To go with the Red Beans and Rice that I posted yesterday, I went back to my old trusty cookbook from The Red Hat Society – page 238. (I know the page number by heart) This cookbook is a compilation of more than 1,000 recipes from the old-fashioned cooks that say they’ve done their time in carpool lanes, completed their duties as personal chefs, domestic engineers, and corporate executives. It’s an awesome collection of recipes. I’ve posted recipes from this cookbook before and will again in the future. It’s a fantastic cookbook.

This cornbread is SO delicious! Words can’t even describe how much I love it. Here’s what you need:

JALAPENO CHEESE CORNBREAD

1 Tbl shortening or bacon drippings*
1 box corn bread mix
1 can cream style corn
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup buttermilk**
2 eggs
3-4 jalapeno peppers, chopped ***

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spoon the shortening or bacon drippings into a 9-inch cast iron skillet**** and place in oven to heat while you’re preparing the cornbread mixture. In a large bowl, combine the corn bread mix, corn, cheese, oil, buttermilk, eggs and peppers. Pour mixture into the hot skillet. Bake for 25 – 40 minutes, or until brown.

*Most Southern cooks have a can of leftover bacon drippings that they keep on hand.

**I never have buttermilk on hand, so I combine 3/4 tsp. lemon juice with milk (or half and half) to equal a 1/2 cup of liquid. Let it sit while you’re chopping your peppers and combining your ingredients and add it last.

***Vary the number of peppers according to your own taste.

****Don’t worry if you don’t have a cast iron skillet. You can used a 9-inch cake pan or even muffin tins.

This is the recipe as it reads in the cookbook . . . which is totally DELICIOUS. However, to put my own twist on things, I add 1/3 cup sour cream. It just adds a richness. And I add 1 tsp of onion powder sometimes (if I remember) to give it an extra kick of flavor. I’ve added diced onion before too and it was equally delicious. But that’s just me. The recipe is excellent just the way it is. It’s just my spin and my taste. I’ve made this with a hundred different twists and it’s ALWAYS good. This cornbread is almost unscrewupable. (Like my new word?) So go ahead and give it a shot.

I’ve been known to make a pan JUST for me where I’ll use four or five jalapenos. Apparently my tastebuds have become so DEsensitized that hot isn’t HOT to me unless it burns my own rearend upon exit. . . which isn’t exactly pleasant. But, dang, it’s some yummy eatin’.

I’ve eaten this on several occasions as a meal of its own – when it’s just me here. It’s excellent reheated in a toaster oven or in your oven on Broil. And it’s filling. When you make it with the Red Beans and Rice, crumble a piece of the cornbread in the left over juice and you have Pot Licker and Bread. Heaven, I’m tellin’ ya.

Okay – for those who do not know what Pot Licker is. It is truly Southern slang that means the juice that remains after the beans are gone is so good, you want to lick the pot. Soak up the bean juice with your corn bread. Try it! You’ll like it!!