Of Cast Iron and Cornbread

About author / Josh Gunn

Bachelor chef; southern cooking; mixologist; university professor. Josh's recipes will delight (and sometimes terrify) you.

Typically, admitting one is a bachelor to someone usually says to them that you ain't got a stocked kitchen; you're probably still using the cheap pots from the dollar store that your Aunt Edna gave you seven birthdays ago.

So if you're the primary target of this column, then you probably need more pots and pans. First, when you have some spare cash check out the housewares section of one of those discount retailers and buy a quality pot or pan every now and again. Dude: two of my fancy, All-clad pots came from TJ Maxx, and I'm not ashamed to admit it because you can get cheap underwear there too (and I know some of y'all also need new underwear, so pick up a pair).

Also easy on the wallet are two crucial kitchen items that are an absolute necessity for the manly cook: a cast iron Dutch oven for making stews, gumbos, cobblers, and so on; and a cast iron skillet. Cast iron is cheap and super-durable, but it requires a little time to properly "season" them and a little TLC.

Most cast iron skillets will provide instructions for proper seasoning, so I'm not going to tell you here. I will say, however, that you should never let any soap touch that skillet! Wash in hot water only!

Ideally, you'd get yourself two skillets: a 12" one and then a smaller one. This week's recipe requires a 12-incher, a blender (which I know you have because of those frozen drinks) or a food processor and some mixing bowls. Once you've acquired these necessary items, you're ready to read-on.

Barry, the boss-man at my other, more lucrative job entertains a lot (that's what good bosses do), and he is, without a doubt, one of the best cooking hosts in Texas. At almost every gathering he uses his 12" cast iron skillet to make some of the best cornbread I've ever tasted.

In part the cornbread's delicious flavor has something to do with his skillet, which he has been using and therefore seasoning for decades. But even without an exquisitely seasoned skillet the cornbread is to die for. The recipe was apparently handed down one generation to the next until Linda Putnam, who used to work up the road a piece in College Station, made it for my boss and he coaxed it out of her. Linda kindly agreed to share the recipe with us, which Barry modified slightly to suit his penchant for heat.

For the recipe below, I like to add three jalapenos, however, some folks think this is too spicy. It really depends on the particular pepper one has chosen---just like the Morrissey song goes, "some peppers are spicier than others, some peppers are spicier than others, some pepper mothers are spicier than other peppers' mothers." For less spicy cornbread, you can add fewer peppers or the canned or pickled kind, which tend to be less spicy.

As the cornbread cools, the inside will firm up and become dip-able. Dip-able in what? you might be asking yourself. Why, pot likker, of course! Don't know what pot-likker is? Well then, you'll just have to read my smothered greens recipe from last week. Like two lovers cooing on a park bench, collards and cornbread go together like rama-lama-lama-ke-ding-a-de-dinga-a-dong. Oh yeah, and for clean up, wash your skillet with water only and then slather it with a little "grease" for seasoning.

And for you bachelors who hate grating you can use a 2 cup package of pre-shredded cheese.

Serves/Makes: 6

• butter, for the skillet
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 can (15 ounce size) cream-style corn
• 1 whole jalapeno pepper, stem removed (seeded if desired)
• 1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
• 1/4 pound Cheddar cheese, grated
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk