Cornbread fit for The King.

Finally!Something that turned out right! This cornbread was good…I’d even go so far as to say it was delicious! And it was not hard to make, either! Just lumped all the ingredients into a bowl, mixed em’ up, poured it into the hot skillet and let it go! NOW of course, this is me and you know it wouldn’t be without at least one disaster. I had my cornmeal and flour all ready to go (1 1/2 cups of each) and obviously looked at the recipe wrong because then I dumped in a CUP of sugar and had it all stirred up before I glanced down at the recipe and noticed it called for a TABLESPOON of sugar. SO I wasted a lot of flour and cornmeal, but at least I caught it before I tried to cook it, so I am getting better! Any other time I’ve ever tried to make cornbread, it has been the kind in the package…Martha White brand just add water, I believe. It’s OK, but it doesn’t taste like that good ole’ stuff my gradma makes. I would never have imagined I could make cornbread as good as hers, but I did.

I got this recipe from a cookbook that I picked up recently called Graceland’s Table: Recipes Fit for the King of Rock and Roll. Written by Ellen Rolfes with Elvis Presley Enterprises. C.2005 It’s actually a pretty good cookbook and I’m sure you can get it on Amazon. Now, remember, this recommendation is coming from me, and I don’t know squat about cooking, but I dig it! The recipes are submitted by various Elvis Presley fan club members around the country and are supposedly the types of foods that might have been served at Graceland for Elvis and his friends and family. Between recipes are Elvis stories and recollections by fans and friends. Some are really interesting while others are slightly idiotic. Also slightly idiotic, but insanely fun to read are some of the recipe titles and accompanying captions written by those who submitted the recipes.

For example: "Jailhouse Rock" Baked Beans, "If the warden had thrown a party at the county jail, he would have served Jailhouse Rock Beans."

And then we have: Mary’s "Ready Teddy" Potato Salad, "The King deserves the best potato salad…and this is it."

And my personal favorite: "Stuck on You" Burnt-Bacon Sandwiches, "I have been an Elvis fan my entire life. Through his music, he made me the person I am today. I think this recipe is very fitting, since all Elvis fans know how much he loved his burnt bacon."


MMMM. HMMMMM!

There is also a section of photographs. Some are of Elvis, some are of Graceland, and then there are the ones where food stylists have arranged various recipes on serving dishes and plopped them in different rooms of Graceland. It’s just fabulous, I tell you, fabulous!

Among all the fun fan stuff and photos are some recipes that were actually prepared at Graceland. They are much simpler and tend to have fewer ingredients than the fan recipes, so Î decided to try one of those first.

OK remember, we’re talking Elvis AND cornbread so low fat, low cholesterol, low calorie, it AIN’T.

From Elvis’s Kitchen: Southern Cornbread

1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/2 cups self rising cornmeal
1 1/2 cups self rising flour
1 tablespoon sugar
3 large eggs
2 cups milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Put the shortening in a 9 inch hot, iron skillet and place it in the oven until melted. Combine the cornmeal, flour nad sugar in a large bowl. Add the eggs and milk and stir until well mixed. Pour the mixture into the hot, greased skillet and bake for 20 min. or until the top is golden brown.

Slap on some butter and enjoy it while it's hot!