Tag: cast iron skillet

Nannie Logan’s Cornbread

If you are from the south, then you grew up eating cornbread at almost every meal. I had two grandmothers, Memaw Young and Nannie Logan. They were both excellent cooks and had very different recipes for cornbread. Memaw’s Cornbread is more traditionally southern, more of a “poor man’s bread” with no eggs or flour, just White Lily cornmeal mix and buttermilk. Today I am making Nannie’s cornbread because it is the perfect cornbread for dressing and Thanksgiving is just a few days away. It is almost a cake like consistency and if you like cornbread and biscuits in your dressing, this recipe will allow you to skip the biscuit making.

Cornbread is very controversial and every family has their own recipe. I need to fully disclose- Nannie never measured anything and my mom is one of seven girl in the Logan clan, so with all the grandchildren running around, Nannie didn’t have time for one on one cooking instructions. So after playing around with the proper ingredients, this is the recipe I have come up with that is the most like hers.

Many people like to preheat their skillet with shortening, however nothing is scarier than pulling a screaming hot iron skillet filled with shortening or oil out of a 450 degree oven and trying to fill it with your mixture. I read a food blog a couple of years ago and the girl swore by shortening smeared on a cold skillet. She promised it would fall out of the pan every time. So…I tried it. It works! Also, when I say a COLD cast iron skillet, I mean a skillet right out of the cabinet, not preheated.

Nannie always had a pan of cornbread with a big pot of white half runner green beans. That is the meal I remember most in her house. And I can promise you those were the best green beans I have ever had.

Nannie Logan's Cornbread


Ingredients


1 1/2 cups Cornmeal Mix
3/4 cup Rising Flour
1/8 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups milk

Directions


Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. In a bowl, mix all ingredients and pour into a COLD cast iron skillet smeared with shortening. Place in oven for 20-25 minutes.
Christy Young Goza

Memaw’s Cornbread

If you are from the south, then you grew up eating cornbread at almost every meal. I had two grandmothers Memaw Young and Nannie Logan. They were both excellent cooks and had very different recipes for cornbread. Memaw’s is more traditionally southern, more of a “poor man’s bread” with no eggs or flour, just White Lily cornmeal mix and buttermilk. Today I am cooking Memaw’s cornbread, but I promise you there is room on your table for both. Tonight’s menu was fried potatoes and pinto beans and Memaw’s cornbread is the perfect side for this dinner. I will showcase Nannie’s cornbread in the near future, I promise!

Cornbread is very controversial and every family has their own recipe. I need to fully disclose- I have changed Memaw’s original recipe. Here is the change: she always heated shortening up in her oven in a cast iron skillet, while she was preheating it. I have also done this many times. I have burned myself repeatedly and a few times seriously (try pulling a heavy skillet of scalding shortening out of a 450 degree oven). And here is the thing- sometimes it would fall right out of the pan and sometimes it would stick. So I read a food blog a couple of years ago and the girl swore by shortening smeared on a cold skillet. She promised it would fall out of the pan every time. So…I tried it. Can you believe, it falls out of that dang pan every, single time. Side note: when I say a COLD cast iron skillet, I mean a skillet right out of the cabinet, not preheated.

I have fond memories of the menu tonight.- it was my dad’s favorite meal, and my Papaw Young’s favorite meal, and it is Jay’s favorite meal, too. When we sat down to eat, Jay said, “This was Dado’s favorite meal”. Dado is Jay’s dad and he did love to eat, especially good southern food. I was so nervous meeting him for the first time. Jay told me his favorite meal: pinto beans, fried potatoes, fried okra and cornbread. So of course, I cooked exactly that for him that night. Whoever said the way to man’s heart was through his stomach was referring to Dado.

I have never had wine with cornbread and I am not going to start now. An ice cold glass of tea is the perfect pairing. Of course these days, I take a lot less sugar in mine. The best thing about cooking Memaw’s Cornbread? I get to cook it in her cast iron skillet. You can see from the picture the years of use from this treasure. And one day soon, I will get to pass it on to Logan. I am excited to see the recipes she makes in it.

Memaw's Cornbread

Two ingredients and a cast iron skillet.


Ingredients


2 cups White Lily Cornmeal Mix
2 cups buttermilk (this is approximate, you need a thick cake like batter)
1 tbsp shortening

Directions


Preheat the oven to 450 degrees, In a bowl, mix the buttermilk and cornmeal mix and pour into a COLD cast iron skillet smeared with shortening. Place in oven for 20-25 minutes.


I have always made this in a cast iron skillet so I would highly suggest one!
Christy Young Goza

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