The year was 1978, I was in my late twenties, a foodie even back in those days and Cuisinart had recently introduced their line of food processors. Of course, I was all over that like a hot potato, just the thought of a food processor was so exciting, the ease of preparation, the endless possibilities, but oh, the price. I wanted the top of the line, the DLC-7 and it was $175.
Hubby and I had a young family, that was a lot of money to spend on a piece of kitchen equipment, but I just had to have that food processor. We went to a department store in Cincinnati shopping one winter weekend with our friends, Charlie and Nisha, and there it was, front and center in a display. I was drooling, and LC who had heard me talk constantly about wanting one bought it for me.
And here I am, forty years later, I still have the same food processor, I still use it weekly, and even though he’s asked over the years if I wanted to update it, I’ve always declined. I bought all the attachments for it, I bought Abby Mandel’s Cuisinart Classroom Cookbook, I was off to the races and never looked back.
I’ve used it for countless meals over the years, I had to replace the work bowl twice, and once it locked up, we couldn’t get the bowl to release, so we mailed it to Cuisinart to repair, but it was one of the best investments I’ve ever made. Of course I used it more when the boys were growing up, but it still has a special place in my kitchen, I’ll never get rid of it.
Thanks to that purchase, I’ve always been a strong believer that you don’t go cheap on workhorse kitchen equipment. Even though it can be hard to pull the plug on expensive equipment, it will stand the test of time.
Which brings me to this afternoon. It’s a cold winter day in Nashville, well not as cold as other parts of the country, but a good afternoon to just sit by the fireplace with my laptop browsing websites. For some reason I thought about one of the staples I always made with my Cuisinart, their recipe for cornbread which was included in a recipe booklet that came with my food processor. I haven’t made it for years, but thanks to the powers of Google, I found it easily and saved it, maybe I’ll try it again someday, just for old times sake when the boys and their families are visiting, even though it does use a lot of butter. I always made it my 9" Le Creuset cast iron orange skillet, another one of those items that will never wear out, it’s still my go-to skillet for cornbread after all those years.
Here it is, the original recipe from 1978, oh it does make yummy cornbread. ~ Jan
Cuisinart Cornbread
1½ cups yellow cornmeal
1½ cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
Steps
Preheat oven to 425°F. Grease a 9-inch round or square baking pan with the softened butter or nonstick cooking spray; reserve.
Put the butter, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the workbowl. Mix on Speed 4 until creamy, about 10 seconds.
Add buttermilk and eggs and pulse on Speed 4 to just incorporate, about 5 pulses. Scrape down and pulse a few more times, if necessary.
Add the dry ingredients and pulse until in short bursts, just until combined – it is important not to overmix or the cornbread will be tough and dry.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.
Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool slightly before serving.
