Month: December 2017

What is the best corn bread and why is it Charlie Bread?

How to make amazing Charlie Bread

When my wife wanted me to make Charlie bread for the first time, I was pretty sure I knew what I was making: cornbread.

Yes.  But, no. Not really.

Charlie bread is cornbread baked in a cast iron pan and is made rich with creamed corn and sour cream.

 

 

Ingredients

Self-rising corn meal mix

Baking powder

Baking soda

Corn oil

Eggs

Creamed corn

Sour cream

Salt

Pepper

Tools

Whisk

Mixing bowls

Scale or measuring cups and spoons

9″ or 10″ cast iron pan

Substitutions

Bacon fat, as mentioned in the recipe, is a good choice for the pan. You can also use bacon fat, or melted lard, in place of the peanut oil.

Regular canned corn will not perform as well as creamed corn. The starch and liquid are necessary for the right balance.

Fine grain corn meal will work, but the texture will be different.

Storage

Charlie bread freezes very nicely for up to a month as slices. We put them into snap top containers and freeze one piece per container.  That’s perfect for work lunches.

People, time, and memory are fickle actors.  Add food to that and getting it right is a tough task.

I was competing with a beloved grandma and years of fond memories of Charlie bread.  How was I supposed to even twin grandma’s?

13 or so year on I am reminded, on occasion, that it is pretty good but not quite as good as Grandam Doris’.  Fair enough.

Make and bake the Charlie Bread

Heat your oven to 450° F and place the cast iron pan inside to get hot.

Mix your Charlie bread like a muffin, all the liquids together and the dry folded into that.

Remove the cast iron pan from the oven and add a generous portion, 1 tablespoon or so, of fat to the pan.  Lift and tilt the pan to coat the bottom and corner edges of the pan.

Pour the mixed batter into the prepared hot pan and return to the oven until it is done

Remove the pan. Give the pan a jiggle to see if there is a spot where the bread stuck. Use an offset spatula to press the edge of the bread toward the center and do that all the way around the pan. Turn the bread out and cut and eat. It doesn’t get better as it cools which really means it is just fine, but still piping hot is, OH! That’s good.

Charlie bread sliced and already on the table.We find this particularly well suited as the side for chili.

 

 

Print

Charlie Bread

A staple in my wife's family for years and years.  Excellent alone with butter on top or with chili.  Or, pretty much anytime.

Course Bread
Cuisine American
Keyword Best side for chili, Corn bread, Family traditions, Grandma's cooking, Not corn bread
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Resting time 5 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 8 portions
Author Dann Reid

Ingredients

Make the batter

  • 185 g Corn meal mix-self rising
  • 8 g Baking powder
  • 4 g Baking soda
  • 90 g Corn oil
  • 2 each Eggs
  • 1 each 8 oz can creamed corn
  • 240 g Sour cream
  • Salt and pepper

Instructions

Procedure

  1. Place your 10" cast iron pan in an oven heated to 425°F.

  2. Mix this the muffin method: Corn meal and baking powder in one bowl. Mix the creamed corn, oil, sour cream, and eggs together, pour the wet onto the dry and fold together.

  3. Pour a small amount of corn oil (I use bacon grease) in the pan. Tilt the pan to and fro to cover the bottom of the pan with the oil, pour the Charlie Bread mix into the pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is nicely golden brown.

  4. Remove the pan. Give the pan a jiggle to see if there is a spot where the bread stuck. Use whatever kitchen tool you have to press the edge of the bread toward the center and do that all the way around the pan. Turn the bread out and cut and eat. It doesn’t get better as it cools which really means it is just fine, but still piping hot is, OH! That’s good.

Recipe Notes

I've always felt a few scallions cut very thin would be a great addition to this. But, some things aren't to be fussed with. In my house, this is one of those things.

If you prefer a taller bread, increase the recipe by 50%. It comes out nice and tall.

 

Were They Wrong About Fat?

All Fat Is Not The Same

European style butter

Okay, no one is saying fry your bacon in butter….No.  no, we’re not saying that. But, according to the article linked below, there is some reason to rethink the thoughts that eating fats causes Cardiovascular Heart Disease.

As has always been the case, wise choices make a difference.  In a sea of information and mis-information, it is no wonder many people get confused, overwhelmed and just surrender.

I fully recognize how totally unfair it is to publish anything talking about fat intake at Christmas what with the cookies and short bread and Bouche de Noël and pies and cakes.  I guess as long as it isn’t bacon cake, you should be okay.  Mmmmm, bacon cake.  Uh, I gotta go invent.

Here’s the article.

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Read and read some more

I found this linked article in my email feed.  An RD discusses the diet needs of kids.

Sounds great.  Except the information she’s sharing, that same information we’ve been given, is described as the cure to the problem that low fat and low meat diets have caused.  It’s almost as if the solution to the drowning swimmer is dive once more.

Here’s the link and there you can see the video.  The video itself does not address low fat, but does discuss healthy eating, fruits and veggies, and meatless Mondays.  The cynic in me sees a push toward vegetarianism.

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I am about half way through the text of the book.  What remains is nearly 100 pages of footnotes and bibliography.  Impressive.

I find it challenging to swoon too much about the information here.  Not only the information we have been told is wrong, the manner in which it became doctrine, in the face of contradictory evidence, is upsetting.

I’ll write a full review when I’m done.  Know this, however.  Nina is a journalist, not an RD, and as such save no sacred cows, so to speak.  Meat and fat and oil and the Mediterranean Diet are all on the table for examination.

Also, this book discusses similar topics in much greater detail. The author can be heard discussing her book here, and it can be purchased below.

 

Here is more about the SAD: Standard American Diet.

Episode 11

Episode 14