Cheese and chilli cornbread

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Cheese and chilli cornbread, ready to bake

The ingredients for cheese and chilli cornbread

This savoury cornbread could be served as an accompaniment to a main course or barbecue, as a starter or just as a really nice savoury nibble. It is based on Jamie Oliver's recipe of the same name, though I recall having to adjust the quantities quite a bit from his original recipe.

Ingredients

• 60 g butter
• 2 large onions, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 350g can of sweetcorn kernels, drained
• 4 large eggs, beaten
• 325 g coarse yellow cornmeal
• 250 ml full fat milk
• 1 heaped teaspoon baking powder
• 6 tablespoons plain flour
• Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 150 g strong cheddar cheese, grated
• 3 fresh green chillies, 2 deseeded and chopped finely, the other cut into thin rings
• Olive oil for greasing

Mise en place

• Preheat the oven to 200° C (400° F - gas 6)

Method

1. Add the butter to a frying pan or wok, give it a good grind of black pepper and gently fry the onions for 15 minutes
2. Once the onions are golden, carefully add the drained sweetcorn
3. Stir-fry the sweetcorn for a few minutes then remove the pan from the heat and set to one side.
4. Add the eggs, milk, cornmeal, flour, baking powder, a pinch of salt and most of the cheese (leaving a little to sprinkle on the top) and beat until really well mixed.
5. Stir in the onions and sweetcorn and mix again. It helps to leave the mixure to rest for 10 minutes after the first mix to allow the cornmeal to soak up the milk.
6. Grease two 22cm round flan sandwich tins with a little olive oil, line the base with greaseproof paper and pour in the cornbread mixture.
7. Bake for 20 minutes then carefully remove from the oven and sprinkle the top with the remaining sliced chilies and cheese.
8. Bake for a further 10 minutes.
9. Remove from the baking tray and allow to cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before serving.

Serving suggestions

Serve hot or cold

Chef's note

Don't forget the greaseproof paper or you will find it very hard to get the cornbread out of the tins. :-(

See also

This recipe is based on a version of Jamie Olivers 'Chilli cheese cornbread' from Jamie's America ISBN 978-0718154769