CARROLL'S EXTRA-MOIST CORNBREAD

1 cup reduced-fat sour cream (or full-fat, if you prefer)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup mild vegetable oil
1 cup canned creamed corn
2 eggs
1 cup stone ground yellow cornmeal
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Place the sour cream in a large bowl and whisk in the baking soda to activate it. Then whisk in the oil, eggs, and creamed corn. When thoroughly combined, sprinkle the cornmeal over the top; set aside.

Combine the cornstarch, baking powder and salt in a small dish, and sift over the cornmeal. Stir the whole thing together with as few strokes as possible, just to combine wet and dry. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Let it sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Bake until golden brown, about 40 minutes.

NOTES: "This recipe is from my down-one-hill-and-up-the-side-of-another Vermont. neighbor, Carroll Metrick. Carroll says, "The fewer pans, the fewer bowls and spoons, the better. That`s how I cook." She discovered the prototype for this recipe in The New York Times, but she found that version a little too wet for her taste. I tweaked it slightly both method- and ingredients-wise, and now it meets with her approval, retaining its signature rich delicacy, still plenty moist, but less so than the original.

Carroll likes this cornbread split and toasted, with butter and maple syrup; but then, what cornbread wouldn't good that way`? Myself, the day I came up with the final version, I happened to have some sweet potato and lima bean soup going, and it was terrific with that."

Makes 9 squares
Adapted from source: The Cornbread Gospels by Crescent Dragonwagon