Cast Iron Skillet Cornbread

2 cups freshly ground corn. If not ground fine in grinder, place in blender on high to finer grind. It doesn’t have to be a flour consistency.

1 cup freshly ground wheat flour

2 eggs

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 cup oil

Water to thin batter

Place oiled skillet in 415°F oven. Heat skillet and oil so that it will make that searing sound when batter is poured in. If it doesn’t sizzle it won’t flip out good, so get the skillet hot. Once hot and batter is poured, place in oven to bake for 25 minutes.

Once you’ve got down the basics try a few different ones, like sourdough. Also, when you’re grinding your flour, throw in a handful of beans to the wheat. This will help add to the ability to absorb vitamins easier. There’s so many other grains also to play with. Flax seeds, quinoa, millet, oats, barley, are all very popular now. Are you gluten free? No problem, try grinding rice. Maybe a rye pumpernickel would suit better. The possibilities are only limited by you!

More can be read on the health benefits of freshly ground flour at healthyeating.sfgate.com.

Originally published in the January/February 2015 issue of Countryside & Small Stock Journal.