Hot Jalapeño Cornbread – The Best Ever!

Oh Boy! You will love this Jalapeño Cornbread recipe.  It is easy and delicious.  There is plenty of room to customize it to your heat level.  When we eat jalapenos we want to know it.  Please do not tell me that using your mother’s nasty cast iron skillet that nobody has washed since the 1960s is the only way to make cornbread.  We can agree to disagree on that point.  It is advised, however, that you use a heavy glass or ceramic casserole pan and heat it before adding the ingredients. Agreed? OK, let’s get cooking.

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons – Bacon Grease
• 2 Tablespoons – Butter
• 1 Cup – Corn Meal
• 1 Cup – White Flour
• 1/2 Teaspoon – Baking Soda
• 2 Teaspoons – Baking Powder
• 2 Each – Large Eggs
• 1.25 Cups – Water
• 4 Each – Large Jalapenos, diced small
• 1/2 Cup – Canned Whole Kernel Corn
• 1 Cup – Sharp Cheddar Cheese, grated
• 1/2 Teaspoon – Cayenne Pepper
• 1 Teaspoon – Salt

Preparation

1. Place a 9″ x 9″ ceramic or glass casserole pan in the oven. (or your nasty old cast iron skillet)  Add the bacon grease and butter to the pan.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. You may opt to use rubber gloves for this step. Slice 9 or 12  jalapeno slices to garnish the top of the cornbread from on of the jalapenos.  Chop the remaining 3 1/2 jalapenos into small pieces.
3. Add all of your dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the mixing bowl along with the eggs and mix thoroughly, but not too much.
5. Using good oven mittens, rotate hot pan to allow the bacon grease and butter to coat the bottom and sides of the pan.
6. Pour the cornbread mixture into the pan.  Garnish with jalapenos.
7. Cook for 20 – 24 minutes.
8. Hey the pan and oven are still hot.  Make another batch!
9. Serve hot along with butter.

Serving suggestions

This simple dish can stand alone for a great winter snack or light lunch, along with a tall glass of iced tea.  The cornbread in this post did just that.  You can also double or triple this recipe, add it to your favorite pot of beans for an easy and hearty meal that will feed a small army.