Corn Bread for Two

Here's my Thanksgiving miracle. After making this recipe a few weeks ago, I misplaced the recipe card -- and could not find it anywhere.  But then, this morning the DH mentions casually that I'd left a couple of recipe cards next to "his" new chair, and bingo, there it was! I'm grateful for many things this Thanksgiving, not least of which is finding this recipe (which I'll make today, if I have the time and oven space).

It is simple cornbread, moist and flavorful, with a lovely texture, especially if you use a coarse grind of cornmeal. This makes way more servings than two, but perhaps it was meant to serve farm hands, or cowboys.

Here's the mis en place except for the butter, which I forgot here, but not in the batter.

The vintage recipe was simply a list of ingredients, but I've written out the method I used below.

Unsure of the pan size (but guided by the "for two") in the title, I used an eight-inch round pan.

The top should be golden brown when done.

The rather cryptic recipe card below.

Corn Bread for Two

Preheat oven to 400F
Grease and flour an 8-inch round or square pan (or equivalent)

1/2 c course ground cornmeal
1/2 c all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
2 T sugar
2 T melted butter
1 egg
1/2 c milk

In a medium bowl, blend dry ingredients together.
Add wet ingredients and combine (but don't over mix!)
Pour into prepared pan.
Bake for about 20 minutes.

Spoon Bread Casserole

We're smack in the middle of baking season (which runs from October through December), a fact I learned on a tour of the Jiffy Factory in Chelsea, Michigan, this summer.  That day, I also learned that my family's treasured recipe for "corn casserole," a staple at Thanksgiving for generations, was in fact created by Jiffy and called Spoon Bread Casserole.  Oh, well. Just don't tell The Guardian, the London paper, which included my recipe last year in a Thanksgiving wrap-up of recipes across America.

And while I generally eschew packaged food, I make an exception for Jiffy. And you will too, once you read about it here.

 It is a tradition, and also very, very easy and universally loved by all who try it. The sour cream eliminate the dryness that is too common in cornbread, and the two types of canned corn add sweetness and texture.

Every year that I make this, I frantically call my cousin Debbie for the recipe, usually on Thanksgiving morning. (Apparently I collect the vintage recipes of other families, but not my own).

The mise en place is below.

Put the batter together.

Pour in a baking dish.

Bake and enjoy.  This recipe makes a lot -- the casserole is so rich that you can serve rather small pieces.

And if there's any leftovers, your work colleagues will appreciate them.

Below is the recipe direct from Jiffy. I also recommend a tour of the plant, if you're ever in the area. It's quite old fashioned, and rather charming.

Spoon Bread Casserole

(6 - 8 Servings)

1 pkg. "JIFFY" Corn Muffin Mix

·         1/2 cup margarine or butter, melted

·         1 can (8-3/4 oz.) whole kernel corn, drained

·         1 can (8-1/4 oz.) cream style corn

·         1 cup sour cream

·         2 eggs

---

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 1-1/2 quart casserole dish.

Pour margarine or butter and corn into dish. Blend in sour cream. In separate bowl, beat eggs and stir into casserole. Add muffin mix. Blend thoroughly. Bake 35 - 40 minutes or until center is firm.

Southern Spoon Corn Bread

Despite the title of this vintage recipe card, I doubt this is a true southern spoon corn bread. But I have no doubt that it would be a delicious addition to anyone's Thanksgiving table this year.  True spoon bread is to be eaten with a spoon and is more of a souffle than a bread (at least according to the trusty internet).

This corn bread may look like typical corn bread, but it is very, very moist -- not typical at all of traditional corn bread. And despite the fact that it contains no corn, something about its texture fools the palate into thinking otherwise.  It also tastes fairly sweet, surprising since only a small amount of sugar is called for.

So if you want to add something new to your Thanksgiving meal this year (and who doesn't?), let's get started. This couldn't be easier to make.  Add boiling water to cornmeal and let it sit until cool.

Next, add the buttermilk, egg yolks, melted butter and the dry ingredients.

Blend together and then fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.

Pour into a pan.  This is where it gets tricky.  The recipe cards says to use a pan where the batter is less than two inches deep.  Having had my cup batter runneth over recently, I opted for a 9 x 12 pan. My guess is using a smaller pan would result in the corn bread having a more pudding-like texture (and probably require a spoon to eat).

Production notes: I used melted butter for the fat, and supermarket buttermilk for the sour milk. I misread the recipe and used three eggs instead of two, which may have accounted for the extra moistness.