Spoon Bread from Savoring the South

My husband handed me a piece of paper and said, "Spoon bread. Is that the same as grits?"

Well, no. It's like the stepchild of grits and cornbread. It's softer and moister than cornbread, but not as oozy as grits.

I happen to love grits, and I love cornbread, too, so I was all geared up to try the spoon bread from Savoring the South by Angela Mulloy. The taglinc for the book is Memories of Edna Lewis the Grande Dame of Southern Cooking with Recipes. I think that pretty much sums up what you get.

The recipes in the book are written in an old-fashioned way, where the cookbook author assumes the reader knows basic terms and techniques. It makes the recipe directions shorter, that's for sure.

Whether on purpose or by accident, the spoon bread recipe I tried omitted a step. Egg yolks were beaten, other ingredients were added, and the next step involved egg whites, while the yolks were never spoken of again. Perhaps it was assumed that the cook would know what to do with the yolks without being specifically instructed.

I cut the recipe in half because it's best when fresh and I knew we'd never finish even half the recipe. The full recipe would be good for a large family or a gathering, but a small family would probably be fine with the half-recipe (which is what I have below).

Besides recipes, the book has a lot of narrative, so if you're the type who wants a story with your recipes, I think you'll enjoy this. As a midwesterner, I'd say that the recipes all do seem to have a southern heritage rather than a southern twist or a new southern whatever. It's like a classic old book without the musty smell.

Spoon Bread
Adapted from Savoring the South by Angela Mullow

1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon butter
2 eggs separated
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat the oven to 375 degrees and grease a 1-quart baking dish. I used a metal chef's pan.

Heat the milk to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Sprinkle the cornmeal in slowly, stirring or whisking constantly so the cornmeal doesn't clump. Cook over low heat, stirring, until the cornmeal is the consistency of soft oatmeal. Mine got a little too stiff, so I added an extra splash of milk and whisked it in.

Turn off the heat and add the butter.

Whip the egg whites to peaks, then beat the yolks. If you beat the yolks first, you'll need to thoroughly clean your beaters, or the whites won't whip. Add the baking powder, sugar and salt to the yolks.

Add the yolks to the cornmeal mixture and stir to combine.

Fold in the whites gently. It's easiest to stir in about 1/3 of the whites to loosen the cornmeal, then fold in the rest. But do it however works for you.

Transfer the batter to your prepared pan and bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until the spoon bread is puffed and the top is lightly browned.

Serve quickly.

I received this book from NetBooks for the purpose of a review.

Microwave Buttery Buttermilk Cornbread

My friend Carla from Good Cook called me up one day and said, "I'm going to send you a microwave bowl. Can you bake bread in the microwave with it?"

And I said, well, I don't know, but it's not going to get brown. But lemme see what I can think of.

I considered making a microwave cake, like a mug cake, but bigger.

But then someone on Facebook was talking about cornbread, and I saw someone on Food Network serve a piece of microwave cornbread, and I figured, yeah, that would be good for dinner.

There must be a bazillion recipes for cornbread, right? I decided I didn't want something too sweet. I considered adding cheese or jalapenos. I hoped this would fit in the bowl.

Most of the time, it takes a couple tries before I get something exactly right, but I have to say I really liked this just the way it was. It's really buttery, so I hope you like butter. And it's fluffy and light rather than dense.

Needless to say, I used the bowl I got from Good Cook, but a similar-sized bowl or baking dish should be just fine.

The cool thing about this bowl is that it's got its own holder that stays cool, and it's got a lid, as well. It would be really handy for reheating soups or sauces.

Microwave Cornbread

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar

You might as well make this all in one bowl. Melt the butter in the bowl in the microwave. Don't get it too freakishly hot, because you don't want to cook the egg when you add it. Just get it melted.

Add the buttermilk and egg and stir until it's combined.

Add the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Start by stirring the dry stuff to get the baking powder distributed in the flour a bit, then stir it all together.

Put it in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes on high (depending on the power of your microwave). Stick a toothpick in it, and if it comes out clean, it's done. If it's got wet goo in it, put it back in the microwave and cook for another 15-30 seconds at a time, until it's done. Keep track of how long it cooked, so you know what to do next time.

And that's it. Serve it straight from the bowl. It's really fluffy and a little crumbly when it's warm, but it's pretty darned good. You won't get any browning, but you don't miss it as much as you would on a yeast bread.