How to Make Spoon Bread

Oh, lovely, lovely spoon bread. I like it plain, the wife and daughters prefer theirs with honey…I don’t think you can go wrong either way. And is it ever easy to make. Start by bringing your milk to the boil. Turn off the heat and begin to pour the cornmeal in a steady stream, whisking all the while.

Allow the mixture to cool completely, an hour or two, or overnight in the refrigerator. It will firm up quite a bit, but that’s nothing to be alarmed about.

When ready to make the spoon bread, preheat your oven to 375, then combine the corn meal and milk mixture with all the other ingredients in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle. Beat the mixture for 15 minutes on medium speed to aerate it. You can do this by hand if you’d like, the finished product will be almost as good.

Pour the batter into a buttered form, either a flat casserole, cake layer pan or a soufflé dish like this. Be aware that the form you choose will affect your baking time. A deep form like a soufflé will take about 50 minutes, while a shallow pan will take less, about 30.

In the last few minutes of baking, the spoon bread will rise impressively, then fall with alacrity once it’s removed from the oven. Don’t be alarmed, this “bread” simply has no structure. It will be delicious all the same.

Serve immediately, piping hot, directly from the dish at the table.