I don’t do fat-free, and bacon is a must. This cuisine is healthy in a small very small sense of the word. Fodder for the true, down-home southern folk, beans and “conebread” (that’s how I like to say it) should only be indulged a few times a year.
But if your health is healthy in the truest, extreme sense of the word — then by all means go back for seconds or perhaps thirds.
Truly, there is no other way to enjoy beans but with the fat back of a pig. It’s a countryfied “southern thang” but permissive and recommended for inhabitants of the north, east and west. Now the beans are fab and full of robust flavor — compliments of the swine fat.
As I write this (mouth full), I’m noshing on what I deem as the most perfect, crusty cornbread. No “conebread” is complete without a sizeable crusty golden edge. Loud as the chomp is, I am quite pleased with the delicate layer of crunch I achieved by simply heating the oil on the stove top in my trusty no-home-should-be-without black cast iron skillet that my beautiful mother blessed me with years ago.
Though a reasonable golden crust might very well be possible in a regular baking dish, whom, may I ask, wants “reasonable” when phenomenal is guaranteed. Flea markets are excellent places to find seasoned cast iron skillets if you don’t already have one; the purchase will be worth it, if only for this cornbread alone.
Buttermilk may add to the abyss of fat this cuisine holds, but the texture and crumble of the cornbread will be all wrong if made with regular milk. And true southern cornbread does not entertain sugar. In this recipe, sweet and savory do not mix.
The picture is worth a thousand words — so true — but eating it needs no words.
Beans-N-Corn Bread
By Published: July 21, 2010
- Yield: 6 Servings
- Prep: 10 mins
Best Corn bread recipe ever!
Ingredients
- 1 lb. white or brown beans
- 1 hunk of fat back, ham hock or 5 slices of bacon
- red pepper flakes
- 1 onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 3 bay leaves
- water
Instructions
- In a crockpot, place all the above ingredients and enough water to cover the beans by half. Slow cook for 6-7 hours. Twenty minutes before serving, place 1 tsp. of salt in the beans.
- 2 cups cornmeal mix
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup oil
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Heat 3 Tablespoons of oil in a small, cast iron skillet on the stove. In a bowl, mix all the above ingredients and whisk. Pour the mixture in the hot oiled pan and place in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the bottom has formed a crusty edge.
Serve with butter.
