If you don’t want to crawl inside this buttery cornmeal biscuit and live there, you are stronger than me.

Skillet bread, corn pones, hoecakes, johnnycakes, shortenin’ bread, cornbread. You can’t do anything wrong with cornbread. Except use cornmeal from the grocery store.


My cousin started grinding corn as a project for 4-H. He never stopped. You can find him selling his cornmeal, and grinding his corn live, in West Virginia at the Black Walnut Festival in Spencer every October and the Mountain State Arts & Crafts Festival in Ripley every July. (Left, my cousin’s son manning the cornmeal sales table at the Black Walnut Festival.) If you don’t live in West Virginia, you can find fresh-ground cornmeal at your own local fairs and festivals, farmers markets, or any place that sells organic foods. It’s worth it. You’ll never go back to Jiffy mix. My favorite thing to do when my cousin is grinding corn behind the barn? Take cornmeal fresh off the grinder and run into the farmhouse kitchen to bake the freshest cornbread in the world. There. Is. Nothing. Better.

Favorite farm cornmeal story: My cousin’s mother, Georgia, makes this cornmeal salad. I thought it was good and I asked her for the recipe. My cousin’s wife made a comment that my cousin won’t eat that cornmeal salad. Surprised, I said, “But it’s made with his cornmeal!” She said, “No, it’s not! Georgia got the recipe off a Jiffy mix box and she has to follow the directions exactly and that means making it with a Jiffy mix.”

::thunk::

She’s 78. She follows directions!! The directions say to USE A JIFFY MIX. Because she got the recipe off a JIFFY BOX.

I just want to say, for the record, that no matter what your directions say, use fresh-ground cornmeal if you can get it. And I know, I have become a cornmeal snob, but it’s not only my endless free supply of cornmeal here. I’ve tasted it. It does make a difference. But if you can’t, at least use real cornmeal, not a packaged mix. Use the best, and freshest, cornmeal you can get. And try my Sour Cream Cornmeal Biscuits. (Which go perfectly with Country Chili.) You will think you’ve died and gone to heaven if you eat one of these biscuits right out of the oven.

Though, you know, if somebody dies while they’re eating one, don’t come after me. You were warned.

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These biscuits have an extra taste kick with the cornmeal that makes them special–and they’re quick if you use a baking mix. Use my homemade baking mix, Quick Mix or your own favorite baking mix or a store-bought baking mix, or if you don’t keep a mix onhand, you can make it by the batch, so I’ve included the recipe from scratch.

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How to make Sour Cream Cornmeal Biscuits:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup milk

*To use a baking mix, replace first five ingredients in the recipe with 1 1/2 cups baking mix plus 1 teaspoon sugar–if you want it sweet. The scratch recipe is sweeter than you’ll get with a baking mix.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt (or baking mix). Add cornmeal. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter and mix. Add sour cream and as much milk as needed to make a stiff biscuit dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to about an inch and a half thickness. Cut out biscuits and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 450-degrees for 10-12 minutes, till golden. Makes about a dozen biscuits, depending on size.

See this recipe at Farm Bell Recipes and save it to your recipe box.

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I often start chili a day or two ahead of time, with a pot of beans. After using the beans in other meals, I make chili with the leftovers. Put it all together and simmer it all day in the crock pot. Serve it up piping hot. And when I say hot, I mean really hot–as in spicy. I use hot chili powder and hot peppers. (You can use mild if you want. But oh, it’s so good spicy.)

Mix it up with different beans, or use your favorite only. Black, kidney, or pinto beans all work well. I also often throw in various vegetable leftovers–it’s a great way to sneak in veggies on the kids. This is my basic recipe that I start with, but it comes out different every time depending on what I have on hand.

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How to make a Pot of Chili:

1 pound ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped hot or mild peppers
4 cups home-cooked beans or 2 14-ounce cans of beans
1 16-ounce can of stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 clove finely chopped garlic or 1 teaspoon garlic powder
4 teaspoons hot or regular chili powder
1 teaspoon seasoned salt

In a large pot, brown ground beef with onion and peppers. Dump in the beans and tomatoes. Add garlic, chili powder, and seasoned salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, for at least 30 minutes (or simmer in the crock pot all day!). Top with sour cream and shredded cheddar if desired.

*You know you need some cornbread now.

See this recipe at Farm Bell Recipes and save it to your recipe box.


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More posts you might enjoy:

An Unexpected Event

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Icicle broken off a cliff. Who needs store-bought treats?

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More posts you might enjoy:

An Unexpected Event

Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay

The Big Dig

T’was the Night of the Prom