southern-style cornbread

B and his girlfriend SL are staying with us during The Confinement and she is gluten-sensitive, so I'm exploring gluten-free tastiness. A number of family members are also keen on eating a more plant-based or plant-rich diet, so tonight's menu was Vegetarian Chili with Southern-style Cornbread.

This cornbread is amazing.  The batter is very soupy; you won't believe it could turn into delicious cornbread, but have faith. The recipe fits nicely in an 8" cast iron pan. For the fam, I triple it and use a 14" pan.

You need:

• 2 tbsp fat (half-and-half butter and oil, bacon drippings, rendered fatback,...)
• 1 cup cornmeal (not corn flour: think polenta rather than tortillas)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 c boiling water
• 3/4 c buttermilk (you could do half plain yoghurt, half milk too)
• 1 egg, beaten

Place your 8" cast iron pan in an oven and heat to 450°F.

Put 1/3 c cornmeal in a large bowl.  Put remainder of cornmeal in a medium bowl, add remaining dry ingredients and stir. Pour boiling water over the cornmeal in the large bowl and stir to break up.  Stir in buttermilk, breaking up lumps, and then the egg.   Stir in dry ingredients.  It will be soupy. Don't worry.

Remove the pan from the oven, add fat and swirl to coat, but don't get fancy. Don't burn yourself with that extremely hot pan.  Pour in the batter and return to oven.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes.  Will be golden brown on top and pass the "toothpick test". Allow to cool 5-10 minutes before devouring.