Cat Cora's Southern Cornbread

My future sister-in-law gave me a subscription to Food Network Magazine as a Hanukkah gift last year.  I love reading the magazine for inspiration (along with behind the scenes info on some of my favorite shows) but I actually haven't made anything from it yet.  But when I saw a recipe in this month's issue for Cat Cora's Southern Cornbread, I knew that it would be perfect with my beef and bean chili!

While my chili was simmering on the stove, I quickly whipped together this cornbread.  First, I gathered all of my ingredients.  I had all of the ingredients in my pantry but I did have to go out and buy some buttermilk.

5 tablespoons unsalted butter plus more for the pan
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk (shake before measuring)
2 large eggs

I started out by preheating the oven to 425 degrees.  I was happy to find that one of my oven racks was already in the middle since the cornbread needs to bake in the middle.  I didn't have an 8-inch square baking pan so I used a smaller rectangular brownie pan and sprayed it generously with baking spray.

I then melted the butter in the microwave at three fifteen-second intervals and then set it aside to cool.

While the melting butter was cooling, I whisked together the dry ingredients - the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt -  in a medium-sized bowl.

In a larger bowl, I whisked together the buttermilk and the eggs.

And then I added my now-cooled melted butter to the egg and buttermilk mixture.

I then slowly added the dry flour mixture to the large bowl and mixed it until it was just combined.

I poured the batter into my pan and placed it in the oven.  Since the pan was smaller than the 8 x 8 pan the recipe called for, I cut my baking time down to fourteen minutes.  After fourteen minutes, I did a quick toothpick test and the cornbread was done!  The cornbread smelled so delicious and had a nice golden brown color to it.

I let it cool in the pan for twenty minutes (which gave my beef and bean chili some extra time to simmer on the stove).  When the cornbread had cooled, I ladled a bowl of chili and cut a piece of cornbread.

While I do like sweet cornbread, this version didn't have any extra sugar in it (besides what was in the buttermilk) so you could really taste the cornmeal.  The cornbread was nice, crumbly but not too dry....and it provided a nice relief to my spicy chili.

What food magazines do you read for great recipes or to find inspiration in your kitchen?


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