We ate this cornbread adapted from Nick Malgieri’s The Modern Baker with bean soup.  It was a nice cornbread, which was flavorful without being very spicy despite the chilies.  We made a half recipe in an 8-inch cake pan (6 servings as a side dish) rather than the full recipe (amounts below – in a 10-inch round baking pan or skillet).  It took about 30 minutes to prepare.

1 Tbs. vegetable oil

4 fresh jalapeno chilies – stemmed, seeded, and chopped

6 scallions, chopped

2 cups stone-ground cornmeal

1.5 cups all-purpose flour

2 Tbs. sugar

2 Tbs. baking powder

2 tsp. salt

2 large eggs, beaten

2 cups whole-fat buttermilk

8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Prepare a 10-inch baking pan or ovenproof skillet by covering the bottom with baking parchment and coating the bottom and sides with cooking spray.

Heat the oil over medium heat in a small skillet and cook the chilies and scallions until slightly wilted, about 2 minutes.  Allow to cool.

In a large bowl mix together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

In a medium bowl mix together the eggs, buttermilk, melted butter, cooked chilies and scallions, and cilantro. 

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  The mixture will be thick.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 30 minutes.  Allow to cool 5 minutes in the pan on a cake rack before removing it from the pan.  Slice and serve.