Iowa City cookbook writer to read at library

When Iowa City writer Jeremy Jackson attended Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., he was surprised at the lack of knowledge of cornbread on the East Coast.

After writing several novels, he decided it was time to educate the general public about one of his favorite childhood favorites.

“I thought there should be an entire cookbook about cornbread,” he says. “It's American and deserved its due.”

So the Iowa Writer's Workshop graduate did his research and began testing recipes.

The result was his first cookbook, “The Cornbread Book,” published in 2003. It included a history of cornbread and 55 recipes.

“I developed the recipes on my own,” he says. “That's the real work of writing a cookbook.”

Although he still loves cornbread, he backed off eating it for awhile.

“I ate an unfortunate amount of cornbread” in the process of developing the 55 recipes, he says.

He followed up with two more cookbooks, “Desserts That Have Killed Better Men Than Me” in 2004 and “Good Day for a Picnic” in 2005.

Writing three cookbooks in three years wore Jackson out, causing him to temporarily “retire” from developing recipes.

He continues to work on other genres, including a memoir of his childhood near the Ozarks in Missouri.

Jackson will read from several of his genres, including a cookbook, at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Cedar Rapids Public Library bridge facility at Westdale Mall, 2600 Edgewood Rd. SW.

As spring approaches, he shares a rhubarb recipe he developed for “Desserts That Have Killed Better Men Than Me.”

CAKEY RHUBARB BARS

Crust1 cup all-purpose flour5 tablespoons confectioner's sugar8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold1/4 teaspoon saltSauce2 large eggs3/4 cup light brown sugar1/4 cup all-purpose flour3/4 teaspoon baking powder1/4 teaspoon salt2 cups diced rhubarbPreheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-by-9-inch baking pan with vegetable shortening.For the crust, combine all the ingredients and cut them together with a pastry cutter until the mixture is crumbly and fine. (Alternatively, pulse the ingredients together in a food processor until the same consistency is achieved.) Spread the mixture into the greased pan and lightly pat it down. Bake this crust for 12 to 16 minutes, until it is slightly puffed and just barely showing hints of brown around the edges.Leave the oven at the same temperature while you complete the recipe. Whisk the eggs well - 30 seconds or so - then stir in the brown sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Stir until the mixture is smooth and lumpless, then stir in the rhubarb and pour the mixture onto the baked bottom crust, spreading the rhubarb fairly evenly.Bake the bars for 28 to 34 minutes, until the topping is set and quite brown. It's easiest to remove the bars if you let them cool thoroughly first.

CAKEY RHUBARB BARS

Crust

1 cup all-purpose flour

5 tablespoons confectioner's sugar

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold

1/4 teaspoon salt

Sauce

2 large eggs

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups diced rhubarb

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-by-9-inch baking pan with vegetable shortening.

For the crust, combine all the ingredients and cut them together with a pastry cutter until the mixture is crumbly and fine. (Alternatively, pulse the ingredients together in a food processor until the same consistency is achieved.) Spread the mixture into the greased pan and lightly pat it down. Bake this crust for 12 to 16 minutes, until it is slightly puffed and just barely showing hints of brown around the edges.

Leave the oven at the same temperature while you complete the recipe. Whisk the eggs well - 30 seconds or so - then stir in the brown sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Stir until the mixture is smooth and lumpless, then stir in the rhubarb and pour the mixture onto the baked bottom crust, spreading the rhubarb fairly evenly.

Bake the bars for 28 to 34 minutes, until the topping is set and quite brown. It's easiest to remove the bars if you let them cool thoroughly first.

From “Desserts That Have Killed Better Men Than Me” by Jeremy Jackson