This is a north American recipe from "Laurel's Kitchen" by Laurel Robertson, Carol Flinders & Bronwen Godfrey. It is done with cornmeal, i e, maize flour which is also used in the Italian polenta. In the U. K. it can now be obtained either in supermarkets or specialized shops. It is not a yeast bread so it will take at the most about 45 min to make. I use kefir instead of the buttermilk in the original recipe. Kefir looks like a runny yoghurt, is easily made at home with a special culture that looks a bit like cauliflower.
Oven at 220ºC, 425º F, gas mark 7.
In a large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients. You can do this in advance to save time. Combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl and add to the dry ones; if you like, it can even take a bit more beaten egg or oil thus making it more nutritious. In any case it will be fairly runny. Turn into an oiled oven to table shallow dish and put it on the top shelf of the preheated oven. It will take about 20 minutes and will look nicely puffed and golden. If you test it with skewer it will come dry when ready. Serve while hot and traditionally is cut into squares.
You can bake this mixture directly on top of baked beans or any juicy casserole.
Freshly baked corned bread is very good indeed. It goes very well with baked beans and also some roasted meats like chicken. Any left overs are delicious toasted and buttered.