History Buttermilk Cornbread Soup

[Eleanor Rose]

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If you ask someone in North Carolina about the foods they grew up eating, chances are someone will say this dish. Some prefer it with plain milk (often called sweet milk when I was growing up) and some with buttermilk. Some older folks still refer to it as "crumble-in." All I know is if there was any cornbread left at my grandmother's house she would fix it for me as a wonderful snack. I loved it with sweet milk, but my grandmother always said buttermilk was the trick.

Now John Fleer, the chef at Rhubarb Restaurant in Asheville, NC, has turned this childhood memory into a wonderful soup so I wanted to share it with you.

John Fleer's Buttermilk Cornbread Soup

Ingredients:

Peanut oil
1/3 cup chopped leeks
1/3 cup chopped celery
¼ teaspoon minced garlic
2¼ cups chicken stock, plus extra if needed to thin out soup
1/2 cup crumbled day-old cornbread, plus extra for garnish
1 cup buttermilk (see note on buttermilk)
3 tablespoons heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

 

[MRB1863]

Interesting! Have had milk over corn bread and enjoyed it as a breakfast.

 

[donna]

Never had this soup. Sounds like be good.

 

[Northern Light]

This sounds like a soup for a winter day when it's too cold to go to the grocery store, maybe add some cooked bacon?
We only have one kind of buttermilk here in the Frozen North. Would soured milk work, you know how you can exchange it for buuttermilk in cakes and muffins?

 

[Eleanor Rose]

Would soured milk work, you know how you can exchange it for buuttermilk in cakes and muffins?

That's a great question, but it's one for our more trusty CWT culinary wizards. What do you think @donna, @Anna Elizabeth Henry, @Albert Sailhorst , @nitrofd, @Jimklag (ask Cindy for us)?

 

[Jimklag]

That's a great question, but it's one for our more trusty CWT culinary wizards. What do you think @donna, @Anna Elizabeth Henry, @Albert Sailhorst , @nitrofd, @Jimklag (ask Cindy for us)?

The oracle from Louisiana (aka my spouse) says soured milk is acceptable as a substitute for buttermilk when cooking.

 

[mofederal]

This sounds very good. My dad was a huge fan of crumbled cornbread and milk. He really loved it. Thanks for the recipe @Eleanor Rose.

 

[Northern Light]

The oracle from Louisiana (aka my spouse) says soured milk is acceptable as a substitute for buttermilk when cooking.

Thank the Oracle for me!

 

[Deleted User CS]

Miss Ellie. Thanks for sharing this wonderful and delicious looking soup recipe. This would be perfect for a cold and windy day like we are having in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania at the moment. I may be wrong, but the consistency looks almost like oyster stew to me. I love all of the ingredients. David.

 

[Albert Sailhorst]

That's a great question, but it's one for our more trusty CWT culinary wizards. What do you think @donna, @Anna Elizabeth Henry, @Albert Sailhorst , @nitrofd, @Jimklag (ask Cindy for us)?

Good question, as I only use buttermilk.
In the Note on Buttermilk in the original post, it mentions using good buttermilk, so I would defer to that (being inexperienced with this kind of soup). Although I have heard that using soured milk has the same effect as buttermilk in other recipes....

 

[donna]

Can you substitute sour milk for buttermilk? It is a good question. Many say you can.

See this very informative article on substituting buttermilk.

https://www.thespruce.com/buttermilk-substitutions-measures-and-equivalents-1807462

Of course good buttermilk is best.