Memories of my Grandmother’s Kitchen
By Sean Brock
This simple Appalachian recipe for cornbread is inspired by Ronni Lundy. It doesn’t have flour or sugar in it. You can really taste the flavor of the corn. I ate cornbread every day during my childhood. Food like that evokes so many memories. Every time I tear into a pan of cornbread and that smell wafts into the air, I am transported back to my grandmother’s kitchen. It’s the first thing I eat when I return home from traveling. Real cornbread is hard to find!
Sean Brock’s Cornbread
Ingredients
- 2 cups Anson Mills yellow cornmeal
- 1 1/2 cups Cruz Family buttermilk
- 1 farm egg
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 4 tablespoons Benton’s bacon fat
- 2 tablespoons Benton’s bacon pieces
Instructions
Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix all the wet ingredients except 1 tablespoon of bacon fat. Combine.
Place the cast iron skillet in the word burning oven until it’s hot. Add the remaining tablespoon of bacon fat (it should sizzle). Add the batter. Cook for approximately 8 minutes (the oven should be about 800 degrees).
