Cornbread Gospels

There is an abundance of satisfying cornbreads, as Crescent discovered when she followed the cornbread trail from the Appalachians to the Rockies to the Green Mountains. Traveling to family reunions, potlucks, tortilleras, stone-grinding mills, and the National Cornbread Festival in South Pittsburgh, Tennessee, she heard the stories, tasted the breads, learned the secrets. Join her in this overflowing cornucopia: over 200 irresistible recipes for cornbreads, muffins, fritters, pancakes, and go-withs. Cornbreads from below the Mason-Dixon line (Skillet-Sizzled Buttermilk Cornbread, Truman Capote’s Family’s Alabama Cornbread) meet those from above (Durgin-Park Boston Cornbread, Vermont Maple-Sweetened Cornbread). Southwestern offerings—Chou-Chou’s Dallas Hot Stuff Cornbread, delectable homemade tamales, and tortillas from scratch—meet internationals like India’s Makki Ki Roti. A Thanksgiving with Crescent’s Sweet-Savory Cornbread Dressing is rapturous. Desserts like Very Lemony Gorgeous Cornmeal Pound Cake make any meal exceptional.

Along with this, Crescent gives us the greens, the beans, the salads, stews, and soups that accompany cornbread to perfection. And she tells us the stories, too. Enthusiastic and heartfelt, this thoughtful, exuberant love song to America’s favorite breadstuff and all that goes with it will embrace readers and cooks everywhere.

“Cornbread? I LOVE cornbread!” For six years, that’s the response Crescent Dragonwagon got when people asked her what she was writing about. Over time, she came to understand: Not only is hot, just baked cornbread delicious, it evokes—powerfully—the heart, soul, and taste of home.

There is an abundance of satisfying cornbreads, as Crescent discovered when she followed the cornbread trail from the Appalachians to the Rockies to the Green Mountains. Traveling to family reunions, potlucks, tortilleras, stone-grinding mills, and the National Cornbread Festival in South Pittsburgh, Tennessee, she heard the stories, tasted the breads, learned the secrets. Join her in this overflowing cornucopia: over 200 irresistible recipes for cornbreads, muffins, fritters, pancakes, and go-withs. Cornbreads from below the
Mason-Dixon line (Skillet-Sizzled Buttermilk Cornbread, Truman Capote’s Family’s Alabama Cornbread) meet those from above (Durgin-Park Boston Cornbread, Vermont Maple-Sweetened Cornbread). Southwestern offerings—Chou-Chou’s Dallas Hot Stuff Cornbread, delectable homemade tamales, and tortillas from scratch—meet internationals like India’s Makki Ki Roti. A Thanksgiving with Crescent’s Sweet-Savory Cornbread Dressing is rapturous. Desserts like Very Lemony Gorgeous Cornmeal Pound Cake make any meal exceptional.

Along with this, Crescent gives us the greens, the beans, the salads, stews, and soups that accompany cornbread to perfection. And she tells us the stories, too. Enthusiastic and heartfelt, this thoughtful, exuberant love song to America’s favorite breadstuff andall that goes with it will embrace readers and cooks everywhere.

Pauline Baughman - Library Journal

Cornbread lovers rejoice! Dragonwagon (Passionate Vegetarian) explores the surprisingly vast world of all things cornmeal in her latest cookbook. Her passion for this humble foodstuff spans nearly 400 pages and over 200 recipes for not only cornbread but also muffins, tortillas, crackers, rolls, spoon breads, fritters, and more. Cornbread is particularly loved in America, and there are many regional differences that are conveniently delineated in a chart; southern cornbread, for example, consists primarily of cornmeal, whereas northern cornbread is generally half cornmeal and sweetened with sugar. The author also explores the global appeal of cornmeal, including recipes for Mexican-style corn spoon bread, tortillas, Latin American arepas, Greek cornbread, and Indian griddle cakes. Other chapters include recipes for yeasted cornbreads, pancakes, and side dishes and a section on how to use leftover cornbread. Numerous sidebars contain fascinating tidbits of history, sample menus, and cooking tips; a glossary and index are included. Although this title focuses solely on one the ingredient, the recipes are tempting and diverse, and the writing engaging. Recommended.

Crescent Dragonwagon, the author of the James Beard Award-winning Passionate Vegetarian, The Cornbread Gospels, Dairy Hollow House Soup & Bread Cookbook, many children’s books, and two novels, is now working on The Bean Book, which will be published by Workman in 2010. For 18 years she was innkeeper/chef/ owner of Dairy Hollow House, an acclaimed country inn in Eureka Spring, Arkansas, which she owned with her late husband, Ned.

Dragonwagon has the distinction of having prepared cornbread for a president (Bill Clinton), titled royalty (Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia), a world-renowned feminist (Betty Friedan) and a World Series of Poker champion (Stephen Zolotow). She teaches "trans-genre" writing workshops around the world, and has appeared on Good Morning America, Today, TVFN, & CNN.

She lives, writes, cooks, gardens, and blogs in a 1795 home near Saxtons River, Vermont ... under the supervision of her tabby cat, Cattywhompus.