Cornbread
This cornbread is ideal for a brunch or as lunch combined with a fresh tomato salade. I recommend adding a tangy salsa (fresh cilantro, extra verge olive oil, red chili pepper, lemon, …) to put on top.
This is an extreme easy recipe where no mixing is needed. Just combine with and dry and add lot’s of powerful flavours for a balanced taste so this bread is everything except boring!
Ingredients (4 hungry people or 8 as a side dish) :
150 g mais (if you have fresh use that, otherwise in can is fine)
100 g self-raising flour
150 g polenta
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate
1 tablespoon of cumin seeds
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika powder
1/2 teaspoon of chipotle powder (use 1 teaspoon if you like it hot)
40 g brown sugar
2 big eggs
2 hands of fresh cilantro (chopped steams & leaves)
150 g sour cream
100 ml olive oil
120 g sun dried tomatoes (chopped fine)
4 spring onions
100 g cheddar cheese (on this picture I used plain gouda, but cheddar is better!)
1 tablespoon of nigella seeds
Peper & salt
1 red chili pepper (for garnish)
Directions:
Preheat the oven at 170°C.
Put a large ovenproof cast-iron pan (24 -26cm wide) on a medium flame.
Bake the corn in some neutral oil, until a few start turning brown. Set aside.
Sift the flour, bicarbonate, cumin seeds, smoked paprika and chipotle powder into a large bowl. Add the brown sugar, one and a half teaspoons of salt and a good grind of pepper. Stir through and set aside.
Add the polenta, sour cream, eggs and oil to a separate bowl and whisk lightly. Add to the dry ingredients, then fold in the spring onion, cilantro, sun dried tomatoes and toasted corn until just combined.
Lightly oil the pan used to toast the corn, pour in the mixture and sprinkle over all the topping ingredients (nigella seeds & cheddar). Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. Garnish with the fresh chili peper.
Serve warm straight from the pan.
Nina Beckers
