Ingredients:
-- 4 oz. fatty salt pork
-- 3/4 c. cornmeal
-- 3/4 c. flour
-- 1 1/2 Tbs. baking powder
-- 1 Tbs. sugar (*opt.)
-- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
-- 1/2 tsp. salt
-- 2 large eggs
-- 1 1/2 c. buttermilk
Preheat the oven to 425F.
Rinse salt pork quickly, then pat dry. Slice off and discard the rind, then cut the pork into 1/4" dice. Turn into a heavy 9 or 10" oven proof skillet, preferably cast iron, and cook over med. heat until very brown and crisp and the fat is rendered. Remove the skillet from the heat.
Whisk dry ingredients together thoroughly in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk eggs until foamy. Whisk in the buttermilk.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just moistened. Fold in the cracklings and all but 1 Tbs. of the fat in the skillet. Set the skillet over high heat until the fat smokes. Remove from the heat and pour in the batter all at once. Immediately set in the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted comes clean, 15-25 mins.
Serve at once, either plain or with jam or sorghum syrup.
Serves 8.
[taken from Joy of Cooking: All About Breakfast & Brunch by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Becker]
This is a favorite recipe of mine. You can substitute a combination of plain yoghurt and milk if you don't have buttermilk. You can also substitute milk curdled with lemon juice or vinegar. Try adding fresh or frozen corn and chopped jalapeno peppers. I've also grated pepper jack cheese on top for a nice spicy-cheesey-bubbly finish.
ReplyDeleteNote you have a typo -- it's 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, not 1 1/2 tablespoons.
ReplyDelete