Cooking Strike Ends with Cornbread

As you may or may not have noticed I have been on a cooking hiatus. It wasn't necessarily intentional but I lost my fire for a minute, or more honestly a few weeks. I'll blame the summer heat. But with the delicious Fall harvest that couldn't last long.

So to warm the creative fire we grilled some Turkey Cheddar Brawts - delicious and healthier by a long shot. Because I don't call dawgs "cooking" I tried cooking cornbread on the grill. Did it work? Yes. Would I call it a success? No. I was terribly disappointed in the end result. Mind you I tried the recipe on two separate occasions to give it a fair chance. The first attempt had mixed reviews and it may be liked by some. I, however, felt it was dry and simply not sweet enough. If you'd like to try the original recipe follow the link above.

I will include my FAVORITE cornbread recipe from a kind neighborhood mother. She passed the recipe to me and mine just before our wedding and it has always been a hit!

Ingredients for an 8x8 pan or 10 inch cast-iron skillet:

• 7/8 C Flour - I used to guess about the 1/8 cup increments but have since purchased measuring cups that included an 1/8 cupper
• 3/8 C Cornmeal
• 3/4 tea Salt
• 1 tea Baking Powder
• 3/8 C Sugar
• 3/4 C Evaporated Milk
• 1 Egg
• 1/4 C Oil

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees or heat skillet on grill at low temp for 10 minutes.
2. In a mixing bowl combine flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and sugar.
3. In a separate bowl beat together the evaporated milk, eggs, and oil.
4. Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir only enough to combine.
5. For oven: Pour mixture into greased pan and bake 25 minutes or For Grill: Place a tablespoon of butter on your warm cast-iron pan and move it around the pan, then pour in your mixture and cook covered 12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

*You can make a 9 x 13 inch pan in the oven by doubling all the ingredients and cooking for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

It was really nice to cook the bread on the grill. It kept the kitchen cool and it was fun to try something new. I did like that the original recipe made honey butter to melt on top of the bread.

Honey Butter: Combine 2 tablespoons of butter with 1/8 C + 1 tablespoon of honey. For more, simply double or triple the amounts.