Jalapeno Cranberry Skillet Corn Bread

A sweet and savory corn bread just in time for Thanksgiving!

The holiday festivities are just around the corner. In fact it is already in the air. The dark and the spooky of the Halloween was tucked away, quickly paving way for the glitters and shimmers.

The appearance of the tall beautifully decked Christmas Tree in the mall is also a reminder for me to check my to do list of the year. When I did take it out, I was a bit disappointed. I call it my wish list; wishes that I fulfill for myself. A whole lot of the recipes that I had planned to try this year have not been done. I cook on a whim and to tell you frankly, after I had done the list, I hardly ever went back to take another look at it. Now more are to be added for the coming year and thus the list keeps growing.





The next couple of months will fly by and not just because of Thanksgiving, and Christmas, the activities and feast in schools for the kids and the parties and the meets. We have two birthdays coming up soon. We also have short trip planned and may be more during the later days. And another year is going to be ending soon!

I love corn breads, fresh corn, roasted corn, and corn anything. I had been planning to make the skillet corn bread for the longest time now, maybe for more than two years.





Instead I went ahead and did the easy Corn Casserole in the past year and keep on repeating that one. But I just had to check this off my list and when I had the jalapenos and the cornmeal together at one spot, I was all ready to go. Since this is a sweet and savory bread, I decided to add dried cranberries for some pleasant sweet bites.

The hubby who is not so fond of corn breads, actually surprised me by taking a big liking for this one. It was the jalapeno and the cranberry combination which sparked the love.

Jalapeno Cranberry Skillet Corn Bread

(adapted from Food and Wine)

Ingredients: (makes 2 small breads in 5″ skillet)

1. 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2. 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3. 1/2 cup  + 3 tablespoon  cornmeal, preferably stone-ground
4. 2-3 jalapeno pepper (or as many as you want), finely chopped and pounded
5. 2 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander/cilantro
6. 1/2 cup dried cranberries, (or as much or as little as you want)
7. 2 tablespoon honey
8. 1/4 tablespoon  + 1 teaspoon baking powder
9. 1/2 teaspoon salt
10. about 8-10 turns of freshly ground black pepper
    
11. 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoon milk (a little bit more or less; enough to make cake like batter)
    
12. 1 egg, lightly beaten
13. 2.5-3 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted or or any cooking oil

a cast iron skillet (if you do not have one, use a thick bottomed oven proof skillet)

Preparation:

I used a small 5″ skillet, so I divided the batter in two. If you are cooking in one big skillet, you will not need to divide it.

Preheat the oven to 400° F.

In a bowl, sift the all purpose flour with baking powder, black pepper and salt. Stir in the cornmeal.

Pound the jalapeno and the fresh cilantro/coriander leaves until it is coarse paste.

Add the cranberries to the flour and toss for them to be coated.

Whisk the milk, butter, honey and eggs in a different bowl and stir in lightly with the flour mix. Add the paste of jalapeno and cilantro/coriander. Add the melted butter and stir just until blended.

Add 1/2 tablespoon oil to the cast iron skillet and heat the skillet over the stove top or in the oven until the oil shimmer and is really hot. When the dough is added to this, it should sizzle loud.

Remove skillet from the stove top or the oven and scrape half of the batter into the hot skillet. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until the center springs back when gently pressed. The bread should be golden brown and crispy at the edges.

Repeat the same process as above with the rest of the batter, if you are using a small skillet like I did.

Turn the corn bread out onto a rack to cool and slice only when cooled.

*Shelf Life: The bread will stay in the room temperature for about 2 days, so this is great for making ahead.

* Serving Ideas: Enjoy the bread as is by itself or as a side. If you are using the bread  for stuffing or a corn bread salad (and with the heat and the cranberries, it is a really good one to use), coarsely crumble or chop  the corn bread.

Cooking Time: Approx. 30 minutes

 

 

This Corn Bread is Tried and Tested by Simone!




Related Posts:

Corn Casserole Recipe

Avocado and Roasted Corn Salsa

Potato Stufed Corn Bread