I want you to cook a pan of spoon bread.
All my life I have heard of spoon bread, but had, until recently, neither cooked nor eaten any.
It has been a wasted life.
Spoon bread is good. lt is an old recipe. I have looked in several cookbooks and find it in the Rumsford Complete Cookbook published first in 1908, the Modern Priscilla Cookbook, copyrighted in 1929, and several others. There are two versions in the Williamsburg Art of Cookery (1938), one attributed to an “Old Recipe, Petersburg, Virginia, From a Williamsburg Family Cookbook.” A spoon bread recipe almost always shows up in cookbooks printed by churches and other organizations.
Spoon bread is just what it says it is. It is served in the pan in which it is baked, so use an attractive baking dish. It would cook great in your cast iron skillet, but that would look rather crude sitting on the table. It is called spoon bread because it does not become as firm as cornbread does. It must be served with a spoon, and it is eaten with a fork. Most of the recipes say to serve topped with butter. That’s optional, but good.
I can’t document this, but I think spoon bread is mostly a Southern dish. The recipes are all similar, but none of the several I found were identical – somewhat like making potato salad. Some use only water, some only milk, and some require both. Some recipes say to boil the milk/water/milk-water and add the cornmeal. Others say to mix it all together and then bring to a boil. One suggested adding 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese.
The one common instruction is that spoon bread must be served hot, probably to melt that pat of butter. So here are three recipes from different cookbooks. Select one, mix and bake it when you get home from church, and I just know everyone at your table will enjoy Spoon Bread for …Sunday Dinner.
Spoon Bread (1)
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
⅓ cup cornmeal
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons melted shortening
Scald the milk, stir in the cornmeal gradually and cook in a double boiler until thickened like mush. Meanwhile, separate the eggs. Beat the whites until stiff and beat the yolks.
Remove meal mix from heat. Add salt, baking powder, beaten egg yolks and shortening to the meal mixture; then fold in the egg whites. Turn into a greased baking dish and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Serves 6.
Spoon Bread (2)
1 cup milk
1 cup cornmeal
2 eggs, separated
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons baking powder
Place milk and water in saucepan. Add cornmeal and salt and cook 5 minutes, stirring as needed. Add beaten egg yolks, baking powder and butter. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into mix.
Pour into greased casserole dish and bake at 425 degrees for 40 minutes. Serves 6.
Spoon Bread (3)
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups water
1 tablespoon shortening
1 cup milk
Place the meal, salt, shortening and water in a saucepan. Cook, stirring until smooth and thick. Allow to cool, then stir in the beaten eggs. Thin the batter with the 1 cup milk and beat well. Pour into a baking dish and bake in hot oven about 30 minutes. Serves 6.