This is not your typical cornbread recipe. No, this recipe represents more than a delicious side at a dinner party; it represents Little Rock, Arkansas — a place where people appreciate new flavors, diversity within food and within people.
If you were at the Arkansas Cornbread Festival on Oct. 27, you may have been thinking: “What’s an Indian-Canadian girl thinking entering the Arkansas Cornbread Festival where the main dish is quintessentially Southern?” Truthfully, I don’t know what I was thinking, but I’ve loved baking since I can remember.
I remember being 8 or 9, giddy and wide-eyed waiting impatiently for my first cake to finish baking. It emerged, magically different and domed, very different from when I had first put it in the oven. And since then, the oven has been a fond friend, one I can turn to in times of stress (like when you need to make 10 giant trays of cornbread in five hours).
When I set out to create this cornbread recipe, I started out with a pretty solid cornbread recipe and started adding and subtracting ingredients based on my own tastes. I knew I wanted it to look bold and taste bold. Enter harissa; my not-so-secret ingredient. This violently red Moroccan red pepper paste added a beautiful red-orange tinge to usually yellow cornbread and contributed a tantalizing heat. Sharp cheddar was added (because who doesn’t love cheese?!), and then a smattering of diced jalapeños, and behold, an award-winning recipe was born.
Winning first place in the amateur category for cornbread was truly a happy surprise, and I’m so glad that the public appreciated a savory, spicy cornbread. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention my saintly volunteers, Emily Brosius and Larry Stone, for being incredibly patient, kind and quite frankly, superstars in the face of hundreds of people. This cornbread is only award winning because of their help.
Happy Thanksgiving and happy baking!
Spicy Harissa & Sharp Cheddar Cornbread
Makes one 9-inch skillet
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 25-30 minutes
Ingredients:
Dry:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. smoked, coarse sea salt
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. onion powder
- 3/4 tsp. sweet Hungarian paprika
- 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
- 1 tsp. cayenne pepper (adjust according to spice tolerance)
- 1/2 tsp. chili powder
- 1/4 tsp. ground pepper
Wet:
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 2 heaping tsp. Harissa paste + more for brushing
- 6 tbsp. butter, melted + more to top with
- 1 cup of sour cream
- 1 cup freshly grated sharp cheddar
- 2 tbsp. diced jalapeños
Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F and grease a cast iron skillet or baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine all your dry ingredients thoroughly. In a separate large bowl, whisk your egg until it becomes pale yellow. Pour in the milk and continue whisking and add in harissa paste. Slowly drizzle in the melted butter while whisking. (Chef’s note: Do not add in the melted butter all at once, or it’ll cook the eggs.) Spoon in the cold sour cream and mix again until the mixture is creamy and smooth.
3. Create a small well in your dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Add the cheese and jalapeños. Use a rubber spatula to mix all the ingredients together. Chef’s note: Do not overmix; mix until just combined.
4. Transfer your batter into your greased skillet or baking dish. Use a pastry brush to streak some harissa paste of the surface of your unbaked cornbread. At this point, you can add chunks of cold butter to the unbaked cornbread if you wish, or you can add after the cornbread is baked.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center.
6. Serve topped with butter at your Thanksgiving table!