Cornbread for Yankees

As a kid, my family traveled in our motor home every summer and we typically headed south to take in the weather, the character, the history, and, most importantly, the FOOD! My Dad was from the mid-west so he introduced us to delicacies like biscuits and gravy and roasted corn. In the south, we learned to love fried okra and macaroni and cheese that didn't come from a box. One of our favorite places to eat was Cracker Barrel. Probably not a big deal to those south of the Mason-Dixon Line because they are everywhere down there, but to us it was heaven. If I could only pick one item to eat from there, it would definitely be cornbread.

My mom used to make corn muffins from Jiffy box mix, but this produced a very unsavory, dust-like, yellow hunk and did not scream "Make me again!". Flash forward to adulthood and although cornbread isn't a staple at our house, whenever I make chili, I long to whip up a batch. It is one of the easiest things to throw together and produces very impressive results. Cheap and simple, I like to buy my cornmeal from the bins in the bulk food section. Even the organic stuff doesn't set you back much at all and the consistency is much less gritty than some of the shelved varieties.

Easy Corn Bread (courtesy of Quaker)
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups milk (they say skim, I like whole)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 400. Grease a 9x13 pan will butter or margarine. Combine dry ingredients. Stir in wet ingredients ad mix just until everything is moistened. Pour batter into greased pan. Bake approx 20-25 min. or until golden an toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Best when served warm.

I have doubled this recipe because we love the leftovers. We cut the pan into squares and warm up the rest in the micro for breakfast with butter or jam. Redonkulously good! Last night we paired it with venison chili (we don't hunt, but we happily accepted this from someone who does) and I only wish my blog was equipped with Smell & Taste O Vision. Eat it and weep.