This is pretty much the best skillet cornbread I’ve ever made, or eaten! You know that chalky feeling cornbread usually leaves on your teeth...this doesn't!
12 ounces stone-ground cornmeal
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
10 ounces low-fat buttermilk
2 large eggs
8 ounces creamed corn (homemade strongly recommended)
2 tablespoons corn or vegetable oil
Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Place a 10-inch cast-iron skillet in the middle of the center rack.
Whisk the dry ingredients together in a small mixing bowl.
Whisk all the wet ingredients together in a larger bowl, using only 1 cup of the buttermilk. ( Don't include the oil. Although it’s a liquid, it isn’t actually wet.)
Add the wet to the dry and whisk to combine. If the batter seems a little dry, add a bit more buttermilk.
Pour the oil into the hot skillet and swirl (carefully) to coat. Pour in the batter and jiggle the pan to evenly distribute. Bake for 20 minutes or until the bread is golden brown and springs back when touched, about 20 minutes. (An instant-read thermometer should read the center at 200 to 205 degrees F.)
Remove from oven and let cool for several minutes. Place an inverted dinner place on top of the bread and flip it out of the skillet.
Serve with butter.
Stone-ground” means slowly ground and that means low heat and that means preserved flavor. It also means coarse, and that supplies a texture to this bread, which is satisfying enough to serve as a main course.
Creamed Corn
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 medium onion (about 4 ounces onion, diced fine)
2 pinches kosher salt
1 sprig rosemary (bruised (this is, crushed roughly between your hands)*)
8 ears fresh corn (about 3 pounds total)
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric (to up the yellow a bit)
2 tablespoons stone-ground cornmeal
1 cup heavy cream (it is called "creamed corn" ya know)
1 pinch black pepper (freshly ground)
Put the butter in a 3-quart saucier and melt over medium heat. Add the onion, salt and rosemary and sweat until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, place a paper bowl upside down in the middle of a large mixing bowl. If you have an old-fashioned corn on the cob holder, insert one in the skinny end and place the ear vertically on the small bowl and using a chef’s knife, cut off the kernels. (See Post-it.) When all the kernels have been removed, turn the knife around and use the spine of the blade to carefully scrape out any remaining pulp.
Add the corn, sugar and turmeric to the saucier and cook over medium-high heat until the liquid from the corn thickens a bit, about 2 minutes.
Sprinkle the cornmeal onto the corn mixture and stir to combine.
Add the cream, reduce the heat to medium and cook until the corn is very soft, 2 to 3 minutes.
Remove the rosemary, season with pepper. Rosemary is great to pair with corn. The resinous, evergreen flavor (not to mention aroma) balances the sweet, grassiness of the corn.
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