National Championship Hangover

So last night was the OSU/LSU National Championship game. I am not much of an Ohio State football fan (someday I may delve into this further but today is not the day...), but I am a football fan. Or, at least, I am a football fan compared to the public at large. My family is what one might call obsessed with football. The men in my family all played football, including college ball. Even L is nuts about college football. I just didn't inherit the obsessed gene. My obsessed gene took a decidedly summerish stance and zeroed in on baseball. But I digress. This is about food right?

So last night my older brother, C, had people over to his house to watch the Big Game. I knew he was making chili, which isn't my favorite food. So I decided to offer to bring cornbread since I was craving it. I called L to get her favorite recipe (read: one that tastes like Jif boxed mix which we both love). Well surprisingly, L doesn't have a favorite recipe! So I was left to sifting through my cookbooks... a tough job but I muddled through and came up with Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby's Your Basic Cornbread from Big Flavors of the Hot Sun.

I thought the cornbread was quite good. It was extremely easy to throw together at the last minute (I love recipes that encourage you to not over-mix!). It is a very dense bread and was maybe a touch dry, but I slather enough honey butter on it to disguise any dryness. I think I would use this recipe again without much tweaking. I do think it would be interesting to sub some honey in for the white sugar. However, I made the recipe as written so that is what I will type.

PS Aren't the latest dog pictures adorable??

Your Basic Cornbread
Big Flavors of the Hot Sun
Sometimes the only thing you really want with a spicy meal is a good, plain, hearty hunk of old-fashioned cornbread, and this is the version that I like best. A bit on the sweet side, it goes great with just about everything, particularly with hot and spicy foods.

Makes about 12 thick pieces

4 cups AP Flour
2 cups Yellow Cornmeal
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons baking powder
4 large eggs
3 cups milk
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup melted butter

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly grease an 8" x 12" x 2" baking pan.
2. Sift together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, milk, and oil.
4. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients, then add the melted butter. Stir until just barely mixed.
5. Pour the batter into the greased pan and bake for approximately 1 hour, or until the top of the cornbread is brown and a cake tested inserted in the center comes out clean.