Cornbread

I got out my cast iron corn-stick pans to make a batch of CORNBREAD. These corn-stick pans have seven indented shapes that are pocked with little holes that turn out stubbled sticks of crispy cornbread that are supposed to look like ears of corn. They don't look like ears of corn, too much, but they didn't hang around long enough that it mattered. You could also make these in a cast iron frying pan, bake it a little longer, and cut into wedges. They will be less crisp that way, but still great with soup or beans.

Dry Ingredients
3 cups — whole wheat pastry flour
2 cups — cornmeal (or 1 1/2 cups corn flour and 1/2 corn grits)
1 tblsp. — baking powder
1 tblsp. — chili powder
1 tsp — salt
1/2 tsp — sugar   

 

Wet Ingredients
1/2 cup — sunflower oil
3 cups — water or soy milk
Oil or plant-based margarine for the pans

Method

Preheat oven to 425F degrees. You can either oil the pans or put dabs of plant-based organic margarine in each pan opening, and then heat the pans up while you mix up the batter. If you do this, the outsides of the sticks will be even crispier. I forgot to, and they were still good.

Stir together two cups of cornmeal (or one-and-a-half cups of corn flour and half-a-cup of corn grits, which is all I sometimes have on hand) and three cups of whole wheat pastry flour. Stir in one teaspoon salt, one tablespoon baking powder, one tablespoon chili powder, and a half teaspoon of sugar. If you push the baking powder through a little sieve, you won't get any clumps of it in your batter.

Add a half cup of sunflower oil to the dry mix and mix it thoroughly in with a fork, trying to coat all the dry particles with the oil as best you can.

 

Add three cups of soy milk or water, and stir it in to make a batter consistency.

 

Pour the batter into the hot pans, or into the oiled pans, and bake for about twenty to thirty minutes, depending on the type of cornbread you are making, sticks or one big cornbread. They will be done when they are beginning to brown. If it is one big one, make sure the center is cooked through by checking with a toothpick or knife.

These are best served right away while they are still hot. Serve them with black beans and a cilantro-laced salad or with soup.