The Whole Hog: Corn Muffins

When I was growing up, my mother had an empty coffee can which she kept on the stove; into it would go the bacon-fat drippings. I don't remember eating that much bacon, frankly, but somehow the can always seemed to have plenty in it. As hard as it is to believe now that she is such an enthusiast of oat bran and flax seed meal, my mother would use those drippings to cook with and flavor different dishes. When I was really little we had only one car, which my Daddy would take to work. If my mother ran out of something as she was cooking - oh, well. Canned goods therefore figured prominently in her cooking. The two things I most remember her using the bacon fat to flavor were canned green beans, (which though khaki colored, salty and soft from the canning process, I remember as delicious) and corn bread.

Although my mother no longer saves bacon drippings, I do. I have a little glass container in the refrigerator, and I use it for corn bread, and occasionally when I sautée vegetables for pea soup and the like. Of course, I don't use it that often; most of my cooking is done with olive oil, but a couple of spoonfuls of drippings in the right place can bring so much flavor.

In my last posting I promised I would provide a recipe for corn bread to go with the Hoppin' John. The recipe I am including here (which is both a Whole Hog recipe and goes with one, too) is a classic from the fine New England cookbook Fannie Farmer. Fannie Farmer ran a cooking school in Boston, and was a pioneer in the standardization of recipes. This cookbook, which was most recently revised by Marion Cunningham, rivals The Joy of Cooking as a useful all-purpose cookbook. (Of course, it lacks instructions for skinning a squirrel, but still...) My Grammie Staples had what I believe was the first edition of the Fannie Farmer cookbook, which my mother will forever regret throwing away when it became tatty. Some of the recipes I share most frequently with friends are excellent standards from this book, and I'm sure I will be sharing the Banana Nut Bread and Indian Pudding recipes with you all at some point.

This recipe comes together so quickly; while your dish is finishing off, you can grease the pan and mix the batter in 5-10 minutes, then throw them into the oven for 15 minutes. When your dish is done, you'll have hot, tasty muffins to go with it. If you don't have a ton of people at the table, and exercise even a modicum of self-control, you'll even have a few left over for breakfast. If you do, heat them up in the toaster oven and cut them open, slather with sweet butter and honey or jam. They are best served HOT.

But first, a word about corn meal: Corn is one of the foodstuffs on the marketplace most likely to be GMO - "genetically modified organisms." According to a US government survey, 80-86% of all corn planted between 2000 and 2009 was from genetically modified seed. Organic foods, however, are not GMO. If you wish to avoid GMO's in your food, please be sure to seek out organically grown corn meal.

Fannie Farmer's Corn Bread

3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
2 TB melted bacon fat (or non-transfat shortening, if you must)

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Grease a muffin pan. Mix the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Melt the bacon fat in a small glass or ceramic bowl in the microwave. When it is liquid, beat in the egg with a fork until it is well blended; this keeps the bacon fat from congealing again. Now mix the milk into the egg mixture, and pour the liquids into the corn/flour mix. Stir with the fork or a wooden spoon until well-blended, then fill the muffin cups half-way, scraping the last of the batter with a spatula. You will have just enough to make 12 muffins. Now pop the pan in the oven and bake until the tops are just turning golden, about 15 minutes. Run a butter knife around the edge of each muffin, and pop them out into a basket or bowl lined with a towel to keep them warm. Serve hot with butter.

These muffins are great not only with Hoppin' John, but also corn chowder, chili con carne, and soups, and also make delicious sweet or savory sandwiches.

Enjoy!