Simple, tasty, toasty - Hot-Water Cornbread

When I was a kid, one of the best things my grandmother made was beans.  She would make plain old pinto beans.  They were usually accompanied by cornbread.  Mamaw was a champion cornbread baker.  She didn't have a recipe, she just winged it.  She had been baking cornbread for so long, it was part of her DNA.  She had this cool old hinged stovetop cornbread pan that she used the most.  It was ingenious.  She'd pour the batter in one side, close it up, put it on a burner and let 'er cook at low temp.  Wonderful.  I've never seen another pan like it, and I've looked.

I'll write about the beans and cornbread recipe another day, though.  Today I will write about the more rare treat.  Mamaw was never much about fried food.  She saw frequent frying as the mark of a lazy cook.  She also thought it was bad for you, even before the press and the doctors started making a big fuss over it in the '70s.  However, she did fry a few things.  Okra and this little gem, hot-water cornbread, were my favorites. 

Hot water cornbread doesn't sound very fried, does it?  Think of it as fried cornmeal mush.  No, that's not very appetizing.  Well, think of it as fried corn bread.  There.  Anyway, it's hideously easy to make and is a great bread alternate in a pinch.  I also find it's awesome with a fried egg on top with salsa and some crema.  Let your imagination run wild with this little taste treat. 

The Ingredients List:

• White Cornmeal
• HOT water
• Salt
• Oil for frying

So, to make it, get out your White Cornmeal.  Don't use yellow.  The corn granules are too large in yellow cornmeal and the texture will be all wrong.  Now, boil some water in an electric kettle.  You have one, don't you? Oh, if you don't, you should.  They boil water super fast and make it easy to pour and reheat.  Get the kind that sits on a bottom pad that has the cord on it.  Take a look here to see some. I like the metal ones with a window to see the contents. http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=289753

I digress.  Get your cornmeal in a big bowl.  Use about 2 cups for a regular batch.  You can wrap up the dough and keep it for a day or so, if you don't want to cook it all.  The dough keeps better than the cooked product, by the way. 

Take your boiled HOT water and pour in about 1/2 a cup.  Stir it in really well.  It's probably a little clumpy with lots of dry stuff too.  Add a little more of the hot water and stir it up.  Keep adding a little water and stirring until you notice that everything is evenly moist, but not runny or too sticky.  You can test things as you go by getting a little of the dough and squeezing it in your hand.  Does it fall apart when you open your hand?  If so, you'll need a little more water.  Add it by the dribs and drabs now.  You don't want to get too much water in there.  If it is getting too sticky or runny, you can add a little more cornmeal, but you don't want to get into a vicious cycle. You can throw in about 1/2 tsp of salt now too.  Yeah, it's a lot of salt, but the meal takes up a lot.  Use less if you want. 



The dough is ready when it holds together well when you squeeze it in your hand and/or when you can pat out a little patty about 1/2" thick and about 3-4" round.  Don't be a perfectionist on the shape.  This is rustic food.





Once you have the dough right, leave it sitting with a moist tea towel over it while you get a cast iron pan out and put about 1/2" of oil in it.  Turn on the heat and get that wound up for some frying.  You'll know it's ready when it starts to shimmer and when you drop a tiny bit of the dough in and it immediately floats to the top and sizzles like summer in Texas.  :-)

Pat out your 1/2" by 3" or 4" patties of dough and carefully lower them into the oil.  You want the tops of the patties to sit a little proud of the oil instead of having it cover them, if you can.  Put a few in your hot oil and let them sizzle away.  Don't crowd the pan or the temperature will drop too fast and your cornbread will get really greasy. 

After about 3-4 minutes, check them.  If they are looking golden brown and toasty on the side in the oil, turn em over with your spatula.  Be careful of the hot oil!  Cook them on this side until they are lovely golden and toasty.  When you're ready, take them out and put them on a rack or a plate with paper towels to blot up the oil.  Fry up as many as you like.

Serve them with beans or mustard greens or anything with a lot of pot-liquor to sop up.  Like I mentioned before, they're good with a fried egg (over easy) on top with salsa and a little Mexican crema.  I'm also thinking some carnitas on top with fixin's will hit the spot.  The possibilities are really endless with this nice carrier.  Have fun and remember Estelle made them for me as a special treat.  I loved them and I loved her too.