White House Executive Chef Henry Haller’s White House Family Cookbook offers dozens of First Family recipes; a historic treasury of American cooking. Chef Haller entertains with tidbits of presidential lore and his memories of life upstairs and down.
- Former President Jimmy Carter (L) with his brother Billy eating barbecue on the campaign trail in 1976. Another favorite of the president is cornbread.
Yield: Makes 9 squares
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup white cornmeal
- 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 cup warm milk
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Butter inside of an 8-inch square baking pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, yellow and white cornmeal, baking powder, salt and sugar.
3. In a smaller mixing bowl, beat egg with warm milk, using a wire whisk. Stir in melted butter.
4. Pour over dry ingredients and mix with the wire whisk until smooth. Let stand for 15 minutes. (It is important to let batter rest before baking so that the cornmeal absorbs the liquid and the resulting texture is smooth, never grainy.)
5. Scrape batter into the prepared pan. Bake on lower shelf of preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until top is golden and toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.
6. Let pan stand on a wire rack for 10 minutes before cutting into squares. Serve warm, with whipped butter, if desired.”
Northern News 