Posted by sherry on May 12, 2001 at 22:37:20:
Lacy Cornbread
2 cups corn meal
1 1/2 cups boiling water * see note
1 teaspoon salt
vegetable oil to fry in
The quantities on this are up for grabs. Since the recipe was never written down at my grandmother's, I just estimated.
The point here is to put the corn meal and salt into a mixing bowl that can take boiling water. Pour the boiling water in slowly, stiring all the while until it makes a thick paste.
Use your hands (they have to be asbestos, in my opinion to take the heat, but you do eventually get used to it...) and form the paste into palm sized patties (about 3-4" across and 3/4" thick) and slip them carefully into hot oil and fry to golden brown.
Drain on paper towels and serve hot.
As my grandmother said, these are great split and served on a plate with a ladle of red beans and ham with a rich broth.
*The real trick here is to pour the boiling water into the corn meal, rather than the corn meal into the water. If you do it backwards, it never makes a paste. The meal just scatters in the water and turns to soup.
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Notes: My grandmother's name was Jesse Velma Lisenby (Lacy). She married into the Lacy family and had to learn to make the Lacy's peculiar style of cornbread before she was accepted as a real "Lacy." Many years later, I found a recipe called "Lacey Cornbread" in the New York Times Bread and Soup Cookbook that was basically the same recipe with the addition of a couple of tablespoons of finely minced onions, which gave it more the taste of southern hush puppies. According to the NY Times, their recipe had come down through the Lacys in the deep south, where our Lacy's had left from to come west.
At Christmas, 1996, I called my grandmother to get the instructions one last time, and she started telling me how she loved this recipe, especially with red beans and ham — but even more just to eat like little cakes. I guess that's what made her a real "Lacy", finally.
Per serving (excluding unknown items): 0 Calories; 0g Fat (0% calories from fat); 0g Protein; 0g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 2142mg Sodium
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LACE BREAD
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2/3 c. all-purpose flour
2/3 c. granulated sugar
2/3 c. milk
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil or bacon
grease
5 slices fresh or stale white
bread, quartered
In a small bowl, mix the flour, sugar and milk with a
fork to make a thick, smooth batter. In a large skillet, heat
oil over moderately high heat; when a drop of water skitters
across the surface, it's ready. Dip some of the bread into the
batter to coat well and put in skillet, leaving a little space
in between.
When edges turn brown and lacy, turn bread and brown
other side. Reduce heat if it seems to be browning too fast.
Serve hot. Serves 4 to 5.