Bread You Eat With a Spoon

Home cooking should be deeply satisfying and simple. Spoon bread, a sort of cornmeal custard, is a perfect example of this.

It is a “spinoff” of corn bread and is eaten, obviously, with a spoon. It’s often served as a side dish with pot roast, chicken or fish, but it is so good that it can easily be the main event for supper with the addition of cheese or tomato sauce, or a sausage or two served on the side, or with a tart, chilled spinach salad.

Spoon Bread reheats well, or you can pan-fry slices of it in a skillet coated with a little olive oil. Heat 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet. Put your hand about 1 inch above skillet bottom; if it feels hot, use a spatula to set Spoon Bread slices in a single layer in the skillet. Fry each side until golden, then turn it over. This is delicious served with salad, soup or slices of ham.

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Spoon Bread

Active Work Time: 10 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 50 minutes * Vegetarian

Both milk and buttermilk work well, but I think the buttermilk gives a nice tartness.

2 1/2 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup yellow cornmeal

4 eggs

1 cup milk or buttermilk

Butter for greasing

* Bring water and salt to boil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Slowly pour in cornmeal, stirring briskly to get rid of lumps. Stir until smooth and blended, 1 minute. Remove from heat.

* Beat eggs with whisk in small mixing bowl. Whisk in milk. Whisk into cornmeal mixture. Be sure to mix everything together smoothly.

* Spread batter evenly with spatula into 8x8x2-inch glass baking dish of which bottoms and sides have been generously greased. Bake at 400 degrees until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean about 25 to 35 minutes. (Start checking Spoon Bread at 25 minutes.) Cool about 10 minutes. Slice and serve hot.

4 to 6 servings. Each of 6 servings: 154 calories; 456 mg sodium; 145 mg cholesterol; 4 grams fat; 20 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams protein; 0.14 gram fiber.