Corn Cornbread

In a pan or on the griddle, this recipe works. Its a little sweet, so if you don't like sweet with your cornbread, get another recipe. If you can find the fine yellow corn meal, it's almost the consistency of cake.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Grease a large, flat, rectangular glass pan. Mine is 28 x 18 x 4 cm, strangely enough. That's 10 x 7 inches in Texas measurements. A larger pan will work fine and the the cornbread will be a little thinner. (Grease it with shortening smeared around with your fingers or use a stick of cold butter to cover the inner surface of the baking pan. Make sure to get the corners and the sides of the dish.)

Mix the following in a large bowl:

• 2 c fine yellow cornmeal
• 2 c all purpose flour
• 3 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/4 c sugar

Stir well and mix thoroughly with

• 4 Tbsp bacon fat (or 4 Tbsp butter but you will need to cut the butter into the dry ingredients)
• 4 eggs - beaten

Cut off the kernels from the corn and stir it into the bowl

• 4 ears of fresh, uncooked, unfrozen sweet corn on the cob

Then begin adding the following. First one cup and stir. Then a half cup and stir. Then a fourth of a cup at a time until a thick batter forms (roughly the consistency of good brick mortar).

• 3 c buttermilk

Pour this into the greased glass baking dish. Fill to the 2/3 point on the dish. This gives it room to rise without overflowing onto the bottom of the oven.

Cook for about 25 minutes. Slice into squares and serve with butter.

[Alternatively you can cook this batter like pancakes. You might need to thin it with a little water. Grease a skillet and pour the batter out onto the pan. Turn once when the bottom turns brown and the top begins to firm up a little. Serve with butter. Honey is good on these.]

Options: This cornbread works with other vegetables besides fresh corn. Here are some alternatives or use the corn with something (or things) else. In all cases here, push this stuff down into the batter after you fill the pan.

• Frozen whole okra
• Nickel diameter hunks of cauliflower
• Chunks of whole green chiles
• Halves of grilled jalapenos.
• Generous slices of yellow squash or zucchini
• Small, sweet whole pickles
• Globs of creamed corn. But stir some sugar into the cream corn before adding it.