Sometimes a whole pan of cornbread is too much for a bit of thawing soup saved from a prior meal. But, you long for warm and yummy cornbread on the side of your delicious soup. Or perhaps you have found previously used oil and have milk that is going to go bad in the cooler, like me. Maybe you just need a quick yummy bread! Been there.

Tonight, we just wanted a couple of pieces of cornbread with our leftover vegetable soup. I’m so thankful that soup weather has finally crept into the southeast where we live. I’m also thankful that we had some leftover recently and I froze it. My answer was to quickly fry some bread.

We ate fried cornbread growing up, and it is a black skillet champion. Your regular cornbread recipe will work if made a little on the thick side. Here is how tonight’s hoecakes came together. It took about 10 minutes start to finish while my soup thawed.

One egg, a couple of tablespoons of sour cream and about 1/2 of a cup of milk that was just on the verge of expiration. Okay, I think the date on it was yesterday, so I will still cook with it. Mix all of this together and add enough self rising cornmeal mix to bring it together like thick cornbread. No sugar is needed unless that is your thing, then just one tablespoon.

As mentioned, I store once used oil in the cooler in a canning jar because oil is pricy. This canola oil had once fried okra or zucchini and was very clear. It did not smell rancid. You know that smell. Old oil is not what you want, but clean oil that has been used within a couple of months and stored in the cooler is usually great for reuse. Use it if you got it.

Put 2/3 cup of oil in a black skillet and let it come to a good heat. You want the fritters to began to cook immediately and not sit in the oil…absorbing the oil. No one wants that. They will be soggy and not as delicious.

Once the oil is hot, drop the mixed ingredients by large serving spoon into the hot oil. (You can make them any size you want by changing the size of the spoon.) Fry until they are good and brown on one side, then flip them and fry the other side. I love the word “fry.” We don’t say it or do it near enough.

Once browned on both sides and cooked through…you can tell by the bubbles coming through the bread…remove them and place them on a paper lined plate to absorb any excess fat. Serve hot with soups, chilis, a bowl of field peas or greens, or whatever you are having. It is also delicious with butter and sorghum syrup, jelly or honey as a crispy desert.

My recipe tonight made 8 four inch crispy cornbread fritters. I ate one while I cooked the others. Just to test it. My husband at two for desert. Very versatile bread.

Okay, let’s talk about options. Stir in leftover corn, some minced jalepenos, and cheddar cheese, and you have some really great Mexican corn fritters. Stir in minced onions and you have hush puppy fritters. Instead of milk and sour cream, you can use buttermilk if that is what you have.

Don’t forget that you can use your regular cornbread recipe as long as it is stiff enough to hold up in the hot grease.

I hope you will try this recipe, whatever you want to call it. It’s full of options. You can make this recipe your own.

Happy Soup Weather Season! My favorite!

As always, Buon Appetito from your Iron Maiden, Black Skillet Cook — Kim Orsini