Community Cookbook

Breads were a part of every meal on the farm. The variety was enormous--from fried cornmeal "dog bread," hushpuppies, cracklin' pone, and pancakes to biscuits, rolls, muffins, ash cake and quick breads. We spread them with freshly churned butter, molasses, or preserves, and at family meals everyone loved to sop up juice from the cooked peas or beans with biscuits and cornbread. There was always a crowd to cook for on the farm, and learning to judge the right amount of soda to put in bread was a real challenge. No wonder I was so delighted when self-rising flour came out!

This fried cornbread is good with barbecue or fish. When frying hushpuppies, don't overcrowd them, or they will cook too slow and be greasy. -Mildred Council

Ingredients
1 cup self-rising cornmeal
1/2 cup self-rising flour
2 tablespoons finely chopped
onions
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup buttermilk

Mix together the cornmeal, flour and onions. Stir in the egg and buttermilk. Let the mixture sit for 3 to 5 minutes, then stir again so the dough will hold together better while cooking. Drop the batter by tablespoon into a deep fat fryer at 350 degrees and fry until brown all over. Or cook the hushpuppies in a frying pan filled with enough oil to allow them to float. Drain on a paper towel.

Reprinted from Mama Dip's Kitchen, by Mildred Council, with the permission of UNC Press.

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Community Cookbook features recipes by local chefs. Submit your recipes to: Community Cookbook, The Independent Weekly, PO Box 2690, Durham, NC 27715.