Saturday, June 19, 2010

Hal O'Peno's Cast Iron Cornbread

Cornbread was voted the #1 cast iron classic here at Wasp Foodie. Of course it would be! It's rustic, simple and cooks up beautifully in cast iron cookware.

Check out this recipe. It's easy and the jalapenos can be omitted for a less-spicy-more-bland taste.

You will need:


DRY INGREDIENTS:


3/4 cup corn meal
1 1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon or more of salt

WET INGREDIENTS:

2 egg whites
1 cup milk
1/4 cup oil (forgot to add to pic above!)

You'll also need 1 to 2 jalapenos and a cast iron skillet.

Preparation:

~ Chop up a jalapeno. I sliced one and only put it on top, but you could add chopped jalapeno to the batter as well. Be sure to remove the seeds.



DON'T TOUCH YOUR EYES, NOSE OR OTHER MUCUS MEMBRANES!

~ Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

~ Grease the skillet. I used Crisco.

Step one: Combine dry ingredients and mix well.



Step two: Add wet ingredients and stir until combined. Don't over do it.



Step three: Pour into cast iron skillet.


Step four: Adorn with jalapenos and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.



Step five: Pull it out of the oven, slice and eat!





MMmmmhhhhhm, butter.

Jess's review:

Perdy darn good. I like that the jalapenos just sit on top- this way people who aren't into heat can pick them off with only a little residual spice and flavor left over. This would go great with some chili or stew... or just plain with butter and a glass of milk!

Royall's review:

"Corn-tronic" says the bread robot. Four stars. The only thing keeping it from a five is having a jalapeno chopped up in the batter.... or maybe TWO more jalapenos chopped up in the batter!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Looks good, but what is the difference between cornbread and "Johnny cake"?

Jessie Moon said...

According to bigsiteofamazingfacts.com:

Cornbread, or “Johnny cake,” is a country comfort food that was given to the first North American settlers by the Natives.

The cake was and is made principally of maize or corn and was baked on a heated flat stone from an open fire.

The white trappers who first tasted cornbread were guests of the Shawnee tribe.

And so they called it Shawnee cake, which soon became a staple with the settlers as the mispronounced Johnny cake.

Jonnycake is basically fried cornmeal gruel, and is made from yellow or white cornmeal mixed with salt and hot water or milk, and often sweet

Unknown said...

Wow! Thanks WASP foodie!!!