Adventures

Feb 21, 2008

Building A Better Cornbread Part 1

I like cornbread but have always kept it at a distance because traditional recipes call for ingredients I'd rather not eat or rather not eat in such quantities. A simple search online resulted in recipes calling for up to 3/4 cup of sugar, 3/4 shortening, 3/4 cup oil, lots and lots of cheese, canned creamed corn, etc. But I also found folks online who are trying to make better choices about what they eat. From several recipes with a conscience, I compiled a list of ingredients to begin my cornbread experiments. Here is the first cornbread. It was amazingly delicious and moist but crumbly too. This is day 4 of it being wrapped in foil in the fridge since making it and it's STILL moist.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Ingredients:

1 cup cornmeal (coarse grind is what we happened to have on hand)
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup honey
1 cup Skim Supreme milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
heavy 1/4 cup fat-free sour cream (you could also use plain, non-fat yogurt)
1 tbsp olive oil

To taste:
1 slice jalapeno jack cheese, crumbled
diced, canned chili peppers
ground cumin
garlic powder
dried, mild red chili pepper

Mix dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients. Mix everything together. I'm not too bothered by raw egg and I tasted this batter and re-seasoned until I got it the way I wanted. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray. Bake for 15 mins. then check to see if there is still any wiggle in the middle. There was lots of wiggle left in mine but I'd rather be safe than sorry so I checked it at 15 mins. I then reset the timer for, I think, another 5 mins? I was initially afraid that the sides would be too done and the middle underdone but it was perfect. A knife came out clean when stuck in the deepest part. Let it cool a while or when you cut it it will be a steaming mess. It was moist and flavorful. I do think I would prefer a finer grind on the cornmeal but I will use up what we have in the house first. And I was cooking for folks in addition to myself but I would have preferred more heat. Overall, a very successful cornbread. I'm looking forward to another version soon.

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