marydukecooks.com   Calico Cornbread

Calico Cornbread

1 cup thinly sliced mini multi-colored red, yellow, and orange peppers that have been cored, seeded and thinly sliced into rings
3/4 cup fresh corn kernels
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1/2 to 1 jalapeño pepper, minced (depending on how much heat you want)
6 slices thick cut bacon, 1 inch dice
2 (6 ounce) packages cornbread mix (I use Martha White Cotton Country cornbread mix)
2 large eggs
1 and 1/3 cups whole buttermilk
1 and 1/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Heat a dry, 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add pepper rings and cook until lightly charred on both sides, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside. Add corn and green onions to skillet. Lightly char corn and green onions, about 3 minutes. Remove corn and green onions. Set aside.

Add bacon to skillet and cook until crisp. Remove bacon to paper towels to drain. Keep bacon grease in skillet. Turn heat to medium-low to keep skillet hot. While bacon is cooking; mix cornbread mix, eggs and buttermilk in a bowl.

Reserve 2 tablespoons each of peppers, corn, green onions, bacon, and cheese to decorate top of cornbread. Add remaining peppers, corn, green onions, jalapeno, bacon and cheese to cornbread batter. Stir until evenly distributed. Pour into hot skillet. Decorate top of cornbread with reserved toppings.

Bake 30 minutes or until done. Makes one, 10-inch pan of cornbread. Enjoy!

Published in The News and Neighbor on May 29, 2019.