Bacon Cornbread

This was very good!  I love Claire Robinson's five ingredient recipes, and this one was tasty.  How could this not be tasty?  I was so pleased that I had all the ingredients on hand.  Try this with some honey butter.  YUM.

Her recipe says to fry the bacon in a pan and then put the rendered bacon grease in the cast iron skillet before pouring the cornbread in.  Well, that's messy and takes too much time, so I take the short cut of microwaving the bacon and Pam-ing the heck out of the cast iron skillet.  No, it's not the proper way to do it, but it was much faster and it still tasted good.  If that offends you, do it the old-fashioned way.

Bacon Cornbread

6 slices bacon

1/2 cup self-rising flour

3/4 cup fine cornmeal

Pinch salt

1 egg, plus 1 egg white

1 (14oz) can creamed corn

Preheat oven to 400.  Put a cast iron skillet in the oven to heat while the oven is heating.  Cook the bacon and allow it to cool before dicing it.  In a small mixing bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, and salt.  In a larger bowl, mix the eggs until frothy and add the creamed corn.  Fold in the dry ingredients and combine until just mixed.  Fold the diced bacon into the batter.  Pour the batter into the greased cast iron skillet, and bake until golden in color, about 17-19 minutes.  Allow the cornbread to cool slightly before serving.

Mammy's Mexican Cornbread

This is GOOD.  I wish I could take credit for this recipe, but it's from Mammy's Restaurant in Natchez, Mississippi (via my mom).  It's easy and quick to throw together, and it's delicious, especially because of the layer of cheese in the middle.  (It's easier to see in the second picture.)  We had this with some tortilla soup--yum.  I'll definitely make this again. 

Mammy's Mexican Cornbread

1 1/2 cups corn bread mix (1 pkg Jiffy)
1 (8oz) can cream corn
2 jalapeno peppers chopped finely
1/4 cup chopped bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs, well beaten
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups greated Cheddar cheese

Mix together all ingredients except cheese.  Heat heavy oiled (10-inch) skillet, and pour in half of the batter.  Sprinkle cheese over batter, keeping cheese from touching the sides of the skillet.  Add remaining batter.  Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes. 

Jalapeno Cheese Cornbread

Are you loving all of the posts I've been able to do since school is out? I usually put up one per week, but now I have a record four in one day! Whoo hoo! (Side note 1: It was silly of me to start this thing at the end of the school year when things are busy, but apparently that's how I roll--making things unnecessarily complicated. Side note 2: It's a good thing I have four posts from today. I have nothing else to show for the twelve hours I've been awake. Zero. Nothing.) As nice as all the posts are, just being able to cook this much since school is out is even better, so now we're moving on to the cheesy cornbread muffins (from scratch!), another Barefoot Contessa recipe.

I halved the recipe, and it fit perfectly into a 12-cup muffin tin. This accompanied the soup nicely, but it would go well with a lot of dishes. They weren't really that spicy, but the change of extra color and flavor to the cornbread was well worth it. Very good.

Jalapeno Cheese Cornbread (the halved recipe)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/8 cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 stick butter, melted
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
2 scallions, chcopped
2 Tbsp seeded and minced jalapenos

Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, eggs, and butter. With a wooden spoon, stir the wet ingredients into the dry until most of the lumps are gone. Don't overmix! Mix in the Cheddar, the scallions, and the jalapenos. Allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly spray the muffin tin with cooking spray (or an 8"x8" pan, if you don't want the individual muffins).

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tin, and sprinkle with any remaining cheese or scallions, if desired. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.