RICHARD FRISBIE - Three Corn Cornbread

    Recently I published an article titled CORN Food or Fuel? that generated an informed discussion about corn’s place in the modern world. Arguments were made supporting both sides of the question, with no clear winner. Corn is a major food crop throughout the world, and its increasing use (ethanol) as an additive to gasoline may eventually reduce our dependence on foreign oil. So, as its best use, do we eat it or burn it? While it remains for others (and time) to finally answer that question, I am firmly on the side of corn as food - which, historically, it has always been. Well . . . almost always . . .

From Wikipedia:
    Recent genetic evidence suggests that maize domestication occurred 9000 years ago in central Mexico, perhaps in the highlands between Oaxaca and Jalisco.
   
    From there, corn quickly became a staple in the diet of Mexican and Central American indigenous peoples. It has since gone on to be cultivated worldwide, until currently more corn is grown (by weight) than any other grain, in hundreds of hybrids, and with as many food (and, now - yes - fuel) uses.

     Documentation of early corn cultivation by Native Americans in New York’s Hudson Valley can be found in the 1663 account of Captain Martin Creiger.  He led a force of 200 men to an Esopus Indian fortification to rescue whites captured in recent raids on Wiltwyck (Kingston) in Ulster County. After dispersing the Indians, he wrote:

     ”we began the huge task of destroying about 200 acres of maize that grew on the flats, as    well as the contents of more than 100 pits of corn and beans”
   
which took his army two days to accomplish. Some historians still try to maintain that the Esopus Indians were hunters and gatherers, not agriculturists, but Capt. Creiger’s account of such vast plantings quickly silences them.

    Fast forward almost 350 years, and the Hudson Valley is still one of the largest sweet corn producing areas in the World. No wonder I like corn so much! I was born and raised in prime corn country, and - aside from a brief stint in the corn state of Iowa - have lived my entire life here. I’m a corny guy!

    So, I was thrilled when I found this cornbread recipe. Originally it called for vegetable oil, egg substitute, and sugar, in a “healthy” (with SUGAR?) kind of way. Over the years I’ve adapted it to my tastes and kitchen. That means more corn, no sugar, and real eggs.

    1 cup yellow cornmeal
    ¾ cup all purpose flour
    1 Tbs baking powder
    ½ tsp salt
    ½ tsp chili powder
    ¾ cup (skim) milk
    2 eggs
    2 Tbs corn oil
    **one can creamed corn
    corn oil in a pump spray can

    Put a ten inch cast iron skillet on a middle rack in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees.

    Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl; make a well in the center of mix. Combine milk and next 3 ingredients, stirring well. Add to dry ingredients stirring just until moistened.

    Remove the very hot skillet from the oven; spray heavily with oil to coat, and immediately spoon batter into it. Bake at 450 degrees for 25-30 minutes until done. (when knife or toothpick inserted into center comes out clean) Turn out onto wire rack to cool. Serve wedges with chili, stew, or - shred cheese to melt on top and serve with salad.

    This is a hearty cornbread, almost a meal in itself, and distinctly different from the insipid sweet dessert cornbread routinely served. I hope you like it as much as I do. 

VARIATIONS: use a can of whole kernel, or “fiesta” (with chopped peppers) corn, instead of creamed corn. For spicier cornbread I add another tsp chili powder.

**CANNED FOOD - I have a supply of emergency dried and canned goods: various beans, rice tomatoes, fruit, meat and fish, but virtually no prepared foods, such as soup or stew. I regularly buy new and rotate the older to the local food pantry, but I rarely cook with them. Exceptions include tomatoes and tuna, and an annual 5 bean salad for my family reunion - plus - the creamed corn for this recipe. If you must use canned foods regularly in your cooking, try to buy the low or no sodium versions, keeping them, for the most part, to only one or two ingredients.

Richard Frisbie, FOOD Correspondent:

RICHARD FRISBIE is published twice a month to Gather Essentials: Food 
It is a food junkie's take on growing, raising, preparing and - above all else - eating food. Together we’ll explore the trends, addictions, equipment and regional specialties that make up the sometimes mundane and sometimes sublime cooking and dining experience. You can keep up with my other postings and Gather activity by joining my Gather network -- just click the orange “Connect” button on the upper left-hand side of this page --- I look forward to hearing from you.

BIO - Richard has been writing culinary travel articles for more than five years as a columnist for his local newspapers, and as a regular contributor to the many Hudson Valley, Catskill Mountain and other regional New York publications. His most recent addition to that list is a wine column called “Fruit of the Vine” for Life in the Finger Lakes magazine. Online, he writes frequent articles for EDGE publications and Travel Lady, as well as Gather.

You can read all of Richard's articles  or find him with the other Food Correspondents, plus celebrity chef content and plenty of other Foodies at  http://foodtalk.gather.com