CORNBREAD and Beans: A country staple

Beans and Cornbread

          Many southerners know what I am talking about when it comes to comfort food. Growing up in West Virginia cornbread and beans was a staple of our household having it at least twice a month. It is one of the easiest and tasteful dishes to make. As a kid, this was not one of my favorite dishes. In fact I couldn't stand it when my dad or mom made this. I much preferred S.O.S. to this. As a matter of fact, S.O.S. is one of my favorite cheap meals to this day. (Hope most of you know what S.O.S. is). Anyways, this dish requires a small bag of Northern White beans, some ham hocks or jowl, some white onion, green pepper, water, salt and pepper, and some thyme. I soak the beans over night and then sauté the onion and pepper in a little oil.  Stir in the beans, cover with water, and stir in some thyme. Simmer for a couple hours until beans are done. Now, the cornbread is the secret to making this dish stand out. My mother always made a simple cornbread, however I decided to mix it up a bit and go for an even better, more mouthwatering cornbread: Sweet Brown Cornbread.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal, (I use a really good brand)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup veg. oil
• 1 1/2-2 tbs molasses

          Preheat oven to 400F.  Lightly grease a 9 inch pan with cooking spray.  In a large bowl combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking powder.  Stir in egg, milk, and oil until well combined.  Mix in the molasses.  Pour batter in pan.  Bake for roughly 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Once you have this amazing brown cornbread with a nice bowl of soup beans, you will never enjoy another cornbread again.  Enjoy!