The Best Cornbread Ever

Today and tomorrow, we're focusing on the American South and New Orleans. We talked about the difference between creole and cajun cuisine, creole being the "upscale, aristocratic" city food, using the wonderful bounty to be found locally; cajun is the product of the French Canadians who relocated in Louisiana in the 1700s, and the food is more rustic and country-style, using the wonderful bounty to be found in your own backyard. All of it is lively, spicy, and very, very rich. Chef Patricio told us that American Southern cooking is really the only US regional cuisine that has an international reputation.

So today, we had shrimp etouffee, creamy and succulent with a bit of a bite:

And of course, some blackened fish (rock cod, in this case), with some black-eyed peas and rice, and a vegetable ratatouille:

I was bakelady today, whipping up a couple of pecan pies before I took on the cornbread. Then I mixed up the dough for beignets, which needs to rest overnight in the refrigerator.

The cornbread is not like any you've ever tasted before, I don't think. At least, that's what everybody in class said.


You might like to try it yourself:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
1-1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup cream
4 eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil
4 ounces butter, melted
3 tablespoons honey
8 ounces butter, melted (additional)

Sift dry ingredients together. Combine wet ingredients. Combine wet and dry ingredients until just mixed.

Pour the 8 ounces of melted butter into the bottom of a cast-iron skillet. (I melted the butter in the skillet in the oven, while it was pre-heating.) Pour batter into pan.

Bake at 325 degrees for 30 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.