Corn bread / Quick bread

Corn bread is made with corn meal , milk and few other pantry ingredients u already have .A week night dinner you can put together in a jiffy.

Corn meal is coarsely ground maize/ corn.The bread made out of it has a lot of texture and a sweet aroma,traditionally made on an iron skillet.Cornbread is a common bread in United States cuisine, particularly associated with native Americans and people in the South  being a traditional staple, known as the soul food .
Corn bread becomes a stuffing in turkey recipes and is served for Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts.

Wanted to give my herd a break from rice and stumbled upon this in all recipes.com.
I am always on the look out for  hardy meals. When it is traditional it gets even better for me..The baking smell of the bread was soooo warm and inviting I must confess I fell in love.What a perfect meal for a cold winter night! Cornbread goes very well with beef chili.It becomes a nutritious meal with grain,meat and kidney beans.

Ingredients

Dry ingredients:

Corn meal- 1 cup

All purpose flour- 1 cup
Baking powder- 1 tsp
Baking soda-1/4 tsp
Sugar- 2 tbsp
Pepper powder-1/2 tsp (optional)
Garlic powder-1/2 tsp (optional)

Salt to taste

Wet ingredients:

Milk -1/2 cup
Buttermilk -1 cup (make with 1 cup milk + 1 tbsp vinegar)
Egg- 1 or 2 as u wish :)
Melted butter- 1 tbsp + 1/2 tbsp for greasing.(should be melted or it won't mix well)

Method

1.Mix all the dry ingredients together thoroughly .

2.Lightly beat the egg and add the rest of the wet ingredients,mix well.

3.Combine the 1 and 2 and mix until there are no lumps.Do not over mix it as it deflates the bread.

4.Pour the 1/2 tbsp butter ,kept aside for greasing and spread it evenly .The baking soda activates immediately so bake it right away.

5.Bake it at 375 to 400° F for 20 - 25 mts. Bake until the top becomes brown and a skewer comes out clean when inserted.

Let it cool down then slice and enjoy with soup,beef chili etc.. While the cornbread was baking I did bake some french fries too in the bottom rack.
Corn bread along with the other accompaniments was sufficiently enough to serve three moderately hungry people.
It could be made for breakfast too.

Note:

• Sugar gives the bread a lil caramelizing effect and helps in browning.
• Greasing the pan with lil more quantity of butter or veg shortening won't hurt :) because that helps the bread in even cooking.The iron skillet produces more heat and gives a beautiful brown to the bottom of the bread.
• I have used a glass baking dish instead so I baked it for 30+ minutes and left it in the oven after switching it off for another 10 minutes.If you have an iron skillet do use it to get better results.

Do give it a try and let me know ur feedback.

Meena