Power-Packed Cornbread

Here in the overcrowded Shoe, there is little point in cooking anything that isn't extremely nutritious.  I make a cornbread that's almost as high in protein as your average sirloin steak and loaded with fiber.  This is cornbread that will put hair on your chest, and even my brother, the certifiable junk food junkie, cannot get enough of it.  I usually begin with a trip to Yoder's Farm Market for egg white powder, raw sugar, and real corn meal (pure ground corn and nothin' but). 

You can also get Hodgson Mill brand non-degerminated corn meal at Food City in Galax, and JustWhites egg white powder, and raw (demarara or turbinado) sugar (Sugar in the Raw, Florida Crystals), but all of them are far cheaper at Yoder's. 

http://www.yodersonline.com/

RECIPE:

• 2 c. nondegerminated corn meal
• 1 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 c. white flour
• 1 c. dry milk powder
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 heaping tbsp. egg white powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 5 tbsp. raw sugar

Stir well.  (I put all this in my Kitchen Maid mixing bowl and give it a whirl with the wire beater attachment).  Meanwhile, mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl:

• 4 beaten eggs, farm fresh if possible
• 2 c. buttermilk or sour milk  (I use reconstituted powdered milk and add a tsp. of white vinegar and let it sit for a few minutes; MUCH lower in fat and cheaper too)
• 3/4 c. canola oil

Stir just until well moistened (don't stir it to death) and pour the batter into a big cast iron skillet. 

Bake at 400 degrees for about 35-40 minutes, until golden brown.  This will make a big skillet full right to the top of thick delicious cornbread.  Now you are saying, "Shoedame, who wants to heat an oven to 400 in the middle of summer?"  So make it late at night or early in the morning, or save this recipe for the fall.

Another hint:  this cornbread isn't bright yellow, it's brownish.  The image above is not of my cornbread, even though I just made some yesterday, because the kids ran off with the digital camera.  Some purists who are accustomed to cornbread made with White Lily Enriched (Impoverished) Corn Meal Mix, like mama & grandmama always made, may think if it ain't canary yellow, it ain't cornbread.  Well, Wal-Mart sells a wonderful Hodgson Mill product called White Wheat Flour, which is 100% pure whole wheat, but is white.  It will keep your cornbread that nice familiar yellow color, or you could always add a drop of yellow food coloring.

For smaller households than mine (that is, everybody's), you can freeze half in a gallon Ziploc freezer bag for later, or halve the recipe.