Corn Bread

There's a wonderful movie out there that I've loved for a long time. I remember the first time I saw it, I couldn't believe it was a Steven King novel. Michael Clark Duncan rocketed into my favourite actor for a while because of that film, and I don't think my opinions of "The Green Mile" are that unusual when speaking to other people. One scene in the movie resonated with people I would meet years later - the scene with the corn bread. Michael Clark Duncan took a bite of the crumbly yellow bread and mouths everywhere began to water. People who had never tasted it in their lives suddenly found themselves craving the savory cake. In fact, people in the UK typically don't know what corn bread taste like.

I made corn bread in Scotland to go with Salmon Cakes and black eyed peas (called Black Eye Beans in the United Kingdom) one night for dinner. I made a double batch of the bread so that I might later share it with others. It wasn't easy finding the corn meal to make the bread from, but the effort was well rewarded by mumbles through full mouths of the people around me tasting the corn bread for the first time. I cautioned them all that it taste best when warm with butter on it. They were perfectly happy eating it cold and couldn't seem to get enough. It was more than once I heard someone mumble that it was exactly what they had hoped and thought it would be, that it was wonderful and that they loved it. That made my day.

I've promised to share the recipe with them so that they might be able to make it for themselves if they so choose. After all, I've never been the kind of person to keep all the good things to myself... have I?

Corn Bread

• Prep time - 10 minutes
• Preheat Oven - 400 Farenheit, (that's 204 Celcius for the UK)
• (If using a fan-assisted oven, go with 180 Celcius)
• Bake time - 15 to 20 minutes

1 cup all-purpose flour (Known as "regular" flour in the UK)
3/4 cup cornmeal
3 tablespoons of sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil or melted butter

1. Preheat the oven to 400 Farenheit. In a medium bowl stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt; set aside.
   
   
2. Add the 1 tablespoon of butter to a 10 inch cast iron skillet or a 9 x 1 1/2 inch round baking pan. Place in oven about 3 minutes or until butter melts. Remove skillet from oven; swirl butter in skillet to coat the bottom and sides of the pan.
   
   
3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the eggs, milk and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to four mixture. Stir just until moistened. Pur batter into hot skillet or pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cut into wedges, and serve warm. Best with a little butter on it.

There are multiple variations of this recipe...

• DOUBLE CORN BREAD: If desired, fold 1/2 cup frozen whole kernel corn, thawed, into the batter.
• GREEN CHILE CORN BREAD: Prepare as above, except fold 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese or Monterey Jack cheese and one 4-oz can diced green chile peppers, drained, into the batter.
• CORN MUFFINS: Prepare as above, exept omit the 1 tablespoon of butter. Spoon batter into 12 greased 2 1/2 in ch muffin cups, filling the cups two thirds full.. Bake in a 400 farenheit oven about 15 minutes, test with toothpick. Makes 12 muffins.

Enjoy!!