Spicy, Cheesy Skillet Cornbread
TIME/SERVINGS
Total: 30 mins
Active: 5 mins
Makes: 8 servings
By Aida Mollenkamp
Good cornbread is a great accent—neutral enough to avoid overwhelming the main dish, yet tasty enough to make you ask for seconds. Our version is prepared Southern style: in a cast iron skillet and not too sweet.
What to buy: Hominy is dried corn from which the hull and germ have been removed. It can be found in most grocery stores and is usually sold canned, which is what we used in this recipe.
Game plan: If you want to be even more traditional, use lard or bacon drippings in place of the butter and go for white cornmeal instead of yellow. We combine hominy and jalapeño in our version, but feel free to change it up with any number of ingredients like onions, cheese, or bell peppers.
This recipe was featured in our Cast Iron Cooking story.
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 stick)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups drained golden hominy
- 1 small jalapeño, seeds removed and minced
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal
- Heat the oven to 425°F and arrange a rack in the middle.
- Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-low heat and melt butter until foaming; remove the skillet from heat and reserve butter.
- Combine eggs, milk, salt, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl and mix until smooth. Add hominy, minced jalapeño, flour, 1 cup of the cornmeal, and all but 1 tablespoon of the melted butter, and mix until liquid (it should resemble pancake batter).
- Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons cornmeal over the bottom of the heated skillet, pour in the batter, and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean, about 25 to 35 minutes.
COMMENTS | ADD YOUR OWN
I just hosted a chili cook-off for friends that included 11 different recipes; this cornbread went well with all and received rave reviews from the crowd. Additionally, there is something special about serving cornbread out of a cast iron skillet that makes it a little more adventurous; cookware and presentation wrapped up in one!
I've been making cornbread in a cast iron pan ever since I started cooking. It makes the best!! I've done many recipies - right now my favorite is mixing half polenta and half corn meal and putting a layer of rosemary on top just before you pop it into the oven!!
I have tried flavored variants of cornbread, and while I still like them from time to time (if not too way out), I generally prefer a plain, unsweeted, skillet cornbread.
IMO, better to use top grade, stone ground cornmeal, and buttermilk rather than mess with Mother Nature and jazz up the cornbread.
One of the worst cornbread concoctions I ever had used minced chiles chipotles adobados, which gave the baked cornbread a sickly tinge.
It's a nice sounding recipe, but the addition of jalapeños and hominy makes it less appealing to me. I've been making the simplest recipe for years now, and it still ranks as the best I've ever had.
Leave out the sugar - as well as the jalapeños and hominy - and use a coarse ground meal like polenta. I also use equal amounts of flour and cornmeal for a better bite.
The iron skillet is right on, though. You'll get an even crispier crust if you takes pains to keep the skillet very hot right up until you pour the batter into it - the batter should sizzle as soon as it hits the iron.
Can you use white cornmeal with this? I have a whole bunch left over from another recipe and this seems like a good use for it.
oolah - this is a great way to use up white cornmeal!
Authentic Southern-style cornbread should NEVER contain sugar!
1stmakearoux: you're right that sugar is not usually used in southern cornbread, but we added a very slight amount here in order to offset the jalapeno and hominy. try it and i think you won't find it too much of a departure.
I like the recipe, but it was too salty. I think next time I'll make it with only 1 teaspoon salt.
You mean there is a way to make cornbread without an iron skillet?
cinrucker: did you use table salt in the recipe? all CHOW recipes call for kosher salt and there is a difference in the saltiness between the two - http://www.chow.com/stories/10784.
My friend makes it by sauteeing jalepenos in oil in the skillet first, then spreading them out across the bottom and sides of the skillet, and pouring the batter in, then popping right in the pre-heated oven. It's delicious.
Hominy is a southern tradition, but I lived most of my life in the south and never had it, or peppers, or sugar/honey for that matter, in cornbread. If my grandpa wanted some spice he'd serve pickled hot peppers along side the meal. The recipe is right on with the bacon/lard, and ours was always made with white corn meal.