Special Diet Information

Coumadin® (Warfarin)
This recipe is safe for Coumadin (warfarin) users.

Lactose
Avoid this recipe if you are lactose intolerant.

Sodium
This is NOT a low sodium recipe.

GERD / Acid Reflux
No specific GERD triggers.

Gluten Sensitivity
This recipe is safe for those who are sensitive to gluten. Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, as sold in the United States, is gluten-free.

"I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation." -George Bernard Shaw

The refrigerator light goes on...

This cornbread was inspired by a Christmas gift from my brother.

I looked in the basket that he gave me and thought about some of the flavors, and the idea of adding the aromatic porcini and truffle oil to the stone ground cornmeal was appealing. The oil tasted a bit subtle - too subtle to support the cornmeal on its own, but this got me to thinking about using dried porcini dust.

This took me a number of tries to get the cornbread right. There are a lot of theories about cornbread out there and one could spend all day reading opposing ideas about whether to use flour, course ground or finely ground cornmeal, different leavening agents, choices of fats. It is actually quite entertaining reading.

I started with a previous recipe on the Dr. Gourmet Website but the first try was flat. Not a little but a LOT flat with almost no rise to the cornbread. In addition, it had a metallic and astringent aftertaste. Looking at my baking powder answered the question. It was out of date by about a year. With baking powder that is more than enough to render it ineffective (I don't bake very often so it's not surprising that it was old).



After a trip to the store and a second try at the same recipe the result was good, but still missing something. It had a great wild mushroom flavor, and was light enough, with good texture, but it wasn't sweet enough. I had used 2 tablespoons of honey and the third try, with 4 tablespoons went straight in the trash (a good idea for a dessert cornbread - without the mushrooms - for later, but too sweet for this version). I actually thought about and even opened the Lyle's Black Treacle (black treacle is molasses, by the way) but that really would have come out tasting like dessert.



Number four is spot on. I soaked the cornmeal for 20 minutes and that softened the coarse, stone ground cornmeal, added a bit more baking powder, reduced the baking soda a bit, left out the salt and added the Worcestershire sauce. Savory, sweet, a bit salty, light but not too much so and a great cornbread flavor.