Spoon Bread

I really only remember having spoon bread at one place during my childhood; at the Boone Tavern Hotel and Restaurant of Berea College in Berea, KY where my family would stop every summer on our way to Dale Hollow Lake.  Each summer for I don't know how many years, my mom, dad, brother and I would go houseboating for a week with my cousins at Dale Hollow.  Seeing that I was anywhere from 7-12 years old, and suffering through the 5 hour drive, fortunately there was the spoon bread as a reward mid way.  It literally sustained me for the rest of the trip.

I am not privy to the Berea recipe so found what I hoped was a comparable version in one of my cookbooks, "Bluegrass Winners".  There were only 6 ingredients; not quite as simple as my jam (or at least that's what I thought), but still seemingly simple enough for me to tackle. That is, until I got to the part where I had to beat the cooked cornmeal, eggs, butter and baking powder for 15 minutes.  15 minutes?  With a hand mixer?  oh to spend 15 minutes standing over a bowl of cornmeal. The more I thought about it, the less tortuous it seemed...in fact, it was really rather peaceful.  How often do I have the excuse to stand over a bowl of cornmeal for 15 minutes and daydream?

After the 15 minutes were up (ok 14, I gave up), I spread the mixture in a greased baking dish and stuck it in the oven for 30 minutes.  Below is the spoon bread right out of the oven:

The recipe (courtesy of Bluegrass Winners):

3 cups milk
1 and 1/4 cups white cornmeal
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3 eggs, well beaten
1 and 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Bring milk to a rapid boil; add cornmeal, stirring until smooth and free from lumps. Continue to cook over low heat until mixture becomes very thick. Remove from heat and allow to cool and stiffen. Place cooked cornmeal in a large bowl; add butter, eggs, baking powder and salt.  Beat with an electric mixer for 15 minutes. Pour into a greased casserole and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.  Serve hot from the casserole.