Really Good Mexican Cornbread!

Caution:  If you're the type of guy that needs to follow the recipe to the "T", this may not be the recipe for you.  If words like "pinch", "dallop", or "crapload" make you nervous, this may not be the recipe for you.

However, if your attitude is "yeah, I'll add as much as I think it should have", then you have arrived at the right place.  My recipes are more like suggestions, with recommended amounts, but you should also understand that this blog exists mainly because my wife wanted me to document the stuff I make on-the-fly, since I'm really bad about writing down what I create.  If it inspires your own creation, that's awesome.  If it sucks, don't blame me....you've been warned....

Ingredients: (makes enough for about 4 - 6 people - unless they're really fat & hungry)

1 package of cornbread mix (corn muffin mix works as well)
Some Masa flour (corn meal) in case you screw it up and need to make it thicker
At least one 8-ounce container of sour cream
1 can of creamed sweet corn (not just regular corn - needs to be creamed corn)
About 1 pound of mild or sharp shredded cheddar cheese
1 Egg
A little bit of milk (2%, skim, or whatever - it doesn't matter)
3 or 4 Jalapeno peppers (Habaneros if you don't mind things burning on the way out)
A couple sticks of butter (yes, butter, not margarine - this is important)

Pre-Cooking Instructions

Turn the oven on to around 375 or 400 degrees.  Use a half stick of melted butter to grease up an iron or stainless steel skillet.  We'll look at iron vs steel skillets in another post soon.

Put the liquid ingredients in a large mixing bowl - milk, egg, sour cream, creamed sweet corn, cheddar cheese.  Melt one stick of butter and stick it in the bowl too.  Whisk all of this together with a fork or an actual whisk.  If you happen to have a mixer, that works great as well.  Don't use a food processor, that will make a cornbread milkshake and that would suck.  You don't have to use all of the sour cream, just use a crapload - maybe a cup or two. Or whatever looks good to you.

Cut the Jalapeno or Habanero peppers.  If using Habaneros, use rubber gloves if you have them - they can really hurt you.  Tip on peppers - the actual peppers don't have any hot stuff - it's the internal white membrane and seeds that are hot.  If you use the outer skin, you'll get the pepper taste without the tongue-scorching capcasin.  Use a little of the white membrane and seeds to regulate the heat of the cornbread.  Dump that into the bowl as well.

After all of that is kinda mixed together, you can add the cornbread mix.  After mixing for a few minutes, it should be a little firm - not soupy, but not very firm either - somewhere in between.  If it's too thin, add some Masa flour (corn meal).  Caution - the Masa flour goes a long way - add a few spoonfuls at a time - it makes it thick really quickly.

After you've mixed it to the consistency of roughly tile mastic or concrete, pour it into a skillet.  Preferably a black iron skillet.  Put it in the oven.  If your mix is thick, lower the oven to 375 degrees (so it doesn't burn the bottom).  If the mix is thin, use a higher oven temperature (so it cooks in the middle - raw cornbread is really bad).

Check the cornbread about every 10 minutes or so, put a toothpick in the center.  If the toothpick comes out with sticky stuff on it, it's not ready.  If it comes out clean, it's close to being done.  This usually takes about 20 - 30 minutes.  Start checking at 15 minutes.  Once it comes out clean, use a half-stick of butter and rub all over the top of the cornbread until it's all melted.  Leave in the oven until the butter on the top is melted.

Once the butter is melted, take the cornbread out and let it sit for about ten minutes, then you can turn the skillet upside-down to release the cornbread and cut it into chunks.