American groceries, conversions and hopefully everything else

Hi all - I'm trying to pull together a site for our British friends about American food, and on it, I've included a list of everywhere I've managed to find American groceries (minus some online retailers that replicate what other sites do better).

Are there any I've missed out? I'm based in London, so they do centre upon the South East.

http://www.americanpantryuk.com/?page_id=12

I've also included conversions and translations, but are there any I've missed (particularly that would help you Yanks cook your recipes over here).

http://www.americanpantryuk.com/?page_id=18

You'll notice I'm short on recipes - trying to cook everything first so I don't have to pay to use photos. I should mention that I have a one year old child at this point. I still need to include mac and cheese, meatloaf, a slew of salad dressings, apple pie and chili - but are there any other clear American classics you'd like to have on there, but British-ified?

All feedback welcome - thank you!

There's a lot of information on this thread.

I recently made some cornbread, and you're welcome to use the recipe provided you link back to it. My pictures aren't anything great - I used my phone and did it rather quickly because I just really wanted to eat my cornbread!

http://quirkandthread.wordpress.com/2013/08/19/making-cornbread-in-the-uk/

Apologies to any southerners. I'm from the north and was trying to replicate the Jiffy cornbread mix, which is what I grew up with.

The BEST cornbread recipe I have every made is the one below and I have tried LOADS. This even beats out Pioneer Woman's recipe which I found to greasy.

Classic Corn Bread

1 cup cornmeal (5 oz/155 g)
1 cup plain flour (5 oz/155g)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda / bicarb
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/3 cup (11 fl oz / 340 ml) buttermilk
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted or canola or olive oil [I've tried oil and prefer the melted butter, bacon grease would rock, though!]
2 large eggs

Whisk the eggs, add the honey (if using), buttermilk and butter and whisk until blended. Mix the other ingredients together and stir into the wet ingredients.
Butter an 8 inch cast iron skillet and pour mixture in, bake at 220C for 20 - 25 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Oh! and I buy a bag of Yellow Polenta (medium ground cornmeal) and fine Maize Meal from Holland and Barrett's and mix the two together and it makes a decent corn meal. This mixture last me quite a while...

Where do you get your buttermilk MeShell? Or do you make your own? I couldn't find any when I looked in the shop.

All the supermarkets around here sell it - it's with the cream, creme fraiche, etc.

I generally just make my own...take the amount of liquid you need and chuck in a tablespoon of white wine vinegar and stir and let it set for about 5 mins before use..if I know I am going to make cornbread ahead of time I do buy it in.

Apologies to any southerners. I'm from the north and was trying to replicate the Jiffy cornbread mix, which is what I grew up with.

As a southerner I grant my blessings to that wonderful looking cornbread pone. I think I got the vapors looking at it.

Real buttermilk makes a huge difference in cornbread recipes IMHO - it's just not the same as 'soured milk' made with vinegar. Buttermilk changes the texture, and the flavor as well.

Also, the best 'crust' on cornbread is made by melting your shortening in the cast iron pan in the oven while you mix the rest of the ingredients rather than just buttering the pan. Carefully remove the pan, pour your batter in, and pop back into the oven - do NOT stir. That also means that the the cornbread is less likely to stick to the pan if you've been over zealous with cleaning and it's not seasoned properly.

You can't get shortening over here..unless you use Trex or lard and I dont like the taste of either...and I don't like my cornbread that greasy. The only buttermilk I have found here comes in very small containers and it cost way more than what making cornbread is worth. So soured milk is what I use and it comes out reasonable enough for my taste.

You can! Tesco now sells Crisco. Squeal. And yes, you need the real deal on buttermilk. I've seen it at every major grocery store. I get several cartons and just freeze it.

I buy buttermilk here reasonably often for recipes, but always think 'this is nothing like the buttermilk i grew up with'... unless my memory is failing me, the buttermilk we had in California was slightly thickened milk with small nuggets of butter in it. 
I guess it works for cooking, but I wouldn't sit and drink a glass of UK buttermilk, whereas I would drink the US stuff.  And my grandpa would drop chunks of cornbread in his, and drink it when it became a slop!