Buttermilk Cornbread

By thatjerseygirl

Ingredients

• 9 oz. (1 3/4 cups) medium-grind stone-ground yellow cornmeal, such as Bob's Red Mill
• 1 1/24 oz (1/2 cup) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbs. granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 oz. (3 Tbs) unsalted butter, cut into a few pieces

Preparation

Step 1

Position a rack in the center of the oven and put a 9- to 10-inch cast-iron skillet or a 9-inch heavy-duty square or round metal baking pan (not nonstick) on the rack. Heat the oven to 425-degrees.

In a small saucepan, bring 1/2 cup water to a boil over high heat. In a large bowl, combine 1/2 cup of the cornmeal and the boiling water. Stir to blend -- the mixture should become a thick mush.

In a medium bowl, whisk the remaining 1 1/4 cups cornmeal with the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda to blend. Add theh buttermilk, sour cream and eggs to the cornmeal mush and whisk to blend. When the oven and the pan are fully heated (after about 20 minutes), add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix with a wodden spoon until just blended. Do no overmix.

Remove the hot pan from the oven and add the butter pieces, tilting the pan to swirl the butter around until it's milted and the pan is well coated. (The butter may brown; that's fine.) Immediately pour the melted butter over the mixed batter and stir to combine -- a half-dozen strokes with a wooden spoon should be plenty. Scrape into the hot pan.

Bake until the cornbread pulls away from the sides of the pan and is golden on top, 18 to 20 minutes. Immediately turn the bread out onto a rack. Cool for 5 minutes. Serve hot.

Cornbread Mix-Ins:
--Saute 1/3 cup diced chorizo until crisp and fold into the batter along with the melted butter.
--Add 1 cup of grated extra-sharp cheddar to the wet ingredients.
--Toast 1/4 cup pine nuts and add to the batter with the melted butter.
--Mix 4 thinly sliced scallions with the wet ingredients.
--Add 1 cup of sauteed thinly sliced leeks to the batter with the melted butter.
--Add 3 Tbs minced fresh jalapeno to the wet ingredients.
--Add 1 cup fresh corn to the wet ingredients.
--Add a few slices of cooked crumbled bacon to the batter with the melted butter. You can also substitute 1 Tbs bacon fat for the 1Tbs of the butter.