amazing picture?  no, but the cornbread in the skillet is the. best. ever.  moist, cheesy, filled with chiles & corn & the slightest hint of nuttiness from brown butter.  mmmmm.

we’re totally guilty of making the jiffy from a box cornbread to serve alongside chili & soups, because the 44¢ convenience of not having to measure gets the job done, but since we’ve been making homemade pizza, we have plain ol’ cornmeal around all the time now, so i went to foodnetwork.com & searched “cornbread”, naturally.

i found this recipe, but didn’t really have the ingredients.  i went for it anyway, substituting what we had on hand & i present you: the cornbread.

THE CORNBREAD

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups cornmeal
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 lime, juiced
1 4oz can diced green chiles
1 4oz can diced jalapenos
1 14.5oz can corn, drained
1/8 cup water
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 cup sharp cheddar, grated

preheat oven to 350°.  add butter to a cast iron skillet & place in the oven to melt.  set aside 2 tablespoons of the cornmeal.

while the butter is heating up, whisk together the remaining cornmeal, salt & baking soda in a small bowl.  set aside.

when the butter is warmed, remove from the oven & stir in the 2 tablespoons of cornmeal.  return the skillet to the oven to brown the cornmeal “roux”.  meanwhile, mix together the eggs, sour cream, lime juice, chiles, jalapenos, corn, water, onion & cheddar in a large bowl.  add the dry ingredients & mix, just until combined.

when the cornmeal & butter have browned, remove the skillet from the oven again.  pour in the prepared batter & bake for 40-45 minutes, until the cheese around the edges just starts to brown.  let sit for 10 minutes, then cut & serve.