Scalded Bread

Some people call this kind of cornmeal bread "corn pone."  I thought it should be called "scalded hands."  From my understanding, scalded bread has roots back to our Native American ancestors.  It's easy to make with a bit of practice.  We always had it with beef stew and sometimes with pork-n-beans.  There is another cornmeal-based fried bread that Mom made that was a cross between this recipe and cornbread.

Put the well-seasoned, cast-iron skillet over a low heat.

Estimate about 1/2 cup of cornmeal per person.  Start by boiling an equal amount of water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt per serving.  Here I am making a recipe for one, so 1/2 cup of water with 1/2 t. of salt is heated to boiling.

1/2 cup water with 1/2 teaspoon salt

Once the salted water comes to a boil, add the cornmeal.  Again, the cornmeal amount should match the amount of water.  We only used white cornmeal for scalded bread. 

1/2 cup of white cornmeal added.

Give the cornmeal a good swish into the water so that everything is of even consistency.  It will be super sticky.  Let it rest for a moment.

Hot Crisco (or fat) in a HEATED cast iron skillet. 

I cannot stress this enough: Use a seasoned cast-iron skillet.  And be sure that the skillet is thoroughly heated prior to dropping in the fat.  If both of these are not done, the dough will weld to the bottom of the skillet.  Seriously.  I'm not kidding.  Don't even try it for giggles.

Sprinkle cornmeal if the dough needs to be more stiff.

While the fat heats in the skillet, return to the dough.  It should be pliable like play-dough, and the consistency should be even.  If needed, sprinkle a teaspoon of cornmeal at a time over the dough and work it in.  There should be no lumps visible.

BE SURE HANDS HAVE BEEN DRENCHED IN COLD WATER!!!

Turn on the cold water and get the hand wet and cold.  (This dough is like hot lava.  You need cold, wet hands.)  Then spoon a bit of the hot dough into the hand and quickly work the dough into a patty-shape.  Again, no lumps or clumps should be felt.  Feel free to drop the dough and re-wet hands in cold water as needed throughout this task.

Placed in hot skillet.

Set the dough pattyaside or slip it into the hot fat.  The dough will stick for a half-moment but should quickly loosen from the bottom of the skillet.  (If it doesn't, the skillet was not seasoned or heated prior to adding fat, OR the fat was not hot.)

Flip the dough when it is golden brown.

Remove the scalded bread when it is golden brown on both sides.  This bread with suck down grease.  Southern cooking has four food-groups: Salt, sugar, fat, and caffeine.  Enjoy it.  In fact, add a pat of butter to it prior to eating.  YUM!

Oh, another warning: Be ready to scrub the stove.  Like good fried chicken, this bread can place grease in places no one knew existed.  But soo good - so who cares!  Right?

This is one of the oldest recipes we have, which makes it even more of a treasure!  PePaw said that his mother made a recipe like it.  He called it "Mom's Paws" because he could see her fingermarks in the bread in the basket at dinner.  Mom and Granny told me that Mom Burch's recipe contained milk in it though.