and Cornbread

well, they just go together, right? can’t have greens without cornbread, at least around hyah. but sometimes you don’t really need a whole pan of cornbread. for instance, sometimes i make greens just for the house - not for any big dinner. so i freeze some of the greens in small containers (like margarine tubs), and then whenever i want some i can thaw them out and heat them up.

there’s a simple solution to the cornbread crisis in that situation . . . make corncakes! of course corn griddle cakes are a staple, too, and i actually think they are easier to make. if you make your cornbread from scratch (and i’m talking regular -- not hot water -- cornbread), just add an egg to it and a little more water and you’ve got the batter for corncakes. if you want to add some frozen corn to it, i suggest thawing the corn first. you can zap a little in the microwave or put some hot water over it and then drain it before adding to the batter, but if you use the hot water defrost method add the corn to the batter before you adjust the amount of water.

then just cook them like pancakes except remember that if you are using corn, they can take a little bit longer. and don’t use too much corn or they may stay raw in the center when they are done at the edges. just a hint of corn, please.

now i think most people use a very popular cornbread mix and add egg, oil and milk or water. hey - i remember when that stuff was 20 cents for a box during the holidays. if you use it (okay, it’s Jiffy), then make it up as usual and just add a little more water until it’s pancake batter consistency.

but if you can, then look for Krusteaz corn bread and corn muffin mixes. if you can find a restaurant supply that sells retail, they will probably have it or something just like it. it makes a good product and the beauty of all Krusteaz mixes is that they are formulated so you only add water. i go ahead and add an egg because the griddle cakes come out a little better, but you don’t really need to do that to get a good corncake.

which brings me to a related subject and that’s griddle cakes in general. don’t know why but when i am watching tv and there are lots of food commercials, some of them might make me go “hmmmm, do i want that?” but there is only one kind of commercial that will - at least some of the time - send me to the kitchen, and that’s commercials featuring PANCAKES. like i said, i don’t know why the pictures of big stacks of fluffy pancakes make me want them, but it does.

maybe part of it is memories of childhood - both my own and my kids’ childhoods. i was listening to a friend describe memories of his mother, who had recently passed, and he was talking about how she would cook breakfast for dinner. and he and his brother and sisters thought they really had something going because they got to eat breakfast for dinner. well, as he grew older he realized it was because they were broke and that was all his single mother of five could afford. plus breakfast is not only cheap, it’s quick, and when his mother got home from her shift at the plant, putting pancakes on the plates of her hungry family seemed like the best idea.

well, i ate pancakes for dinner plenty of times growing up and i fed them to my own kids, too. plus they are kind of like instant gratification . . . you see them in the commercial and then you go into the kitchen and make some in a few minutes.

and there is no need to go to the store. i’m not saying you have to make them from scratch (unless you really, really want to). no, what i’m saying is that if you have ANY kind of baking mix, you can make pancakes.

i talked about making corncakes from corn muffin mix. but i’ve made pancakes from biscuit mix, scone mix, blueberry muffin mix, banana bread mix, and even plain old cake mix! admittedly the cake mix pancakes were pretty sweet, but you didn’t have to put syrup or jam on them.

same thing - just add an egg and some water or milk and maybe a teaspoon of cooking oil (just not olive oil unless you are making non-sweet pancakes). if you are desperate and don’t have the egg, just use the mix and water. one thing to remember is that for tender cakes, you don’t want to mix the batter too much - just until you have got most of the lumps out of it. i use a whisk and just mix it for 10-20 seconds.

if you have never actually made pancakes, it’s not that hard if you have a nonstick pan. just don’t make the pan too hot. i like the little pancakes myself - just ¼ cup batter. a little cooking spray for the first batch helps. or if you have some oil just put a little on a paper towel and wipe it over the pan. put in the batter. let it cook on the first side until there are little bubbles over the surface and then turn. cook on the second side about half as long as it took for the first. if they burn, turn the heat down. if they seem to be cooking really slowly and don’t brown very well, turn the heat up JUST A LITTLE.

if you are using cast iron then i assume you know how to use it - let it heat slowly and just put a little whisper of oil on it for the first round. after that, you don’t really need any grease. when i was feeding lots of kids, i would use a big cast iron frying pan AND a cast iron griddle.

and here is one more tip: if you are serving directly from the pan to the plate, you can skip this. but if you want to hold the pancakes until they are all done, try keeping them in a tortillera. that’s the plastic or styrofoam lidded containers that they use for tortillas in Mexican restaurants. if you have a lot of Mexican and Chicano people in your area, you can find inexpensive tortillerra at Mexican stores. If you live in a place with lots of people from lots of tropical areas, the bigger supermarkets that serve those populations tend to have sections for everyone - Asian, Caribbean, Central and South American, African, etc. For instance, the big Asian supermarkets here also have Mexican and Indian and Filipino and African and Middle Eastern sections. ANYWAY, a tortillera will keep your pancakes perfect and warm until you are ready to serve them. i’ve even nuked the leftovers and enjoyed those, although they aren’t quite as good as they were hot from the pan.

wait - i mentioned “not sweet” pancakes. yes, there is such a thing and if you have been broke enough you may have tried them. i think they work well with gravy or “creamed” whatever you have. creamed tuna on pancakes is better than creamed tuna on toast (in my opinion). or mackerel (pilikaki) with coconut cream and onions. or leftover bits of canned meat. if you don’t have any meat at all you can put creamed onions over them. if you have an egg to put on top you have poor man’s eggs benedict! but even if you don’t it’s a satisfying and filling meal. (i guess this means i’m going to have to talk about how to make gravy and cream sauce, huh? was going to anyway because if you are broke there’s nothing like some biscuits and gravy (or something similar) to stretch out your food budget.

so here is to all of the mom’s (especially the single ones who managed to work and take care of their homes pretty much on their own) who manage somehow to get some food into their kids. and here’s to all the kids who haven’t forgotten their mother’s sacrifices.