Aunt Jewel's Cornbread

Aunt Jewel's Cornbread

1/4 cup margarine or butter
1  1/2 cups corn meal (yellow, white, or mixed)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder (that's Calumet or Clabber Girl)
1/2 teaspoon soda (that's Arm & Hammer)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, slightly beaten
1  1/2 cups buttermilk

Place the margarine or butter in a seasoned 9-inch iron skillet. Heat
the oven to 450 degrees F. Set the skillet with the margarine or butter
in it inside the oven while the oven heats.

In a bowl, place the corn meal, flour, baking powder, baking powder, and
salt and mix thoroughly with a wire whisk. Pour the melted butter from
the skillet into the corn meal mixture. DO NOT WIPE THE REMAINING
MARGARINE OR BUTTER OUT OF THE SKILLET. Add the slightly beaten egg and
the buttermilk. The batter should be the consistency of a heavy cake
batter. (Be careful not to cook the egg in the melted butter. To lower
the temperature adequately, stir the margarine or butter into the corn
meal mixture before adding the egg or add some buttermilk to the melted
margarine or butter.)

Turn the burner on under the skillet and sprinkle a few grains of corn
meal over the butter remaining in the skillet.  When the skillet is hot
and the grains of corn meal mix are a bit browned, pour the corn bread
batter into the skillet.  The skillet should be hot enough to sizzle
when the batter is being poured in. (NOTE: Pouring the batter into a hot
skillet prevents sticking and ensures a crunchy bottom crust.) The
margarine or butter in the skillet will probably be a bit browned, but
that's OK, just as long as nothing is burnt.

Immediately put the skillet back into the 450-degree oven and bake until
the cornbread is a deep golden brown. I start watching it at about 20
minutes. If it's really going right, the top will crack in kind of a
ring pattern, much as a souffle does. That's a mark of *extreme*
success! (Do NOT open the oven door until you check on it at the
20-minute mark, or it won't crack like that.)

Remove from heat, let cool a few minutes, and turn out onto a plate to
keep the bottom crust from getting soggy.

Source:

rec.food.cooking, rec.food.recipes