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Crackling Corn Bread

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Crackling Corn Bread

Cuisine:American

Course:Bread

15m prep 25m cook 40m ready

One 9- or 10-inch round bread Try eating just one piece. Preheat the oven to 450°F.

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Ingredients

Servings:
½× 1× 1½× 2× 3×
Units:
As Written US Metric
  • 4 ounces fatty salt pork or slab bacon
  • 1
    • 1 ¼ cups (200g) fine yellow or white cornmeal, preferably stone-ground
    • ¾ cup (95g) all-purpose flour
    • 1 to 4 tablespoons (10 to 50g) sugar, to taste
    • 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
    • ¾ teaspoon salt
    • 1 cup (235g) milk
    • 2 large eggs, beaten
    • 3 tablespoons bacon fat, vegetable oil (40g), or butter (45g), melted
    Sub-recipe steps
    1. Whisk together in a large bowl: 1 ¼ cups (200g) fine yellow or white cornmeal, preferably stone-ground; ¾ cup (95g) all-purpose flour; 1 to 4 tablespoons (10 to 50g) sugar, to taste; 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder; ¾ teaspoon salt
    2. Add: 1 cup (235g) milk; 2 large eggs, beaten; 3 tablespoons bacon fat, vegetable oil (40g), or butter (45g), melted
    3. Combine with a few rapid strokes. Scrape the batter into the hot pan(s). Bake until nicely browned, about 12 minutes for corn sticks, 15 to 18 minutes for corn bread or muffins. Serve immediately.
  • (Jam or sorghum syrup)

Let's Prepare

Collect

Gather these ingredients - no prep needed yet.

  • 4 ounces fatty salt pork or slab bacon
  • 1 Corn Bread, Corn Muffins, or Corn Sticks, or Southern Corn Bread
  • (Jam or sorghum syrup)

Let's Cook

  1. Step 1.

    Rinse, then pat dry: 4 ounces fatty salt pork or slab bacon

  2. Step 2.

    Slice off and discard the rind, if present, then cut the pork into ¼-inch dice. (If the pork is too soft to cut easily, freeze it for 30 minutes.) Place in a 9- or 10-inch heavy ovenproof skillet (preferably cast iron) and cook over medium heat until the fat is rendered and the cracklings are very browned and crisp. Remove from the heat.

  3. Step 3.

    Prepare the batter for: Corn Bread, Corn Muffins, or Corn Sticks, or Southern Corn Bread

  4. Step 4.

    If using the Corn Bread, Corn Muffins, or Corn Sticks recipe, omit the fat. Fold in the cracklings and all but 1 tablespoon of the fat from the skillet. Set the skillet over high heat until the fat smokes. Remove from the heat and pour in the batter all at once. Transfer to the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 22 minutes. Serve at once, either plain or with: (Jam or sorghum syrup)

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