I'm a member of a spiritual parenting group that meets for dinner and discussion once a month. Each month, the responsibilities of the group rotate. One person will be responsible for hosting while another is responsible for providing a meal and a third moderates the discussion. One of the members of the group is a professional chef (we try not to take advantage of him!).
During his night to cook about a year ago, he made us a Tex-Mex buffet, including a wonderful cheesy, smokey, slightly spicy cornbread. I asked him repeatedly for the recipe, but he wouldn't budge. I even said I'd understand if it was a secret, if he'd just give me a recipe for basic cornbread because I tend to fail in that arena. He finally, reluctantly, admitted that he doesn't make cornbread; he uses Jiffy mix. So I figure if it's good enough for a professional chef who likes to make practically everything from scratch, it's good enough for me!
Based on the flavors of the cornbread he made us that night, I experimented and came up with something pretty darn close. I didn't think our family would like the cornbread very spicy, especially since I serve it with chili, so I only use half a jalapeno with the seeds removed. (Freeze the other half for chilis, stews or more cornbread!) You can use more if you want it spicy.
Cheesy Cornbread
1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
half a jalapeno pepper, diced and seeded
1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 400*, per box directions. Mix all ingredients together. Pour into greased muffin tins or 9x9 pan or small cast iron skillet. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Many "mexican" cornbread recipes I have tried turn out so heavy. This doesn't look heavy, I think I'll try it and add the whole jalapeno ;) Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThis cornbread has never turned out heavy for me. Let me know how it is with the whole jalapeno. :-)
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