sprinklefingers

we’ve been discussing kitchen bibles.
you’ve got yours, right?

yesterday i told you mine, and here i am again today doing my best to beat the topic into the ground. just kidding. there’ll be no beating…just simple recipe sharing!

the recipe comes from laurel’s kitchen. a cookbook i got in college while still a vegetarian. a cookbook that taught me - truly - what whole foods means. the book itself is half recipes and half how-to-eat manual. it was published in 1976 and then again completely revised in 1986 and guess what? it covered the food rules way before it was cool to do so.

the recipe i’m sharing is for a combination of beans and cornbread that’s just so delicious you’ll hardly believe it was so simple to prepare. you layer juicy, flavorful beans in the bottom of a baking dish, you pour a simple cornbread batter on top and bake it. delicious, easy and the perfect way to celebrate, say, elvis’ birthday. (uh, yes, i have been known to celebrate the day of the king’s birth. and, yes, the celebration always includes this corn pone. and probably suspicious minds on repeat. but that’s just me. you can find other uses for this recipe, certainly.)

tennessee corn pone
from laurel’s kitchen

preparation:

• butter a 9x13 glass baking dish.
• cook 2 cups dried black-eyed peas: soak them overnight, then simmer them in water until tender. (you could dice an onion and some bacon and add it to the simmering water to make the beans extra flavorful. it’s what i do.)

you need:

• 4 juicy cups cooked black-eyed peas, still hot (or reheated ‘til hot)
• 2 cups medium grind cornmeal
• 2 t baking soda
• 1 t kosher salt
• 4 T unsalted butter, melted
• 4 cups buttermilk
• 2 large eggs, beaten lightly

to make the corn pone:

1. pour the beans into your prepared baking dish.
2. preheat the oven to 425.
3. whisk together your dry ingredients: cornmeal, baking soda, salt.
4. stir together the wet ingredients: melted butter, buttermilk and beaten eggs.
5. add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until smooth.
6. pour the cornbread batter over the beans and slide the baking dish into the oven.
7. bake until the cornbread is golden and firm, but not at all over-browning - 30-40 minutes. (if it does start to overbrown before it has set, simply reduce the heat to 375 and continue to bake until set.)

i like to serve tennessee corn pone with a bit of sour cream. some people like it with salsa. or hot sauce. others like it with some pickled jalapenos. then there are those that like it frosted with smashed avocados, but those people shall remain nameless.

recipe notes: when you mix the batter for the cornbread, don’t panic. it’s very wet - almost runny. but trust me, pour that business right over the top of those beans! it will run in and around the beans and bake up to be ultra-delicious.