Corn Bread

I rang my mother in law. This was my fourth attempt at cornbread and this was the best yet, but no cigar, not even close. I have actually never met my mother in law, face to face. We talk on the phone often, but she was going through chemotherapy when we got married and couldn't make it to the wedding. The first time I ever spoke to her on the telephone she said, "Well hey angel, how you doing?" She is very, very kind and very funny. When James is on the phone to her, he is always laughing, and I mean howling. How could you not love a woman like that?

So I rang her about five minutes ago and said to her, "Yvonne, what do you do with your cornbread?" "Ooh baby girl, James (her husband), he don't like real corn bread, he like the packet stuff, that Jiffy, me, I like to operate on my cornbread. I put egg, cornmeal, a little flour but I put that with my egg, half a teaspoon of sugar, and then I love salt, so a teaspoon of salt. You mix it up good and keep tasting, when it tastes good you stop. Put the fat or grease in the skillet and put it in the oven. You wanna get it real hot, so you hear the thing popping, then you take it out and stir your batter in, then you put it back in the oven until it's golden brown. Did I tell you baking powder, baking powder you need that, you need it to rise. And milk."

So then I told her about my cornbread recipe, which I've adapted after three failed attempts. It's got a lot more sugar and honey than my mother in laws. And her response - "ooh your father in law would like that one. I don't know why I'm the one with diabetes, that man puts a teaspoon of sugar, a small envelope of fake sugar and a tablespoon of honey in his coffee. I tell that crazy man, all that sugar is going to kill him."

She promises to show me when we go to Chicago in a month to meet all of James' family. I am happy to meet anyone but I am so excited to meet his Mum. Because she never measures anything, I asked her were any of the recipes written down. And she said no, everyone always just tells each other. I promise to share the recipe. But for now, here's an okay, kind of cornbread.

Just quickly for those of you in Australia, cornmeal, is bought as polenta down under or ground maize. Over here in the States, they know polenta only as the dish, not as an ingredient.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

2 cups cornmeal (polenta)
2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon salt
2 extra large eggs
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
3 tablespoons honey

Heat a 10 inch cast iron skillet over high heat for about one minute. Add 8 tablespoons of butter (for those of you in the States, that's one stick) and cook for 4 to 5 minutes until the butter browns. You don't want it burnt. It will have a fabulous nutty smell. Take it off the heat.

Combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl. Mix well. Create a hole in the center, like a well and pour in your combined, eggs, buttermilk and honey. Mix it gently, fold in the nut brown butter.


Add another two tablespoons of butter when that foams, add your batter into the pan. Transfer the pan to the oven and cook for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown and set.

I served the cornbread with sauteed shrimp (prawns) in butter, pepper and lemon juice with a tomato and basil sauce and a dollop of creme fraiche.