Spicy Cornbread

I had this brilliant idea (so original, right?) that for the Super Bowl it would be great to have a huge pot of chili, made ahead of time, with lots of toppings such as grated cheese, sliced scallions, diced onion, sour cream...well, I think you get the idea. And what's better to go with this chili than some nice spicy cornbread.

So I found a few recipes that sounded like a good starting point and I changed things around a little and came up with this Spicy Cornbread. It's kind of more cake-like than cornbread you're probably used to...it was for us.

I noticed differences with cornbread recipes in the amount of cornmeal to flour. Some recipes use more flour, and some more cornmeal. This recipe uses way more cornmeal than flour.

A few other ingredients I was looking to include were creamed corn, cheese and enough spices to give it a little kick. I think it all worked together to make an extremely moist, slightly spicy cake- like cornbread...perfect to go with Super Bowl Chili!

I decided I better organize the ingredients beforehand so I wouldn't get too confused...doesn't take much for that to happen! So here are all the ingredients.

One thing I did was to pour the buttermilk into the cornmeal, stir it together and let it sit for 5 minutes. I think it helps to soften the cornmeal slightly so it's not so gritty...at least I think that's what it does! ( It was suggested in one of the recipes I read).

Combine all the wet ingredients ( except, of course the buttermilk) together in a large bowl and stir to combine.

Then add the cornmeal/buttermilk mixture and stir well.

Dump the flour and spices into the wet and gently stir, being sure you get it all incorporated.

Pour the batter into a prepared pan* and bake about 35 minutes, or til a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Once it comes out of the oven, it has a nice golden color.

Spicy Cornbread

Makes one 9" square or round.(I tried making a few mini muffins but the batter didn't hold up well for such a small muffin. Perhaps a jumbo size muffin would be okay).

I don't own a cast iron skillet, yet, but I bet it would be great baked in one.

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1/3 cup AP flour

2 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tsp. chili powder

2 tbsp. minced dried onion

2 eggs, beaten slightly

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used canola)

1 small can (4 oz.) of green chiles, drained

8 oz. creamed style corn

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 tbsp. bacon fat (I used this to grease the pan for added flavor but you can use vegetable shortening also).

************************

Preheat oven to 350. *About 5 minutes before you're ready to pour the batter into the pan, put the pan into the oven with the bacon fat or shortening and let the pan get nice and hot. This helps the outer edges to get crusty.*

1. Pour the buttermilk and cornmeal into a small bowl and stir to combine. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder, spices and minced dried onion together.

3. In another medium bowl, whisk the eggs, vegetable oil, green chiles, creamed corn and grated cheese together.

4. Add the cornmeal/buttermilk mixture to the wet ingredients and stir to combine.

5. Add the flour into the wet and stir gently til all incorporated.

6. Pour the batter into the hot greased pan and bake for about 35 minutes, or til a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let the cornbread cool before slicing.