Cornbread

Use to prepare Corn Bread and Chestnut Stuffing, or enjoy this on its own.

This recipe was created to prepare Herb and Bacon Corn Bread Stuffing and Sausage, Cranberry and Corn Bread Stuffing .

Many southerners object to the practice of adding sugar to corn bread, but associate food editor Alexis Touchet, who grew up in Louisiana, is all for it. Sugar, in fact, is listed as an optional ingredient in the recipe for "pain de maïs nonpareil" in The Picayune's Creole Cook Book, first published in 1901. It's important here that your cast-iron skillet is well seasoned and thoroughly preheated—you want the batter to sizzle when you pour it in.

If preparing this corn bread for the New England Sausage Stuffing , make it one day ahead.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe originally accompanied Smoked Chicken Salad on Toasted Corn Bread Triangles . The corn bread is great on its own, too.

Jalapeño chilies give this a nice spicy kick. An accompaniment to Chicken Chili Verde .

Also try this with scrambled eggs, omelets or a big bowl of chili.

This moist bread is best fresh from the oven, but it can also be made ahead and reheated.

The following corn bread is not to be eaten on its own; it's meant for stuffing, so we've deliberately made it dry.

Chef Susan Goss says that the secret here is in her cast-iron skillet. Nonstick pans produce anemic, soft corn bread. This recipe also works well with corn-stick or muffin molds, as long as they’re well-seasoned cast iron. If your pan is hot enough, the batter will immediately rise and start to cook around the edges. (The restaurant’s skillets rarely leave the oven.) At Zinfandel, the corn bread is served with a wonderful spread. To make it, combine 1 stick of softened unsalted butter with 2 tablespoons buckwheat honey (another honey or pure maple syrup can be substituted).

This recipe originally accompanied Corn Bread Succotash Stuffing . The corn bread also can be served on its own.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The original cornmeal batters, as made for the settlers by the Indians, consisted of cornmeal, salt and water. These simple batters quickly evolved to include eggs, butter and milk, and were the basis of many of the most celebrated Early American breads, cakes and puddings.