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?