After-Work Gourmet by Lisa Messinger

Sometimes it takes a visit from a culinary-blessed friend from another part of the country to liven up your own meals. Old ingredients get new lives and taste buds get previously unimagined treats.

Sara Foster, the North Carolina chef, gourmet store proprietor and award-winning author of "Sara Foster's Southern Kitchen" has turned into just such a pal to me. On these chilly nights, her extraordinary ways with ordinary cornbread turned on a light bulb in my mind that simultaneously seemed to light up those bulbs that illuminate my oven and refrigerator as well.

The most I had ever thought of doing with delicious cornbread was melting a pat of butter atop it — and, if I got daring, adding a dollop of honey. I also knew that it was a worthy addition to stuffing.

Now, Foster's easy ideas have added a whole new dimension to my winter cooking:

— Cornbread crumbs can be interchanged with breadcrumbs, thereby adding considerably more texture and flavor to baked or fried chicken, pork cutlets, meatloaves or casseroles.

— Cornbread croutons are an outstanding way to use the day-old bread and infuse it with the flavor of olive oil and fresh or dried herbs. Salads, soups and stuffings get memorable winter makeovers.

— Of easy-to-prepare cornbread toasts, Foster raves, "These crunchy, savory toasts are the upside of cornbread's short shelf life. Scrumptious and versatile, they can be used in dozens of dishes and snacks."

Foster especially enjoys them spread with pimiento cheese, cream cheese and pepper jelly as well as with deviled ham salad, crab salad and avocado slices or, extra dazzlingly, with fried green tomatoes and buttermilk green goddess dressing.

Here is her best basic cornbread recipe, enlivened with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. The simple steps for the variations follow it. You also can easily prepare the variations with store-bought cornbread.

SALT AND PEPPER SKILLET CORNBREAD

2 tablespoons bacon grease or olive oil

1 1 / 2 cups yellow cornmeal

1 / 2 cup all-purpose flour

1 / 4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons sea salt, plus more for sprinkling on top

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for sprinkling on top

1 / 2 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups well-shaken buttermilk

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Yields 1 (9- or 10-inch skillet) of cornbread.

Preheat oven to 425 F. Coat a 9- or 10-inch cast-iron skillet with the bacon grease and place it in the oven to heat while you mix the batter.

Combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, pepper and baking soda in a large bowl, and stir to mix. Add the buttermilk, eggs and butter, and stir until just combined; do not overmix. The batter should be lumpy.

Pour the batter into the hot skillet, and sprinkle the top with a little salt and pepper.

Bake until the top is golden brown and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.

Remove from the oven, turn the cornbread out of the skillet, slice into wedges and serve warm.

— "Sara Foster's Southern Kitchen" by Sara Foster with Tema Larter

Variations:

— Cornbread crumbs: Tear slightly stale bread into pieces. Place the bread pieces in the food processor or blender and pulse until you achieve the desired crumb. If you'd like to prepare more bread crumbs than you immediately need, store in the freezer in a zip-top bag, they should keep for up to 2 months.

— Cornbread croutons: Preheat oven to 400 F. Drizzle 2 cups of 1 / 2-inch cubes of day-old cornbread with 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil, and toss gently to coat. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper (in addition to that already in the cornbread recipe) and any fresh or dried herbs — such as parsley or oregano — that you have on hand. Spread the cornbread cubes in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes, turning several times, until golden brown and crispy. Remove from the oven and use immediately or cool completely before storing in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

— Cornbread toasts: Preheat oven to 400 F. Cut day-old cornbread into slices about 1 / 4-inch thick and 2 inches long. Brush lightly with olive oil and place in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and cool slightly before adding topping, or cool and store in airtight container for up to two weeks, heating slightly before each use.

DEVILED HAM SALAD ON CORNBREAD TOASTS

1 pound smoked ham, chopped

3 / 4 cup store-bought or homemade mayonnaise

2 small dill pickles, chopped (about 1 / 2 cup)

1 / 4 cup sweet pickle relish

2 tablespoons grated onion

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Dash of hot sauce

Sea salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Yields about 4 cups.

Place ham in food processor, and pulse six to eight times, until finely chopped, being careful not to over-process.

Transfer to a bowl, and add mayonnaise, pickles, pickle relish, onion, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, salt (Ham may already be salty, so taste before adding salt.) and pepper. Stir to combine. Refrigerate, tightly covered, if not using immediately. It should keep, refrigerated, tightly covered, for 1 day. Serve spread atop cornbread toasts. (Instructions for cornbread toasts, which can be made from homemade or store-bought cornbread, are above.)

— "Sara Foster's Southern Kitchen" by Sara Foster with Tema Larter

Photo courtesy of "Sara Foster's Southern Kitchen."

Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the author of seven food books, including "Mrs. Cubbison's Best Stuffing Cookbook" and "The Sourdough Bread Bowl Cookbook." She also writes the Creators News Service "Cooks' Books" column. To find out more about Lisa Messinger and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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