ok now i'm hungry for white chili & cornbread!

oh and btw i joined the club - I bought a Jeep Wrangler last night! ~~here's a Jeep Wave from atlanta~~

Hee hee... boy, I'd'a never thought to use "cornbread" and "parchment" in the same sentence! In the big list of "things to substitute for a quarter-cup of 450-degree bacon grease," that is. ;)

You are such a good influence on us recovering country-girl cooks! Still, I think I'll make some jalapeno cornbread tonight.... thanks for the inspiration! Have an awesome weekend!

Mol, it has taken me THIS LONG to learn that parchment can be subbed for lard. LOL.

Unsweetened applesauce is a great substitute in most bread recipes for the oil. I use it all the time and have never had a problem with it.

BTW, the cornbread looks wonderful.

I'm just in a mood to comment. Love cornbread but don't make it very often. When I was in grdauate school at the University of Washington, my dining-hall breakfast was a square of sweet cornbread, a serving of bacon, and a diet coke. Now, I'm from the South, but i loved that sweet cornbread, so when i graduated and went back home i experimented with my grandmother's cornbread recipe (Grandma was from South Dakota, but made dynamite cornbread) and figured out how to duplicate that cornbread at UW. Now my husband (also a natural-born Southerner) and I both love the sweet cornbread, especially with chili or enchiladas. We do make the regulation non-sweet Southern cornbread for cornbread dressing. Does liking sweet cornbread take points off my Southern Belle license?

What a coincidence hearing about substituting applesauce for the oil in a recipe. We celebrated an 80 yr. old's birthday at aquafit and her daughter baked the most delicious coffee cake, that was very moist. She admitted she substituted half the oil (and the recipe called for 1 1/4 cups of oil) with applesauce. Less fat, more moist. So I had 2 pieces. Your cornbread looks great, and I think your additions are fabulous, especially the frozen corn. I'm going to try it!

If you need to add oil or shortening to a recipe, you can try coconut oil. It's a good fat (try it on your skin!) and really works well. We made low-sugar brownies with it and they were very moist and delicious. It melts at 76 degrees, which means it alternates between solid and liquid depending on the temperature, and isn't as bad for you as something like Crisco.

Your cornbread looks delicious, but I favor the sweet kind. As in slathered with whipped honey butter. I don't think making it low fat will help me much. :)

Rebecca, good suggestion with the coconut oil. Tropical Traditions makes cold-pressed virgin stuff. It's outrageously good for you.

Your corn bread looks amazing. Maybe I should try to make it from scratch, not from a box! It really only took 10 minutes of prep. time?

And that chili recipe looks yummy. It's cold here and a warm bowl of chili would be so perfect for dinner tonight.

Gayle, I already had the red bell pepper cut in strips in a tupperware in the fridge, so I took a few out and chopped them up with about ten rings of jalapenos (from the jar). Dumped them in a bowl, added the dry ingredients and then the liquidy stuff then my frozen corn. Stirred, put it in the pan. Literally less than ten minutes.

I thought I was reading someone else's blog. All that cooking... you were like America's Test Kitchen with are your trying it this way and that way. When I got to the cat, I knew it was you.

Actually the second one is really kind of pretty. I bet they both taste great.

I wonder how many hits you'll get off of the naked bottom of your cornbread.

Wow, hungry now. Since I'm off work today, and I happen to have some corn meal in the cupboard, guess what I'm off to do? Thanks for the suggestion.

OK, that's it, I'm making cornbread. This crispier weather has had me thinking of soup and cornbread. This must be a nudge from the cooking fairies. Will follow your ideas too - love the corn and bell pepper bits in it. Thanks and have a great week-end.

that sounds yumtastic. I just might venture into the kitchen...

I just can't get behind sweet cornbread. The first time I had it was in a restaurant. I called the server over and told her someone must have put in sugar by mistake. My friends still tease me about that.

I grew up in Pennsylvania where all we HAD was sweet cornbread (if, indeed, cornbread made from those little Jiffy mixes even counts as such). In college I was introduced to cornbread without sugar and I was like, "wha?"

I thought I had the whole North-South Sweet-Nonsweet cornbread thing sorted out until I moved to Texas. Here, it's a toss-up. If the cornbread isn't savory (like Jalapeno cornbread), it does seem to have a bit of sugar in it. Not as sweet as the cornbread I grew up with, but certainly sweeter than my born-and-raised-in-Kentucky partner approves of.

Personally, I love ALL cornbread, although I do have to admit that I now refer to sweet-with-flour cornbread as corn MUFFINS even if they're not in a muffin shape.

Your cornbread looks tasty and fabulous.

I'm so impressed by all this cooking you're doing!

Being born and raised in Texas, I've been a red chili lover all my life. UNTIL I discovered...WHITE CHILI. I know, shocking, but sooooo good! Here's a link to a Cooking Light version of it: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=701089. I like to use leftover grilled chicken and/or smoked chilis to ramp it up a bit, and some masa to give it a little corny taste. Plus, I'm with you on the savory cornbread. Never could get into sweet cornbread. It's just wrong!

I never liked cornbread until I had some with corn kernals in it. Wow!

And, I finally tried the Coriander Lime Shrimp recipe from epicurions.dom. It was terrific--thanks for the heads-up!

I am supa-southern, and prefer nonsweet, all corn, very moist cornbread with no add-ins. However, I will eat it any way it comes, because I just love it that much. I grew up putting molasses or honey on it, but now I like it with just butter. Okay, it can have cheese and jalapenos, too! I actually like it a bit greasy. :p

I put waxed paper circles in the bottom of my cake pans and add cooking spray (non silicone) on top of that. Works like a charm. Wait till it cools a bit to pull it off.

There's a restaurant here in town (McKenna's Blues, Booze, and Barbeqcue http://www.mckennasbbb.com/ ) that makes an excellent jalapeno cornbread. They used to have another location that made the same bread, but they had cilantro honey butter, instead of just honey butter.

It's wonderful with the barbecue beef brisket (Oooo! now I'm hungry!)

My dad did a good job recreating the jalapeno cornbread. He had a box of cornbread mix, and a jar of jalapeno slices. He put the jalapenos in the blender (after draining the liquid) and made jalapeno goo, and then added the goo to the cornbread batter. Stirred it up and baked it in a wrought-iron skillet that has triangle shaped sections so you dont even have to cut it up. We ate it one christmas with chili and had garlic butter to put on it. It was wonderful and very very hot. It gave me some horrible heartburn, but it was sooooo good! I took a Tagament and had the leftover cornbread and chili for lunch the next day.

I love jalapeno cornbread, even if it does cause me pain.

and now I'm starving. I think I'll go talk my dad into going to McKenna's for lunch! We havent been to the new location yet.

Thanks Laurie! I'm going to try it!

That looks so good! And I think I may have to try BigDPeggy's cooking light chili suggestion. If only I had more time! (for the chili...I can probably swing 10 minute awesome cornbread)

I just bought your book on Amazon. I was so intrigued when I saw what the book was about. Funny thing about me is, my first knitting project was a pair of socks using four needles (naturally). My MIL taught me to knit socks because that's what she does best.

BTW, you can use applesauce in your cornbread. You can't even taste it. Just use half the amount of oil if you do. I'm going to try your recipes. They really do look good.

Thanks for the photo of Soba, I had been missing her lately. I love Bob and Frankie too, but I have a particular fondness for the torties!

Beth

Regal Soba!!!
How beautiful she is.

We like cheese in our cornbread here. If you found it too greasy, you get more taste bang for the calorie, if you sprinkle the cheese on top of the bread, so you can use less. I admit we usually use an extra sharp cheddar, which is typically higher in flavor and lower in fat than Jack so we mix it in, but try a lesser amount on top next time you're craving cheesiness. I should also add that the mere grating of cheese used to bring our kitties running.

I love cornbread with corn niblets! Last week I made some that came out like spoonbread. I didn't like it so much but my husband loved it. Thanks for the advice Laurie!

My cousin's little boy is severely allergic to eggs and when they were here for Thanksgiving I couldn't use ANY...But I needed to make cornbread for the dressin. Well...she told me that she regularly substitutes apple sauce for eggs.

Now y'all know I had a hard time trusting it...I've used apple suace instead of oil...but eggs?...Soooo...I tried it and...IT WAS WONDERFUL! My cornbread had the same texture as when it's made with eggs. The flavor was ever so slightly sweet...it was great!

I remember the first time cornbread was served at school for lunch with chili (they were a standard combination in my school district). It was so sweet I thought it was cake. My mother is from Tennessee and for her cornbread has neither flour or sugar and, without the add-ins, her recipe is very similar to the two you linked to. It was the very first recipe I memorized. If we had any left over after dinner, we would have another piece of cornbread with sorghum poured over it for dessert. When I had my first apartment, I had to buy a cast iron skillet to make corn bread, because, there is no other way to cook it but in a hot cast iron skillet. Yummy crust as the batter hits the hot oil in the skillet which has been heated in the oven. Your variations look good though. I might have to try them.

Your bread and recipes look so good I may have to start cooking. But I'd have to clean the kitchen first.

Thank you SO MUCH for the link to the white chili! We all enjoyed it greatly tonight. Have a great weekend.

Sweet cornbread is called BAD CAKE.
My go to comfort food is cornbread and pinto beans with a little bit of corn relish. Delish in a dish!! Partner that with some sweet tea and you might as well take off your shoes and go sit on the front porch. :)

I'm salivating! I discovered my love for cornbread when I worked at Boston Market/Chicken back in highscool.

I laughed at your comment, Beth, about the cornbread tasting like cake. I live in TN with a husband from MA. He grew up on corn muffins which are very sweet. I grew up with cornbread made from straight corn meal (NO flour),no sugar, and buttermilk. I always tell him that if God wanted cornbread to be sweet, He(or She) would have named it cake! But how can a real Southerner like you, Laurie, make cornbread in anything but a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet? You wouldn't need any parchment paper if you had that!

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I ADORE cornbread. I am all over making this and the chilli. Woo Hoo, fall cooking begins. For some reason I never thought to freeze cornbread. What a great idea. THANKS!

You are turning into quite the Suzy Homemaker. Congratulations. Saving money and eating better - two good things.

OH darn it you are making my mouth water! Looks great for sure!

Mmmmm, cornbread with jalapenos! (If you're too lazy to chop, some hot sauce in the batter is good too). And wash it down with a nice, dark, chewy beer. With soup! We had FROST last night here in central Maine...good weather for a meal like this.

I hate sweet cornbread too--born and raised in the Midwest, lived in Maine more than half my life, never knew it was a Southern thing. I do declare!

Soba's centerfold pose is stunning. Have you cooked the kitties any homemade treats yet?

Oh yeah, I get to be under the spamma.

I LOVELOVELOVE cornbread but it doesn't love me! It tears my tummy up bad so I finally had to stop eating it. Waaaaaah! I sorely miss that buttery goodness.

Soba is looking quite yummy, btw.

Oh yum cornbread. My absolute fave way to make cornbread is to render it Yam Cornbread... just by adding some yams that I've boiled and mashed up (and maybe cutting down the liquid in the recipe a bit). So so so tasty.

I live on cornbread at times, but for some reason never think to spice it up beyond brown sugar... gonna have to fix that soon and this post certainly inspired me to do just that.

Dear Laurie,
Please be my best friend forever.

I just made the chili recipe that you linked and man alive, is it good! Super easy, too. Oh, and I used a bit too much chili powder and had to mellow it out with a cup of veggie broth. YUM! Thanks for the link!!

I have spent much of the last 2 weeks explaining the difference between northern and southern cornbread. My northern mama makes sweet cornbread, which was all I knew till I tasted the first cornbread made by someone besides her. I love beans and cornbread, and sweet is just not good. But I don't put anything extra in it. I am a purist.Apparently.

Another shout out for the cast iron skillet if you are going to make corn bread. This crispy, crunchy crust is to die for with beans, chili or any kind of soup. I corn bread every time I make homemade Chicken Dumpling. And no sugar please, that's cake.

Although, I'll have to do a mexi version to as those do sound good.

Yum! I have to share the family secret cornbread cause I think you'd love it:

1 package of your fav cornbread mix
1 can cream of corn
1 small can jalapeño or green chiles chopped
1 bunch green onions chopped
8 Ib extra sharp cheddar cheese grated

Mix up everything but hold off on adding the ingredients called for on the box except the eggs. Depending on how wet the mix is you can add all or part of the liquids to make the batter the right consistency. I usually don't add any oil because the cream corn takes its place. Bake per the directions - it's wonderful!

Yum! I have to share the family secret cornbread cause I think you'd love it:

1 package of your fav cornbread mix
1 can cream of corn
1 small can jalapeño or green chiles chopped
1 bunch green onions chopped
8 Ib extra sharp cheddar cheese grated

Mix up everything but hold off on adding the ingredients called for on the box except the eggs. Depending on how wet the mix is you can add all or part of the liquids to make the batter the right consistency. I usually don't add any oil because the cream corn takes its place. Bake per the directions - it's wonderful!

oh oops! I meant to type 8 oz of cheddar, not pounds! LOL

Heather, I'm okay with 8 lbs of cheddar cheese.

If you use applesauce instead of oil add a couple of Tbsp of grated parmesan cheese. Cuts the sweet, adds a tang. Yum

*smacks forehead* Why did I never think of freezing cornbread?!? My basic recipe is one from a little cookbook I got from the War Eagle Mill in Arkansas, and it's super easy to increase. I always make double or triple batches of chili, so I could have the whole meal all ready to thaw out whenever! What a bonehead! (Me, not you!)

My goodness that cornbread looks so good my stomach is growling and we have already eaten tonight. I'm thinking the chili recipe and cornbread may be making it to our table soon. It has cooled off a lot and the first rainy day would make a good chili day.

I wanted to thank you for putting the link to the Knitting help.com site. I've been trying all week to figure out that cast on video and tonight it all came together and I finally got it!!! Just wanted to share my excitement with you about it all.

I'm a born and bred Southerner, and I love sweet, savory, and unsweet cornbread. When I make sweet cornbread, I use a can of cream style corn. YUM. I love the sweet for a kind of dessert or breakfast food OR as a foil to savory chili.

What do I mean by unsweet cornbread? My great-grandpa and great-uncle ran a mill -- one part was a sawmill, but they also ran a grist mill. For years, I didn't know you bought cornmeal from the store. I thought you got it from Uncle Elbest and great-grandpa. Because you'd take your dried corn to them and they'd grind it. My grandmother made incredible cornbread with that meal, buttermilk (made with milk from their cow), and a little salt. Probably a little soda in there too. Sometimes water instead of buttermilk and it was still fabulous. And I'm sure she melted lard in her cast-iron skillet before she put the batter in it. Mmmm.

Have you ever had Boston Market cornbread? Do they even have Boston Market there on the left coast? Anyhow, based on theirs, I thought I hated cornbread. Based on my friend Linda's, I love cornbread. Thanks for the recipes.

Yes I realize that a cast iron skillet is the normal way to make cornbread but some of us LOST OUR CAST IRON SKILLETS IN THE DIVORCE. So anyway. I am waiting for my folks to come visit again, my dad is bringing all his cast iron stuff that doesn't get used in their motorhome now.

But for the time being, a cake pan works fine. I am sure the world will keep spinning on its axis if I use a plain old pan.

The first time I had sweet cornbread, I stopped chewing in shock and did that sneak the food in your mouth into your napkin. However, when I finally stood next to my grandmother [MamaLou] to learn her recipe [and to figure out what amount equaled "put some buttermilk in until it looks right"] she put 1 tsp of sugar in because she said it browned better. Gosh, I haven't made cornbread in ages but your comment about freezing it makes me realize that I can haul out my big cast-iron skillet and not worry about waste. I love stews and soups so I'll have to check out that white chili recipe.

So I have a question. Would you say your kitty is more football shaped or loaf shaped? Or neither?

Just wondering.

Recipe for Cornbread Pie
Ingredients:
2 boxes Jiffy Cornbread mix (or your favorite cornbread recipe)
1 can kidney beans-drained
1 can whole kernel corn-drained
1 can diced tomatoes
1 package chilli seasoning
2lbs lean ground beef.

In a large skillet, brown beef. Drain most of the fat off (leave just a little bit in the bottom). Add beans, corn, tomatoes, and seasoning and let the mixture come to a simmer.

While that mixture is simmering, preheat oven to 375. Make cornbread mix as per cornbread instructions. Put meat mixture in a 10inchx15inch baking dish. Top with cornbread mix. Bake until cornbread is done!

This is enough to feed me and my husband two nights worth of dinners and a whole week of lunches! We use the Jiffy because my husband likes the sweet cornbread but I can't bring myself to put sugar in my mom's cornbread recipe.

When you add corn to cornbread, try lightly coating the corn with flour before you add it to the batter. That will prevent the corn from sinking to the bottom of the bread and keep it suspended throughout instead. (That works for any add-in to baked goods: chocolate chips, berries, nuts, you name it!)

I tried the Chicken & White Bean Chili. Lovely - thanks for the recommendation. But I did get a bit of a shock when I opened the page and there was *my* name... Well, almost. The recipe is by Judi Kerr, professional chocolate taster and I'm Judy Kerr, professional chocolate eater. Spooky!

What would Mr. X need cast iron cookware for, the tomato-hatin' moron?? Musta just taken it to be mean. Ya shoulda laid him out with it!

Anyway, I'm not crazy about cornbread. I don't mind the sweetness so much, though it's often overdone. It's the crumbliness. Great crumbled up in stuff, but trying to bring a full bite of just the cornbread to your mouth is an exercise in frustration.

Tried the kale last week. I thought it was okay - sort of a cross between spinach and broccoli. But the Marital Unit was not pleased, so I guess that's out. Maybe I'll try collard greens next.