Yesterday, on a gloomy Sunday evening, I cooked a scrumptious turkey chili and needed something on the side to sop up all the delicious juices from the chili. The thought of cornbread crossed my mind as it is such a traditional staple, and it almost seemed wrong not to serve it alongside this chili.
Cornbread has always intrigued my foodie sense, but I’ve never actually baked cornbread from scratch before because my family didn’t seem too keen on it and it always seemed like a waste to cook an entire loaf just for me. Yesterday, however, I bit the bullet and decided it was cornbread time. I got a bit spooked by the idea of making it from scratch and, I confess, I ended up buying a tin of dry jalapeno cornbread mix from my neighborhood market. I did spruce it up with a blend of jack & cheddar cheese and a dash of cayenne pepper, so that ought to pardon me a bit, no? It turned out beautifully golden in my cast iron skillet, and everyone loved it. I’ve been scouring the Internet for a recipe to make this one fresh some day, and I thought this one from Ina Garten looked like a winner to me.
CHEDDAR JALAPENO CORNBREAD
(Adapted from a recipe by Ina Garten. Photo courtesy by Ina Garten)
– 3 cups of all purpose flour
– 1 cup of yellow corn meal
– ¼ cup of sugar
– 2 Tbsp baking powder
– 2 tsp of Kosher salt
– 2 cups of milk
– 3 extra large eggs, lightly beaten
– ½ lbs of unsalted butter (2 sticks), melted
– 8 oz of extra-sharp Cheddar, grated & divided
– 3 scallions (white & green parts), chopped & divided
– 3 Tbsp of seeded & minced fresh jalapeno peppers
Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, eggs & butter. With a wooden spoon, stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until most of the lumps are dissolved. Be careful not to over-mix! Mix in 2 cups of the Cheddar, the scallions and the jalapenos, and allow for the batter to sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350F and grease a cast-iron skillet (or 9x13x2 oven-safe pan).
Pour the batter into the pan, smooth the top and sprinkle with remaining Cheddar and a few extra chopped scallions. Bake for 30-35 min or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and cut into wedges or large squares.
The Hungry Belgian 
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