Jalapeno Cheese Cornbread

This spicy and slightly sweet cornbread has a lovely soft cake-y texture. It’s the perfect accompaniment to a soup or stew.

Ingredients

1½ cup cornmeal (polenta)

1½ cup white wheat flour (or wholemeal or gluten-free flour)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon sugar (optional)

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup non-dairy milk

1¼ cup water

1/3 cup neutral flavoured vegetable oil

½ cup jalapeno peppers, finely chopped

2 or 3 spring onions, finely chopped

1 cup Angel Food grated cheese

Instructions

1.        Preheat oven to 200°C.

2.        Line a deep 20cm square baking dish or tin with baking paper and set aside.

3.        In your largest mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients: cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Mix well.

4.        Add the milk, water and oil, and stir gently with a whisk until mixed. Add in the

5.        Jalapeño, spring onions and grated cheese, and mix with a spatula or wooden spoon (you could use the whisk for this too, but I find too many ‘bits’ get stuck to the whisk).

6.        Pour this batter into the lined dish and bake at 200°C for 35-40 minutes. When it’s done the top will be slightly cracked. Test it with a skewer to see if the middle is cooked.

Notes

In our 20cm square baking dish this recipe made a loaf about 6cm deep, which we cut into cubes for serving. You could use a narrower loaf pan for taller slices but will need to adjust the baking time accordingly.

We wanted this recipe to be spicy so we were generous with the jalapenos! You could certainly reduce the amount for a milder result, or replace them with other tasty morsels such as olives or sundried tomatoes. Half a cup of drained canned corn would work well too but because the flavour is much milder I’d recommend increasing the other seasonings slightly to compensate.

Serve with a hearty vegetable stew or a summer roast tomato soup.

This recipe freezes well. Freeze in slices or wedges so you can take out as much as you need at a time – also it will defrost more quickly than it would in a large portion. Defrost in the fridge or at room temperature: we don’t recommend defrosting in the microwave. It’s not sturdy enough to pop in the toaster, unfortunately, but heating in the oven just before serving will return it to just-baked deliciousness.

Cornbread is a dish associated with the southern United States; in the early colonial days corn was a very important crop there because the European wheat they grew withered and went rancid in the southern heat and humidity. Simple milling technology meant the corn could only be coarsely ground: hence the name ‘corn grits’.

Corn was first domesticated in Mexico 6000 years ago and gradually made its way north from there over thousands of years. It was used by native Americans for a multitude of dishes including versions of cornbread. Corn was introduced to West Africa by European traders via the Atlantic slave trade and quickly became a staple in African cooking.