How To Cook Cornbread?

This is my first cornbread ever. And I don't just mean the first cornbread I've ever made-- this is the first time I've eaten it, too. Oh, I may have tried a cornbread muffin sometime, but I certainly don't remember it. I guess it's just not a very popular food in southern Ontario.
Not knowing what cornbread is supposed to taste like, I was a bit nervous. I needn't have been- it was dead easy to make, and seems to have turned out fine. And it was so quick-- done it about 30 minutes, from start to finish. How can I have gone on so long without knowing about such a quick and easy bread?
I did a little research first and discovered that cornbread is best made with freshly stone-ground cornmeal, and buttermilk, and is best baked in an cast-iron skillet. These three points presented a bit of a problem: it's hard enough to find regular cornmeal here, and I'm pretty sure stone-ground, fresh or not, is unavailable. Buttermilk is also unavailable. And a cast-iron skillet? Even if I could find one, it wouldn't fit in my little oven. I almost bought a cast-iron sukiyaki pan, which looked like it would just fit, and then I noticed that the care instructions warned not to use it in the oven.

So I improvised: regular cornmeal, milk with a touch of vinegar, and a pyrex baking dish. And it worked-- the crust even turned out crispy, which I expected would be impossible without cast-iron. That might have been thanks to the bacon fat I used, which was heated up in the dish before the batter was poured in. Thank god I can at least buy bacon in Japan.

Here's the cornbread cut open and buttered. It was delicious and I'm totally satisfied with the flavour, but is it supposed to be so, well, dry? I know cornbread is not supposed to be moist, and is mostly meant for supping up juices, but man was it ever dry! Did I screw up? Maybe overcooked it a bit? I'm not sure what the colour on top is supposed to be like, but it looks a bit dark. Otherwise this cornbread is great, and as long as it's well-buttered or served with something soupy, it's going to be a regular on our table.
Here is the recipe. I chose it because it was the simplest one I could find (no sugar or flour), but if anyone else has a recipe they can recommend, please let me know.
Oh, and I did serve it with something soupy, something both Hideaki and I have been craving for ages. Can anyone guess what it was?