lunaticsinge.com - Southern Cuisine Bread

Hoecakes (Fried Cornbread) - (Serves 4)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup self-rising white cornmeal

1/2 cup self-rising flour

2 teaspoons sugar

1/3 cup buttermilk

1 large egg

1/3 cup water, or more as needed

2 tablespoons melted fat or oil; bacon grease, fried-chicken grease, butter, or vegetable oil

Butter or mixed butter & vegetable oil, for frying

1. In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. Add the buttermilk slowly. Mix in the egg, cutting into the yolk with the spoon's edge to help it mix in better. Add the water and fat or oil and stir well. The texture should be like thick soup, so you may need to add more water.

2. Heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat and grease it well with the fat of your choice. Once the skillet is hot and the fat is sizzling, drop the batter from a 1/8 cup (2 tablespoon) measure into the skillet, in batches if necessary. Fry the cakes until the edges are bubbling and the centers are set, then flip with a spatula to fry them on the other side until they're done.

3. If the cakes seem greasy, drain them on paper towels before serving hot.

Hushpuppies - (Serves 6)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups stone-ground white cornmeal

1/2 cup self-rising flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup beer (not dark)

!/2 cup onion, finely chopped

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon parsley, chopped

Vegetable oil or lard, for frying

1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In another bowl, beat the eggs, then add the sour cream, beer, onion, garlic, and parsley, then mix together.

2. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix everything together well with a rubber spatula. Don't over-mix, which will toughen the hushpuppies. The batter will be thick. Let it sit, covered, in the fridge for 30 minutes.

3. Shortly before you're ready to fry, pour the oil into a deep fryer or Dutch oven to a depth of at least 3 inches. Heat to 375 degrees F on a deep-fry thermometer. To form the puppies, you can use a 1/2-tablespoon measure, or a small ice cream scoop (1 1/2 tablespoons). Have ready a cup of water to clean off any leftover batter from the spoon or scoop before the next pup goes in, as well as a bowl lined with paper towels.

4. When the oil is ready, drop in the fry basket and, one by one, drop the puppies into the basket, cleaning the spoon or scoop in the water as you go. The pups will usually turn themselves right over to cook their other side. If they don't, shake the basket to encourage them. When they're nice and crisp on the outside and a deep golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes, pull out the basket and drain the pups in the paper towel-lined bowl and start the next batch, Serve as fast as you can.

Banana Bread - (Makes 1 loaf)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

5 very ripe bananas

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1. Set the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-x-5-x-4-inch loaf pan, or spray all over with baking spray.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the nuts, if using.

3. Mash the bananas very well with a wooden spoon i a large bowl, or use an electric mixer. Add the butter, sugar, eggs, and nutmeg to the bananas and mix well with an electric mixer on medium-high, On low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Scrape the batter into the loaf pan.

4. Slide the pan into the oven. After 1 hour, start testing with a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf. It will come out clean when the banana bread is done, probably about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack, still in the loaf pan, for 10 minutes.

5. Run a knife around the edges of the pan and turn the banana bread out onto a platter to coo. Don't try to slice the loaf until it's cooled all the way. Wrapped in aluminum foil, the bread will keep for several days, or you can freeze it. Serve at room temperature.

Monkey Bread - (Makes 1 large coffee cake)

Ingredients:

2 (4.5 oz.) tubes Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits, each biscuit quartered & shaped into balls

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) butter, melted

1 1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1. Se the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a Bundt pan with baking spray.

2. Pull of pieces of dough and shape into golf ball-sized balls.

3. Pour the melted butter into a shallow dish. Put the sugar and cinnamon in a large paper or plastic bag and shake well to mix.

4. Sprinkle half the nuts n the bottom of the Bundt pan. Working with a few balls of dough at a time, roll them in the melted butter, drop them into the cinnamon-sugar bag, and shake well to coat. Arrange the balls evenly in the Bundt pan, continuing until you have added half the balls. Drizzle with half the butter from the cake pan and sprinkle with the remaining pecans.

5. Coat the remaining dough balls and arrange them in the pan. Drizzle with the rest of the butter and scatter any leftover cinnamon sugar n top.

6. Bake until the top of the bread springs back when touched an a tester inserted comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then turn the monkey bread out onto a plate and serve warm.