Another Recipe: Cornbread Reprise

(my very own cornbread, finally!)

Hello! If you are just picking up the Grape to Table newsletter, thanks so much for joining to learn more about wine, food, and life. We have just wrapped up my origin story (click here to read), and we are diving into fun content focused on meaningful time at the table with delicious wine and food. For now, my newsletter is free and you can find all the content by clicking here – basically a little Grape to Table website created by the great folks at Substack.

I have a complicated relationship with cornbread. Ok it’s not that complicated, but still I grew up with two VERY different types of cornbread in my life. I had one grandmother (my namesake, Sarah) who never cooked except to possibly broil a steak (yes that’s a thing!) or burn some toast (also under the broiler!). There’s no other way to put it – she was privileged enough to have someone else cook for her. But this was still rural Georgia so most of that cooking was pretty “country” – including a buttermilk cornbread that most likely had no sugar or flour that was made by a woman named Josie who was just as dear to me as my grandmother (we even shared the same birthday!). I have no record of her recipe, but I remember sweet Josie’s cornbread having an intensity that needed to be matched with collard greens or perhaps dunked in buttermilk if you were my grandfather! I would not say it was dry but just had a lovely simplicity that’s actually a driving force behind my cornbread aspirations to this day.

On the other side of the coin I had a step grandmother (Dorothy) who grew up across the river in Alabama and had an economic vigilance in the garden and the kitchen. She and my grandfather had a huge garden that kept their pantry and plates full for the entire year. My grandfather came from a farming family and actually left the farm to study accounting, but I suppose the farm really never left him. Throughout his career as a CPA, he kept that garden going and only slowed down in his late 80s. Lunch was the biggest meal for these grandparents, and lunch was not complete without the cornbread “sticks”. Yes, these came from those cast iron molds shaped like actual ears of corn (they are still widely available online). 

Given her waste-not attitude, you might expect Dorothy’s cornbread to be similar to Josie’s, but in fact it was a world apart. Perhaps it was the many years of church potlucks that influenced Dorothy’s cooking or her subscriptions to various home and food magazines, but many of her dishes actually utilized ingredients that were not straight from the garden. In the case of the cornbread, she added sour cream, creamed corn, and some sugar. (I actually still have her church cookbook with the recipe!) 

When I set out to create my own cornbread recipe in my late 20s, I took inspiration from both of these cornbread memories. While I loved Josie’s cornbread for that unabashed buttermilk and cornmeal flavor, I knew I wanted to balance it with an equal amount of flour for a lighter mouthfeel. But the buttermilk was non-negotiable for me! And I also decided to add just a bit of sugar to balance it all out. I remember being happy with this recipe when opening the Glass Onion and transforming it into a restaurant-sized recipe that also seemed to work. 

However, in the years since leaving the Glass Onion I have questioned the recipe every time. It just didn't quite live up to my aspirations (most likely a flaw from increasing and decreasing the size too many times). So this past year I set out to conquer my complicated relationship with cornbread and create a recipe that paid homage to all my influences and even brought a touch of modernity (in the form of milk powder of all things!). If you are like me and voraciously consume food podcasts, magazines, cookbooks, etc. then perhaps you already know that a lot of bakers use a touch of this magical milk powder in all sorts of treats to really rev up all the flavors! I had mostly heard of it used in cookies, but when I set out to revamp my cornbread I figured – why the hell not?

Honestly, the recipe you will find below is very similar to my original recipe just with more butter and the milk powder! I still kept my equal amounts of flour and cornmeal, and I stuck to all buttermilk (no sour cream!). I did experiment with browning the butter beforehand, which I feel adds a little something but is not entirely necessary. (But you have to melt the butter anyways so once again – why the hell not!)

It was only after making my “new” recipe a couple of times that I turned to my partner and said – I think this is it! Now don’t be fooled this is not fluffy, cake-like cornbread…it is most definitely cast iron skillet cornbread with crispy edges and  just enough lift to keep it from being too dense. But thanks to the milk powder, brown butter, and really good cornmeal it has tremendous depth of flavor and a craveableness that keeps me coming back for me (even when I know I should reduce my carb intake, haha!). 

Have a go at it and let me know what you think! I do insist upon a cast iron skillet (for those crispy edges) and really if you don’t have one you are missing out (this is my most used pan!). I also insist upon really great cornmeal from some of the artisan millers who are using heirloom corn and selling a very fresh product. I love Anson Mills, and they are easy to order from online. I recommend their coarse yellow cornmeal and while you are at it you might as well order their yellow “quick”  grits, and Carolina Gold Rice as I will most likely call for those ingredients very soon 😀! (If you live in the Charleston area you can also find Marsh Hen Mill products in a lot of our grocery stores and local markets, and I have good luck with their cornmeal, grits, rice, and farro!) 

P.S. I did have to search a bit for milk powder but found Bob’s Red Mill at a local grocery (and of course you could also buy it online). And speaking of milk, if you can find a local buttermilk that will also elevate this recipe supremely (as will local, farm eggs). 

P.P.S. For a musical pairing, obviously you need a cornbread song, and I was pleasantly reminded of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, a string band from North Carolina that was formed in 2005 but sadly disbanded around 2014. Their song “Cornbread and Butterbeans” is a perfect pairing. 

P.P.P.S. So many of my already posted recipes go great with cornbread and have wine pairings too! Check out all my recipes on Substack by clicking here. Ones that are especially cornbread friendly: black beans, chili, white beans, gumbo, and butternut squash soup!

My Very Own Cornbread

8 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup cornmeal (I prefer yellow)

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tablespoon milk powder (optional but very good!)

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons sugar 

2 eggs 

2 cups buttermilk 

Honey, for serving

Softened salted butter, for serving

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place your stick of butter (8 tablespoons) in the cast iron skillet and put in oven to brown while you assemble other ingredients. Check on it periodically (it should brown after about 10 to 15 minutes – about the time required to assemble other ingredients!). Combine cornmeal, flour, milk powder, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Add eggs and buttermilk to a second large mixing bowl and whisk to combine. At this point your butter should be browned. Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven using a towel or oven mitt. Carefully pour almost all of your butter from the pan to a small bowl, leaving about 1 tablespoon in your skillet (making sure that remaining tablespoon is thoroughly coating your skillet). Slowly add melted butter to your buttermilk-egg mixture, whisking as you go. (You could simply add butter directly from the skillet, but I find this cumbersome and takes away your ability to add the butter slowly to wet ingredients.) Now add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, whisking until thoroughly combined (but not over whisking). Pour batter into your nicely greased skillet and allow to settle in an even fashion. Place the skillet in the oven and bake until golden brown and a tester (such as a paring knife or wooden skewer) can be inserted into cornbread and removed with no crumbs, about 40 minutes (but ovens can vary!). 

Serve with local honey and a high quality salted butter (such as Banner Butter if you live in the South.)

Yield: 8 hearty pieces