Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Bring on the Chili Weather

Tex here, and y'all have no idea how envious I am of Jan. A blizzard?! In October?! How cool is that?

But Jan isn't the only one whose weather has been a'changin'. Here in Texas, we took a blow from that same front. No snow, of course, but in less than twenty-four hours we went from a balmy ninety-something into the fifties, with a stout north wind accompaniment. Normally, this wouldn't be that big of  deal. However, our youngest son had a marching band competition that day. Outdoors!

Now, many of you know that I grew up in Michigan, so I know what cold weather really is. But these Texans are kinda funny to watch when the temps drop below seventy. Sitting out in that stadium Saturday, I wore nothing more than a windbreaker over my three-quarter length sleeves and I was fine. Wished I had some gloves because my fingers were cold, but that was it. But sitting there, I watched the hundreds of people that poured into the stadium. Some were in shirt sleeves, some wore jackets, a few had blankets, and then, every so often, I'd see someone in their heavy winter coat. I kid you not. Big old puffy things with the fur hood. I mean, really? How wimpy can you get?

As the preliminary part of the competition came to an end, the temps continued to topple and the rain drew closer. Hubby and I left the stadium, however, to do this, you had to go beneath the bleachers, which was enclosed, but had gates on each end that created this bone-chilling wind tunnel effect. So by the time we made it to the car, we were cold. So I looked at hubby and said, "I'm making chili for dinner."

If you'd like that recipe, you can find it here.

But I wanted some cornbread to go with my chili. Usually, I just whip up a pan of plain old cornbread, but I wanted something with a little more zing.

Bring on the Green Chili Cornbread.

Once again, I feel the need to share that green chilies are not hot. They are tasty and have a little bit of zing, but they are not, I repeat, NOT hot.

So, here's what you're going to need:
  • 1 cup yellow cornmeal
  • 1 cup all purpose or bread flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 egg
  • 1 - 8ish oz. can cream-style corn
  • 1 - 4 oz. can diced green chilies
  • 2 cups buttermilk


Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Add 1-2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil to your baking pan. If you want it extra yummy, you can use bacon drippings. And put it in the oven to get that oil nice and hot.


 
Now mix your dry ingredients together. Give 'em a little stir.
 
Add your egg, cream corn, green chilies, and buttermilk and stir well. You could even throw in  a little cheese, but I didn't think of that until later.
 
Once your oven has reached 350, remove the pan and add mixture to the hot pan.
Can you hear it sizzle?
 
Now hurry and get it back in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes.
My goodness, this smells yummy. See the green chilies.
 
Let the pan sit and cool for a few minutes before cutting. Yes, I had a hard time waiting.
 
This was so good, I almost forgot about my chili. The cream-style corn adds a hint of sweetness that really compliments the zing of the chilies.  
 
So we're back to eighty degrees today, but that little taste of fall/winter was enough to get me going.
 
How about you? I'm sure it's already fall where you live, but are you ready for winter?
 
 
 
 

21 comments:

  1. YUMMY!!! And now I want cornbread at 3AM!!

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    1. Virginia, why are you up at 3 AM? Are you up early or late? Doesn't matter thought, cornbread is great any time of day. :)

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  2. First, I love the word STOUT. It's one of my favorite words. Second, I have never tried cornbread in a skillet. Must try. I love to serve chili with cornbread and baked potatoes. Yummy, to pour the chili over the taters and crumble cornbread on top.

    It is in the eighties here and we are in hog heaven. Finally decent weather!!!

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    1. Tina, I've seen chili on potatoes, but never tried it. I don't know, it just doesn't sound appealing. I like a good tater, but with butter, sour cream, cheese, and bacon bits. :) Give me bag of Fritos, though, and we're talking some good eatin'. I love me some Frito Chili Pie. Heck, I love Fritos. Which is why I rarely ever by them.

      And you don't have to use a skillet. I just like to use a cast iron. For smaller batches, I have an old blackened pan that I use.

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    2. I love chili and cheese on baked potatoes! I also love Frito Chili Pie at Sonic. :)

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  3. Mmmmm, I haven't had cornbread in years...and not anything that looks as tastey as this recipe does. I might just have to try it...but I don't have a skillet like yours. I'll have to improvise.

    It's definitely autumn weather up here and I'm enjoying the cooler temps -- but not looking forward to winter at all this year so I'm hoping fall lasts until March. LOL

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    1. I bet you get some serious winters up there, don't you, Kav? Having grown up in the north, I think it would probably only take me about one full blown winter to decide I'd rather be back in Texas. If we're lucky enough to get snow, it doesn't hang around for more than a day or two.

      Like I told Tina, you can use a regular pan for the cornbread. It's the heating it in the oven that gets you that nice sizzle when you pour in your batter. My other pan was a cheap 8x11ish aluminum thing. Once upon a time it had a nonstick surface. Now it's just black.

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  4. I'm all over doing this as skillet bread!!!! Never woulda thunk it, Tex!!! And I bet the fam would be lovin' this with green chilis..... I could become popular!!! I love being popular! Happy dancing over how cool this would be in the kitchen on a long, cold, relaxing Sunday!

    We cooled down last night.... Dave lit a small fire in the stone stove and that's only the second fire this year, so we're loving on the nice temps but the rains have hit. #MUD :)

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    1. RUTHY...I thought about you this morning. When I was at Sam's picking up a bag of Ghirardelli 60% chips. So glad they're back.

      And Ruthy, you will always be popular. You feed everyone too well not to be. Do you have a stove/fireplace in your new room?

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    2. There is a gas fireplace in the new room!!! I push a button and GET HEAT. SMILING!!!! We heat the rest of this sweet, old house with firewood so there's a stone stove in the other living room... now the quiet living room. :) See that smile?????????

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    3. Ooo, the quiet living room. Yep, I can see that smile all the way here in Texas. Gotta love a quiet room. A retreat from the chaos. Not to mention the new gas fireplace. Very cool, Ruthy. Or would that be warm? ;)

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  5. I have my grandma's skillet. And if I could just eat corn again.

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    1. I'm sorry, Julie. :( No corn would make me sad too. But think of all the other cool things you can make with Grandma's skillet. :)

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  6. Oh, Mindy, you had me at bacon grease. Cornbread heaven!

    And I have a skillet just like yours! Don't you love Lodge Cast Iron?

    I was laughing about your description of the people in the stadium! Where we're raised makes all the difference in how cold "cold" really is, doesn't it?

    We had so much fun during our blizzard/power outage, and we also learned a lot about just how prepared we are.

    Things to do before the next storm:

    1) Get more wood. We hadn't ordered any yet, so we heated the house with old pallets my son brought home from work Thursday night. They worked well for heat, but had to be replenished every couple hours. The new wood stove was wonderful, though!

    2) Clean off my desk. It's right next to the wood stove, and we ended up using it as a staging area for cooking. Books, papers and half-finished manuscripts were not good on our makeshift kitchen counter.

    3) Stock up on dog chewies. The dogs got cabin fever much quicker than the rest of us did, and about drove us nuts!

    Other than that, I'd say we're ready for our next blizzard! Bring it on!

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    1. Jan, next time you have a blizzard coming, let me know and I'll be on the next flight. I can't wait to see your next post.

      Yes, not only do I love Lodge cast iron, I'm addicted to it. Especially their enameled cast iron. I buy it on Amazon. Way cheaper than the stores. Matter of fact, I just ordered a new piece yesterday, one of the casseroles, which can also be used as a skillet. Won't be doing any cornbread in that one, though.

      See what you did, Jan. Got me talking Lodge and there I go. :)

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    2. I must check out this "Lodge Cast Iron". I love cast iron and cast aluminum. Best cooking surfaces ever.

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    3. I used to poo-poo the cast iron, calling it old fashioned. Well, as in most cases, our forefathers were much smarter. They knew how to make things that lasted. There are brands cheaper than Lodge, as well as more expensive. But I know that when I use a one of their products, it's going to perform.

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    4. When I had to change cookware (my expensive non-stick stuff was flaking...into our food...yuck), I decided to go with cast iron for skillets and my dutch oven, and stainless steel for sauce pans. I love the combination!

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    5. I know what you mean, Jan. And I still have/like some of the non-stick pieces, but I've learned that the cookware sets are over-rated. Much better for each piece to have a purpose and for you to love each piece.

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  7. That's exactly how we make cornbread (growing up in KY)! Well, without the green chilis. :) And actually, we didn't usually use the canned corn, though I love it that way!

    Heating the iron skillet in the oven (we always used butter) makes for such a nice crust!

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    1. Missy, don't you love it fresh out of the oven, when the bottom is nice and crispy? It's just not the same after it's set for a bit. If I get it right out of the pan, it will stay crisp longer, but there's nothing like that fresh-baked crispness.

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