Not only did this recipe give me a chance to utilize a corn-stick pan, it also involved one of my favorite (non-Maryland) historical topics – spite houses!
I got this recipe from Maryland’s Way. There it is listed as the receipt of a “Miss Fanny,” of “Atholl” in Anne Arundel County. I couldn’t determine who this might be so my guess is that she was a servant. I did however, learn this about the home known as Atholl:
“’Atholl’ was built in about 1860 by Richard W. Hardesty. According to local stories, Hardesty wanted to build his house on a rise nearby, called “Virginia Hill” because one should be able to see that state from the highest point. The Murrays, living in “Cedar Park” (AA-35-T-c) refused to sell the land to Hardesty so, for spite, he situated “Atholl” on his own land, on the other side of the road, in such a way that he was in direct view of the Murrays and could see the bay through their parlor windows.” – Maryland Historical Trust
Atholl, Maryland Historical Trust
I renamed my version of this recipe to “Spite House Corn Sticks” and added a jalapeño. If you wanted to make them extra spiteful you could add 10 jalapeños.
Opinions vary strongly about whether cornbread should have sugar in it. My personal preference is “no,” and Miss Fanny seemed to agree. I find that cornmeal is quite sweet to begin with. I can enjoy a sweet piece of cornbread at the end of a meal but less sweet cornbread goes better WITH the meal. I served these with some lion’s mane mushroom gravy. It was tasty but not particularly picturesque.
Recipe:
- 2 eggs
- .5 Cup flour
- 1.5 Cup cornmeal
- 4 Teaspoon baking powder
- 1 Teaspoon salt
- 1 Cup milk
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- Jalapeños, drained green chiles, etc as desired
Beat eggs until foamy. Sift flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt together and add to beaten eggs, alternating with the milk. Mix in melted butter. Heat oven to 425°. Grease iron corn stick molds well and put in oven to become hot. Drop about 1 Tb of batter in each mold. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until brown.
Recipe adapted from “Maryland’s Way: The Hammond-Harwood House Cookbook”
