Cornbread VAR
Sunday, January 30, 2011 at 2:42PM For every time I get asked what it is I do for a living, I get a follow up inquiry for clarification. I'm not the average tech troll that stays locked in a dungeon; my boss lets me out to breathe and communicate with humans. Simply put, I work for a Microsoft VAR (Value Added Reseller). I take an existing Microsoft application, and make it better. The concept is nothing original, as people do the same process every day.
My gifted co-worker always tells me about how he made food better than his girlfriend--and even better than his mom--the weekend prior. His never-failing secret is that he takes his mom's recipe, and adds cheese. Her mashed potatoes are great, but with gruyere melted on top it's a dish of Top Chef [winning] caliber. Not only is he a software VAR, but a thrifty one in the kitchen too.
This past weekend I made chili, and I can't make a pot of chili without a loaf of scratch cornbread. Since the recipe on the cylinder of yellow cornmeal is already great, I thought, how can I add value to this product and pawn it off on my friends? Bacon would make it better, but isn't really appropriate. Venturing the grocery aisles, I found a can of chipotle puree, and my problem was solved.
To begin, I make two bowls, one of mixed dry and another of mixed wet ingredients. The tricky part is that instead of using vegetable oil, I use lard as the baking lipid. Once the lard (1/4 C) is melted, it will seize and clump when mixed with the cold milk (1 C), so I warm the two together, then temper the two eggs into the mixture. Next, I add the small can of chipotle puree to the wet ingredients. The wet ingredients are then mixed into the dry bowl of flour (5/4 C), sugar (1/4 C), salt, and baking powder (2 TSP).
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Once all of the ingredients are gently mixed, the batter can be poured into a greased loaf pan. I drop the filled loaf pans on the counter a few times to get out any air bubbles. Before going in the oven, I garnish the cornbread with a few slices of lard. The cornbread is then placed into a preheated 400 Dg oven for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. The result is a rich, spicy and smokey loaf of cornbread. It should be moist, but far from the cake-like imposters found in many restaurants. The only way this could get better is by frying the dough.
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Reader Comments (4)
lard makes everything better... i like my cornbread with some corn kernals in it, all about texture :] and of course adding cheese and heat [mmm spicy!!!] makes things tasty.. haha
Oh I did a chorizo cornbread once... totally forgot about it. It's also a good opportunity to use a compound butter with cilantro or honey :D
I would add fresh corn and jalapenos, but this looks divine just as is. I am thinking this would be great as tamale pie topping... Yum.
I find that story about the co-worker funny- he is a one-upper in the kitchen! ha ha
I am a southern girl and you out cook me in the cornbread department :( not sure why but I just do not have my grandmothers hand at this one...
I also agree with tatianna!