Skillet Cornbread

The Wolters/Walters Project: 10 of 50 for Fall

One thing I find a challenge is cooking for adults and children. Terry Walters' Skillet Cornbread sounds really good with a minced jalapeno, red bell pepper and a whole kernel corn, but there is no way my son would eat it like that. I was going to make the batter plain, then split it in half, adding the "textured" ingredients to just half, but I really wanted to make the bread the authentic way, in my skillet. So, I pureed the red pepper and left the jalapeno out. The edges did come out really crispy in my Le Creuset cast-iron skillet, but my son still would not eat it with the corn in it. The corn meal was also too gritty for him. I think it tastes great though, especially since I added some cheddar cheese. Next time I will split the batter and make two loaves or a batch of muffins.

I made the bread with home-made rice milk and I used chia seed as an egg replacer. I also used blue corn flour. According to Paul Pitchford, blue corn is has not been hybridized (combined with different varieties) and it is open-pollinated (the seeds will produce new generations), and has 21% more protein, 50% more iron and twice the manganese and potassium of yellow or white corn. If you have seen King Corn, you will know why I think it is important to buy quality corn. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend the documentary.