins, someone told me. However, after 185 or so, it will scorch easily if you don't stir frequently. Two other things will yield thicker yogurt: adding 1/4 cup of powdered milk per quart of milk, and dissolving an envelope of plain gelatin in 1/2 cup of milk, then stirring that into the milk just before culturing (after the milk has been heated and cooled to 125).

Cool the milk back down to about 120 to 125, whisk in about 2 Tbsp. of yogurt per quart of milk, and pour into containers (I use Rubbermaid canisters). Put in a picnic cooler, add hot water from the faucet until it almost reaches the top of the cooler (our water is about 125 degrees -- if yours is hotter, cool it down a bit), and close the lid. Now let it culture. The longer it cultures, the thicker the yogurt will get, but the tarter it will become. As the yogurt bacteria digests the sugars in the milk, a by-product is lactic acid, which is what makes it tart. I culture mine for 4 hours and 45 minutes because I don't like it too tart any more. I used to culture it for 6 hours.

After it's finished culturing, I dump it in a big bowl and whisk in 1/3 cup of REAL maple syrup (not Log Cabin or other pancake syrup) and 1 tablespoon of real vanilla extract per quart of yogurt. I pour it into individual size containers (I like Ball freezer jars with twist-on lids), and refrigerate. If you want to, you can add some cooked strawberry or raspberry topping before refrigerating. I eat the vanilla yogurt with fresh fruit and granola, or simply sliced almonds or chopped pecans. I sometimes stir in some coconut flavoring and flaked coconut for coconut yogurt. Also, sometimes I freeze the vanilla yogurt in an ice cream freezer with some added maple syrup and honey and a little bit of pureed fruit to make frozen yogurt.

You have to stir the flavorings in before you refrigerate it -- stirring flavorings in after it has been refrigerated & thickened will make it soupier. You have to add the maple syrup after culturing; if you add it before, the yogurt bacteria will digest some of the sugars, and the yogurt won't be as good.

The quality and type of whole wheat flour makes a HUGE difference in the final results. The whole wheat flour sold in most grocery stores is rancid junk. As soon as wheat is milled into flour, the small amount of fat in it starts deteriorating. When it becomes rancid, it makes it taste yucky. I went "radical" enough to buy my own electric mill almost 20 years ago, but I know that some good health food stores have mills in their store, or at least sell flour in their refrigerated cases that is better than the grocery store stuff.

Also, the other factor that makes the biggest difference is the type of wheat. First, there's hard wheat and soft wheat. Hard wheat has a high protein content and that's what you need to make yeasted breads. However, if you use high-protein flour in other baked goods, it will make them heavy and tough. Soft wheat with a low protein content yields pastry flour, and that's what I use for cookies, cakes, muffins, pancakes, waffles, biscuits, etc. Using some oat flour or other things can help lighten the results even more. Second, within the category of hard wheat, there are different types -- red wheat, like Bronze Chief, will yield the strongest flavor that most people associate with being the flavor of whole wheat. If I had to use this kind of flour, I wouldn't. On the other hand, so-called "white" wheat like Golden 86 or Prairie Gold. It's not actually white, but it makes yeasted baked goods that are much lighter in texture, flavor, and color, and this is the kind that I prefer. It makes delicious breads, cinnamon rolls, pockets for savory fillings, etc.

My favorite source of wheat and flour is Wheat Montana Farms, although there are other good sources. They might be able to direct you to a local source of their products. If you can find a local co-op buying club that orders from them, that could be another source. There are also some people who have home businesses selling Bosch mixers, wheat mills, and other cooking tools and supplies, and some of them sell wheat and other grains.

How do you slice the rolls? The best way is using a piece of thread, or I think some people use dental floss but mine is mint-flavored. Anyway, thread works much better than a knife. You pull the thread taut, slide it under the long roll of dough, bring the ends to the opposite direction as if you're going to tie a knot, and pull. Then transfer the roll with your bench scraper or spatula.