Jeremy Jackson has, to my knowledge, written only two cookbooks: Desserts That Have Killed Better Men Than Me [2004] and The Cornbread Book [2003]. I haven’t seen that Dessert book, yet, but I have The Cornbread Book and it’s what you might call a tidy little gem. At just over a 100 pages, there is just sample here of this and then of that. But the samples are well researched and invite your attention.
Jackson is from Missouri, a border state, and he knows both Southern and Northern cuisine. He describes the differences between cornbread, North and South: yellow versus white cornmeal, some sugar or less, buttermilk or not. It’s a quick cultural survey with side notes about why those differences exist.
Cornmeal is a secondary grain for many of us now. But, historically, cornmeal was more widely available and less costly than wheat flour. So here you will find a recipe for Nineteenth Century Thirded Bread where cornmeal and rye reduce the need for wheat flour. But those grains are no mere substitutes and create a bread with a most distinctive character.
You’ll find very Midwestern and Southern recipes here:
- Buttermilk Cornbread Soup
- Southern Cornbread Salad
- Creamed Corn Cornbread
- Classic Cornbread Stuffing [from Jeremy’s mom]
And there is fun, too. Zaletti cookies are here, an Italian dessert with crunchy and dry cornmeal married to rich, moist raisins. If you need a Southwestern fix complete with chiles, then the Tamale Pie here topped with cornmeal biscuits should readily solve that craving.
This is cornmeal comfort food. So, if you happen to find a copy of The Cornbread Book, you are sure to be pleased.
That Classic Cornbread Stuffing? It will appear here in plenty of time for this Thanksgiving.