Cast Iron Cornbread

Although Andy got to "break-in" our new Cast Iron Skillet, I knew I had to use it soon after.  I don't know what it is, but when we get new things for our kitchen or home, I just have that itch to use them immediately!  I've held out since Christmas, so I mean, I've waited long enough.

Cornbread is one of those things that goes great with comforting meals.  In our case, we had some black eyed pea "stew".  But you know, most people have cornbread with chili and things like that.  Me... I like to eat it by itself.  What more do you want?  It's sweet, yellow, crumbly cornbread.  With a nice pat of butter.  Simple heaven, I tell you.

Ingredients:

1 cup white cornmeal (you can use yellow too, but this is what I had on hand)
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon sugar

Grease a 10-12 inch round cast iron skillet and place in oven.  Preheat oven to 400 F.

Combine cornmeal, flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl. 

In a separate medium bowl, combine milk, egg, olive oil, and honey. 

Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients and mix well.

Carefully remove the cast iron skillet from the oven and pour in batter.  Return skillet to oven and bake for about 15 minutes, or until cornbread is golden brown.

Cool slightly and slice into wedges.  Top with butter and enjoy sweet cornbread bliss!

I don't like an overly sweet cornbread, and I also don't like an overly dry and plain cornbread.  This was pretty close to perfect!  If you like it on the sweeter side, feel free to adjust the honey and sugar accordingly.  Like I said, this pairs perfectly with some beans or chili, but is just as great on it's own with some butter or extra honey! 

Hope you all enjoy your weekend... I'm off to make that pear-caramel ice cream and do a few other errands... Monday will be here before you know it, but I'm going to enjoy this 3 day weekend as much as possible!  Enjoy your weekend guys!

Pseudo Texas-Style Chili/Stew

Happy Monday!  How was everyone's weekend??? 

Ours was pretty fantastic!  Andy's birthday was Saturday and I tried to make it as awesome as possible!  I made him a Buckeye Cake (Everybody knows what a buckeye is right?  Peanut Butter.  Chocolate.  Need I say more?  It was definitely a rich cake (too rich for my taste, but right up Andy's alley!) and he even said it was one of the best cakes he's ever eaten!  Score! 

We also went to dinner at the Village Anchor which was pretty damn awesome, if I do say so myself!  And it was funny, too, because when we first walked in John Schnatter (Papa John's Pizza Owner) was just sitting casually at the bar.  I don't get star struck by any means, but famous people just amuse me.  Hehe.

Anyway, then Andy wanted so desperately to go see the new Harry Potter and so I took him!  We're not Harry Potter fans at all, he was just amazed by the cinematography, and I guess I do have to admit, it was a pretty good movie, and they slyly split it up into two movies so we just have to go see the next part.

Enough about my weekend, shall we get to a recipe?

I can't claim that this is a true Texas-Style Chili because I made a TON of adaptions to this, and well... I've never been to Texas and eaten chili there, so I have no basis for comparison.  But either way, whatever you want to call this, chili, stew, what-have-you, it was delicious.

Ingredients:
Adapted from Food & Wine's recipe

3 New Mexico chiles, stemmed and seeded
3 Guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
2 cups boiling water
2 canned chipotles in adobo
1 cup brewed coffee
One 12-ounce bottle pale ale
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 & 1/2 lbs. sirloin, cut into cubes
salt and pepper, to taste
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
6 cups beef stock
1/4 cup masa harina (corn flour)
1 ounce semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
Sriracha
1 can seasoned black beans
1/2 lb. spaghetti noodles (optional, I think this is a Midwest thing)
Shredded cheddar cheese, jalapenos and warm corn tortillas, for serving

Heat a large skillet under medium high heat and add chiles.  Toast under just charred on all sides, about 4-6 minutes.  Place chiles in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water.  Let chiles soften in liquid, about 20 minutes.

Drain the chiles and transfer to a tall bowl or container.  Add chipotle peppers and coffee.  Blend with an immersion blender until smooth.  Slowly add in beer and blend again for a minute or two.  Set aside.

Bring out the crockpot (1st crockpot recipe of the fall season guys!) and turn the heat on to high.

Heat a large skillet under medium high heat and add olive oil.  Season the sirloin with salt and pepper and add half of it to skillet.  Cook until browned on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes.  Remove from skillet with slotted spoon and cook other half sirloin in the same manner.  Return all meat to skillet and cook until heated through, about 1-3 minutes.

Add onion and garlic to skillet with meat and cook until onion starts to soften, about 3-5 minutes.  Stir in coriander, cumin, cinnamon, and cloves.  Transfer mixture to preheated crockpot. 

Pour in chile-beer mixture into crockpot with meat.  Also pour in beef stock and black beans.  Let heat in crockpot for about 2-3 hours.

Ladle out 2 cups of the sauce and whisk in corn flour.  Return sauce back to chili and heat for an additional 30 minutes, or until slightly thickened. 

Add in spaghetti noodles and cook until they have softened.  Season with salt and pepper, if needed and add a little bit of Sriracha for some spice.

Ladle chili into bowls and top with cheddar cheese and jalapenos!  We also served this with corn bread and some warm tortillas. 
 

This definitely wasn't as thick of a "chili" as I wanted, so Andy dubbed it more of a stew than anything.  It definitely had flavor and for those of you used to tomato-based chili's, just chili-based chili is pretty rockin' so I'd definitely give it a try sometime!  Enjoy guys!