The Cornbread Gospels [Paperback]

Crescent Dragonwagon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 22, 2007

“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 and all that goes with it will embrace readers and cooks everywhere.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This surprising, eccentric volume is full of curious anecdotes, history and cornbread lore, from tales of the Native Americans teaching Pilgrims to make cornbread, to stories of slaves living on little but "ash cakes," corn patties baked in the ashes of a fire. Most intriguing (and delicious) are the recipes themselves, which span the globe to find the happy taste of cornmeal in dozens of novel incarnations. Vermont Maple-Sweetened Cornbread is a classic, a medium-sweet skilletful of steaming yellow bread that makes a wonderful companion to baked beans or a mellow soup. Savory Onion-Scallion Corn Cakes are a spicy variation on the theme, livened up with a fresh green chile. Many recipes are for cornbread accompaniments, like a Golden Gazpacho that turns garden vegetables and lots of corn into an all-American version of the Spanish soup, and Patsy's Cornbread Salad, which mixes chunks of tomato, bacon and onion with cornbread for a Southern take on the Italian bread salad called panzanella. The most exciting corn-themed dishes come from less expected places: the labor-intensive but phenomenally flavorful Sancocho is a South American stew, and African Vegetable Mafe is dense with peanut butter and sauteed vegetables, perfect for sopping up.
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About the Author

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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 392 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company (November 22, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761119167
• ISBN-13: 978-0761119166
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 7.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #51 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Baking > Bread

More About the Author

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, has just completed Bean by Bean.

Dragonwagon is a Southern Yankee: though born in New York, for 18 years she was innkeeper/chef/co-owner of Dairy Hollow House, an acclaimed country inn in the Ozark Mountain community of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, where she resided for 36 years. But, since 2002, she has lived in Westminster West, Vermont.

Dragonwagon has the distinction of having prepared beans and cornbread for a president (Bill Clinton), titled royalty (Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia), a world-renowned feminist (Betty Friedan) and Marilyn Monroe's first biographer (Maurice Zolotow). She teaches two writing workshops, Deep Feast: Writing the World through Food, and Fearless Writing, around the world (the latter, she teaches once a year, in the Whole Enchilada version, from her own home hilltop in the Green Mountains). She has appeared on Good Morning America, Today, TVFN, & CNN.

She lives, writes, and cooks in the 1795 farmhouse which once belonged to her aunt, at which she spent summers when a child. She shares the place with her partner, filmmaker David Koff, and, often, numerous well-fed friends. An ardent gardener, she's currently growing 4 different varieties of bush beans, and 5 of pole beans. .. under the supervision of her large and amiable tabby cat, Cattywhompus (who can usually be found rolling in the catmint).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The essential "cornbread" making cookbook. But so much more., July 26, 2008

By 

J. Lesley "(Judy)" (Midsouth, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Cornbread Gospels (Paperback)

This book was given to me by my daughter because she has heard me talking about when my husband and I went on a trip to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and met Crescent Dragonwagon (as a consumer, not personally). Her restaurant did indeed serve wonderful food and the entire trip was a fantastic experience. I must confess, when I found out that this recipe book concentrated solely on cornbread I was skeptical about it holding my interest. I was wrong.

Let's get the negatives out of the way first:
1. There are no pictures of the finished dishes. I REALLY like pictures.
****EDIT 1/3/2010**** In fairness to Ms Dragonwagon I would like to point out that she added pictures of some of the finished recipes here on the Amazon book page. They are really good photos and will give you an idea of how some of the recipes will look after they are prepared. I'm still cooking up a storm from this book and I'm sure you will too if you decide to try it. Enjoy!****
2. With the exception of the cover, the entire book is black, white, and a kind of pumpkin/orangie color. Not very exciting visually.
3. It is my opinion that much too much emphasis was given to the differences between cornbread as made in the South and cornbread as made in the North. Why go to so much trouble? Just put in the recipes and let me decide if I want to try them.
4. After a while (by about page 100) I really wasn't paying very much attention to the huge amount of information regarding cornmeal and history. Too, too much information.

Now for the positives:
1. It is very obvious that this book was a labor of love for this author. She knows her cornmeal from top to bottom. She even states in the book that this project was six years in the making and I can certainly believe it.
2. Each recipe begins with an anecdote concerning where it came from, who gave it to her or how it evolved over the years. These were simply fascinating to read.
3. Each recipe has obviously been tried, used, and tried again by Ms Dragonwagon. Even within the instructions for the recipes she puts in little nuggets of information to help with preparation, cooking or presentation. I appreciated that and it made each recipe seem very warm and personal.
4. These recipes are GOOD! I have tried four so far and absolutely loved each one, my hubby on the other hand only liked two.
DAIRY HOLLOW HOUSE SKILLET SIZZLED CORNBREAD - The first words out of hubby's mouth were, "Does this cornbread have sugar in it?" He didn't like it, I liked it but will not add the sugar next time. We are firmly entrenched in the no-sweetener-in-cornbread camp. On cornbread, now that's a whole other story. I must confess to liking this but I'm more lenient in food basics than my sweet darlin'.
JANE'S TEXAS-via-VERMONT MEXICAN CORNBREAD - I invited two friends over to taste test this with me. (Thanks Bonnie and June for being willing to sacrifice in the name of research!) We LOVED this cornbread and so did hubby when he got home. I paired it with.....
UNCANNILY GOOD SANTA FE STYLE QUICK GREEN CHILE SOUP-STEW - The recipe says it serves 4 to 6 generously. No, make that 10 to 12 generously. It was a fabulous vegetarian bean soup which just took wings and flew when combined with the cornbread mentioned above. For non-vegetarian consumption I would add some shredded chicken or a nice grilled polska kielbasa sausage.
PATSY'S CORNBREAD SALAD - I have this recipe in a pamphlet/recipe book from Lodge Manufacturing (makers of cast iron cookware) and it has always been a favorite of mine (hubby doesn't like this no matter what I do to it!). The difference here is that Patsy developed the recipe over time and hers has a different dressing and believe you me, that dressing makes that salad completely scrumptious! I'll never use bottled dressing again.

I am impressed with this cookbook. Yes it may seem to have a rather narrow focus but it isn't just about cornbread, it is about cornMEAL. That ingredient can be combined with others to make some pretty wonderful dishes. I can imagine myself using this book over and over and over for years to come. If you don't already have a well seasoned cast iron skillet, invest in one. They are relatively inexpensive and come from the factory pre-seasoned now so you get to skip that step. The cast iron skillet makes that indescribably delicious crunchy/crispy crust which makes cornbread a food of the gods. With this book you will have recipes to try out for months, and that's just counting the cornbreads.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beth, February 5, 2008

By 

B. A. Kaplin - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Cornbread Gospels (Paperback)

If you are not sure you could use a whole cookbook devoted to cornmeal and cornbread, you really should check this book out - it will wipe away any doubts you have that cornbread is not important in your life. First of all, this book can be READ, actually read, like a novel, I mean night-time reading. The stories and notes on nearly every page have been my evening reading and most enjoyably so. Then the recipes - every kind of cornbread, plus all kinds of cakes and other dishes using different kinds of corn meal. You can learn all kinds of things about corn meal - its history, the different forms it can take, and the various ways it is prepared. I am now making my way through the recipes, and so far its been excellent. The Vermont custardy cornbread is excellent; my daughter just told me its great with the black bean soup I made last night, but also good enough for dessert (she said with her mouth full of it). This cook book is worth it, do try it!

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As ever...., December 18, 2007

By 

Ms. V. Garland (Arkansas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cornbread Gospels (Paperback)

As ever, this cook book by Crescent Dragonwagon is as much at home on your bedside table as in the kitchen. Read it for history -- who'd have thought corn had so much!?; for personal inspiration -- that comes with the territory, with Crescent; for laughs -- her friends and anecdotes about them are pretty funny; for sociology -- you think I'm kidding?; and oh, yeah, for recipes. Amazing recipes. Well researched, carefully documented, easily followed, they come from old family recipes and beyond. Cornbread, we learn from Cornbread Gospels, is not just for soup, anymore. It's for breakfast. It's for dessert. It's good, 24/7.