SKILLET CORNBREAD FOR BREAKFAST!

I love corn-bread for breakfast. Especially the day after it is baked when it is little hard and you heat it up and put a little butter and honey on top. My Mom and Dad used to enjoy it for breakfast or lunch, crumbled up in a bowl of milk.

This last year I took the easy way and bought Marie Callender's cornbread mix. It used to be so good, practically cornbread cake. But several months ago I baked a batch and it was not good--even bitter. Then I bought a another mix thinking it would improve if I added a can of creamed corn. Slightly better but still not good.

I found this recipe in a magazine--can't remember which one--but the chef is a Southern cook named Crecent Dragonwagon--isn't that a great name? And this recipe is in her book, The Cornbread Gospels.

I didn't have a cast iron skillet and secretly alway wanted one (I'm not a camper so where was my excuse to purchase one?) Target had the brand I wanted--Lodge Logic--so I bought a 10-inch skillet for around $14.

The cornbread was excellent--crunchy on the edges and not real sweet. And the stone ground corn meal is worth looking for. I found a good brand, Bob's Red Mill, at Whole Foods but I know it's at Sprouts, too.

Crescent Dragonwagon's
Dairy Hollow House Skillet-Sizzled Cornbread

vegetable oil cooking spray
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup mild vegetable oil
2 tablespoons butter
1. Preheat oven to 375. Spray a 10-inch skillet with cooking spray and set aside.
2. Sift together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl.
3. In a smaller bowl, stir the baking soda into the buttermilk. Whisk in the sugar, egg and vegetable oil.
4. Put the prepared skillet over medium heat, add the butter, and heat until the butter melts and is just starting to sizzle. Tilt the pan to coat the sides and bottom.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and combine quickly, using as few strokes as possible.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the cornbread is golden brown, about 25 minutes. Slice into wedges and serve.