Tender, Slightly Sweet Corn Bread

Ingredients

1/2 cup (60 g) whole wheat, spelt, or farro flour

2 cups (320 g) stone-ground cornmeal

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons kosher salt

½ cup (120 ml) boiling water

1.5 cups (335 g) plain whole-milk yogurt

2 large eggs

4 tablespoons (60 g) unsalted butter

Honey Butter with Bee Pollen (page 307), for serving (optional)

Directions

Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Place a 9-inch (23 cm) cast-iron skillet (or other heavy ovenproof baking dish, such as a small Dutch oven) on the middle rack.

Whisk together the whole wheat flour, 1½ cups (240 g) of the cornmeal, the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.

Put the remaining ½ cup (80 g) cornmeal in a small bowl and stir in the boiling water. Stir vigorously until it becomes thick and mushy.

Whisk together the yogurt and eggs in a medium bowl, then whisk in the cornmeal mush. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and stir several times to blend. You don't want to overmix or the corn bread will be tough, so it's okay if a few lumps remain.

Take the skillet from the oven (use good oven mitts!), add the butter, and swirl the pan so it melts. It will probably sizzle quite a bit and even brown, which is fine. But if it looks or smells burned, pour it out and start over!

Notes

SAVORY

Fold 2 cups (320 g) fresh corn kernels into the batter.

Fold 1 cup (120 g) grated sharp cheddar into the batter. Fold ½ cup (120 g) drained chopped canned green chiles into the batter.

SWEET

Fold 2 cups (300 g) fresh or frozen blueberries into the batter. Lay slices of ripe peach on top of the batter once it's in the skillet.

Your corn bread will of course only be as good as your cornmeal, so be sure to use a good stone-ground meal, preferably one that's fresh from a local mill (see Sources, page 332). Stone- ground meals are usually coarser than the typical grocery store stuff (such as Quaker cornmeal), so here I use a neat trick that keeps the texture of the final bread from being too coarse as well: I make a mush with some of the cornmeal, which allows it to absorb some liquid before being blended into the batter.

-Makes one 9-inch (23 cm) round corn bread