Suzi's Blog
Chipotle Cornbread for Stuffing [and eating, too!]
Yesterday I blogged about a cornbread stuffing that asked for “1 recipe” of your cornbread of choice.
Here’s ours: Chipotle Cornbread. Depending on how hot you want this bread, you can add more or less chipotle. Because this cornbread is destined to be stuffing, with mushrooms and raisins, we’ve cut back on the chipotle for ourselves. The original recipe is shown below with 4 canned chipotle peppers plus the sauce. For the stuffing, we want just the hint of heat so we do not overpower those other flavors.
So, for stuffing purposes I suggest 1 chipotle and a dash of sauce.
This recipe is from The Cornbread Gospels, an appropriate title for this Christmas-time treat. The author, Crescent Dragonwagon, can only be said to have a rather Harry Potter name. She’s a good author and this book, from 2007, is the best cornbread tome I’ve ever encountered. It has LOTS of wonderful recipe ideas. And Ms. Dragonwagon does seem to have an affinity for the hotter side of life. So, there are many recipes, like this chipotle one, that offer your mouth warmth and dense flavor.
Here’s the original recipe, which would also make a great side dish for Christmas or New Year’s or just a very fine way to start any winter morning.
Chipotle Cornbread
Yield: 8 big wedges
Ingredients:
- Vegetable oil cooking spray
- ⅓ cup butter
- 1 cup coarse stone-ground yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup unbleached white flour
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- ⅔ cup milk
- 4 canned chipotle peppers (stems removed and discarded) plus 2 teaspoons adobo sauce pureed
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray a 10-inch cast-iron skillet with oil and dollop in the butter.
Combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
Whisk together the eggs, milk, and pureed chipotle-adobo mix in a small bowl.
Place the prepared skillet in the oven to heat up for a few minutes, allowing the butter to melt.
Combine the cornmeal mixture and the egg mixture, stirring until everything is just mixed. Then pull the skillet from the oven and pour about half the melted butter from the skillet into the batter. Stir the butter in, and working quickly so that skillet remains almost smoking hot, transfer the batter into it.
Put the whole shebang back in the oven and bake until it is deep golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.
Source: The Cornbread Gospels by Crescent Dragonwagon
Spoonbread with Simple Chorizo
Spoonbread? You may have heard of it, but unless you have had the delight of tasting it, spoonbread has to be mystery. Soft, gooey, … what could it be?
On my first bite, I said, “This is a cornmeal soufflé.” And that’s exactly right. A spoonbread is a savory pudding, which is why the “spoon” part comes in. You have to spoon it out of the pan. You cannot cut it out of the pan, and you cannot spread butter and honey on it. This dish is made with cornmeal but it surely is not cornbread.
This version of spoonbread, with a full pound of chorizo, definitely has that spicy taste. Wait a couple of days, and the flavors have merged and mellowed. This is a great side dish for barbequed chicken or burgers with that hard black crust you love to snap through. In the picture above, we had sausages and coleslaw. You’ll be fascinated by the textures and flavor of this dish.
Spoonbread with Simple Chorizo
Yield: 8 generous servings
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 4 cups milk
- 2 cups cornmeal
- Kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 4 eggs, beaten until thick
- 1 ½ cups grated Monterey jack cheese
- 1 pound cooked chorizo meat [stripped out from chorizo sausages]
- 1 tablespoon roasted garlic
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 375°F and grease a medium-size casserole dish with the butter.
In a saucepan, over medium-high heat, bring the milk to a boil. Gradually add the cornmeal, stirring constantly until all the milk has been absorbed. Remove from heat and let cool.
In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal mixture, salt, baking powder, and butter until well mixed. Gently fold in the eggs, cheese, chorizo, and garlic. Pour into the casserole dish and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the top starts to brown.
Remove and serve warm.
Source: Texas Cowboy Kitchen by Grady Spears with June Naylor
