HUSH PUPPY: adventures in cornbread, redux....

(hush puppies:  I have heard that years ago in the south when frying up dinner you would also fry up some cornbread to toss out to the dogs, so they'd stop howling...must have been noisy little hounds like mine ;)
You will recall that not only do I like to explore the frontiers of pizza (see last week:  baking pizza with ramen noodles!), but I am gluten-free and like cornbread A LOT.  It has the pretty golden color, the nice texture which is even nicer if you crisp it in the toaster or fry pan.

SO, maybe you remember some months ago I made my usual small cornbread loaf spread out thinly in a pan and baked it into a YUMMY and QUICK pizza crust.

I write about this again for 2 reasons:  1)  for my birthday I got a tiny little iron fry pan (6-7 inches) and it is the little friend of my big fry pan and 2) the person who gave it to me tells me they love cornbread, but had never baked any in a fry pan and could NOT BELIEVE you could make pizza from regular cornbread....isn't that little pan a cutie?

Recipes follow, have a great Sunday!


Gary's small cornbread recipe

-preheat to 350, grease a small loaf pan or 6 inch iron skillet
-in large bowl, add one cup cornmeal (or corn flour or fine cornmeal or a combo of different textured cornmeals)
-add 1 1/2 TBS sugar, 1 teas. baking powder, 1/2 tea salt--stir dry ingredients together
-bowl 2, stir one egg, add 1/2 cup milk (I use soy), 1/8 cup cooking oil like canola--stir then mix into the dry flour ingredients until well combined
-spread into loaf pan or skillet, bake 25-30 minutes

to make the cornbread pizza

-preheat to 350, grease either an 8 x 8 brownie pan or 10 inch iron skillet
-make the small cornbread recipe above, spread it into pan--it will be fairly thin, 3/4 inch or so
-bake about 25 minutes, remove from oven
-spread a little tomato sauce and spice on the cornbread (not too much sauce!) top with whatever you like and cheese, return to oven--since the cornbread is already cooked, I turn off the oven now, because it is going to stay hot enough, but this prevents the cornbread crust from burning--pour yourself and gorgeous wife a glass of vino, dress the small salad and eat it, toast your good health and that of your friends and family, after about ten minutes of salad and wine you can check the pizza, and the cheese should be nicely melted, toppings perfect, carefully slice into 4 pieces and serve---makes enough pizza for 2 adults to GET STUFFED!