I bought some tasty Cornbread at the Davidson Farmer’s Market on the weekend made by Chef Charles, but thought that it lacked a little ‘something’ and decided to have a go at making some myself.
After peering through a number of cornbread recipes I took a little of this, and some of that and came up with my own recipe which you are welcome to try.
2 cups of (Self Raising) Yellow Corn Meal Mix
1 egg
1¼ cups Buttermilk
¼ cup melted butter (or oil if you prefer)
1 cup shredded cheese (I used Mexican Blend)
1/2 cup Sun Dried Tomatoes finely chopped
2 Tablespoons FINELY chopped Red & Green Hot Peppers (I used one red Habanero and one green Jalapeno – dont forget to remove the seeds!) – can be omitted if you don’t like spicy food!
4 Rashers of Bacon – diced and cooked to get rid of the excess fat. (Proscuitto would work well too!)
Salt, Pepper and other herbs for seaoning and taste
Extra Grated Cheese for garnish
~ Preheat your oven to 400F. Grease a couple of small loaf pans.
~ Finely chop the Peppers and Sun Dried Tomatoes and place them in a mixing bowl. Add the cup of grated cheese and toss till well mixed. Add the finely diced cooked bacon. Dice further if necessary, it needs to be really fine.
~ Add the two cups of Cornmeal Mix to the bowl and blend well with the cheese, peppers, tomatoes and bacon.
~ Beat your egg in a separate bowl. Add the buttermilk and whisk a bit more. Add the melted butter and whisk again.
Season the egg, milk and butter mix to taste. As I like my food on the spicy side I also dropped in a shake of Cayenne Pepper too!
~ Fold the liquid into the dry ingredient until combined well. Do not over work the mixture.
~ Spoon the mixture into your loaf pans until they are barely full. (The mixture rises somewhat but not lots!) Sprinkle a little of the extra cheese on top.
~ Bake in your pre-heated oven for 20 – 25 mins or until you do the “poke” test with a skewer and it comes out clean.
~ Allow to cool on a wire rack. Slice and serve by itself or if you are not counting calories, with a nice slather of “good” butter!!!
NOTE: I’m pretty sure this recipe would work well as a sweet Cornbread too, if you exchange the peppers, tomatoes, bacon and cheese with fruit …… say blueberries and add a couple of tablespoons of honey.
These little loaves turned out beautifully and will become a frequent visitor to our table for sure!!
gotham girl - Oh how I love cornbread! My mom makes the best too…the real southern way, ha!
Chris - Howdy. This looks really yum. I like cornbread with spice but not with heat! don’t know how this would work for me, but I love the taste of jalapeno.
it also looks like it wouldn’t be too dry.
Had a family cancer, a family death, and before that trips so things have been wonk. It’s good to see what you’ve been doing. I’ll be catching up and try not to comment every. single. time.
xox