When Paul and I got married, there were some big discussions about corn bread. There is a variety of cornbread flavors, recipes, and activities for after the cornbread. There is sweet cornbread (which my husband calls Yankee cornbread), salty cornbread, corn scones (a Moosewood Restaurant recipe), corn in the cornbread (a Boston Market recipe), and cornbread dressing (my mother's recipe).
My mother cooks cornbread a true southern way by covering the bottom of the skillet with oil and pre-heating the skillet in the oven. (FYI, iron skillets are the best for these recipes. It cooks the crust better. I suspect that's also a southern thing.) When she pours the batter into the skillet, the oil will travel up the sides of the pan and fry the bottom and sides, yielding a dark crispy crust. I used to love the oily crust as a child, but now feel my arteries would thank me if I no longer used the oil. Paul grew up on a more salty bread, I grew up on a more sweet bread. So, we are both happy when we have cornbread at our parents' because it brings back good memories and because we like it both ways.
Less traditional cornbreads are the ones with actual corn in them, like the ones drug reps deliver from Boston Market. These are probably my least favorite because the corn tastes mushy, like canned. I go for a crunchy corn, like off the cob. I also find that particular variety to be excessively sweet. An alternative I found was a recipe out of Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home. It uses more flour than cornmeal, is more dough-like when molding, and bakes on a sheet rather than in a skillet. We have enjoyed this recipe because it is different than traditional cornbreads. Also, the corn scones are good for breakfast with some fruit and keep well in or out of the refrigerator. Other true cornbreads seem to dry out quickly in the fridge.
Every Thanksgiving and Christmas, my mother uses her cornbread to make a fantastic vegetarian stuffing or dressing. Even the meat-eaters enjoy it. It's an all-day affair; so, if there's enough, she will freeze the leftovers for New Year's and save herself a bit of work. She dices up Worthington Fri-Chik and liberally uses celery and onions. The result is always perfectly moist, which I have seen to be non-existent with store-bought dressings. Closer to the holidays, I should post a photo of that activity.
