Sometime in mid-December, I wanted to make chili. I’ve posted about making chili a number of times on here, but the recipe doesn’t vary much. My version has tomatoes, ground beef, and red kidney beans… which may not be your regional variation, but y’know, I don’t care ;P I just care what tastes good.
I even brought some to school for lunch one day…
Anyway, I usually top my chili with cilantro, diced onions, cheese, and sour cream (ALWAYS sour cream!). Some combination of those things, depending what I have on hand. Sometimes I have Frito Pie with corn chips, sometimes I eat this chili like soup. But on this night, after I’d simmered the chili for quite a while, I realized I wanted cornbread. I’d recently had a pretty nice spicy chili from Panera with cornbread floating in it, and I’d loved how the sweet cornbread from Hill Country had helped temper the spiciness from the chili as well. I don’t even like cornbread usually, but that’s what I felt like. I accurately recalled I had a container of Jiffy cornbread mix in my pantry, so I went to grab it and make it.
Frito Pie before…
Only it was… well, a few years old, and in pretty poor shape. I msg’ed a friend complaining about this, not wanting to go back out to get a new box, and he responded, “I guess you’re making cornbread from scratch tonight.” Yeah, right. I can’t bake. Isn’t that why the Blind Baker exists?
Frito Pie after!
But then I looked up a few recipes, and when it became obvious I actually had all the ingredients on hand, I thought, hell let’s give this a whirl. (The yellow cornmeal was leftover from, um, this recipe. Yep, that long ago. And it’s a small bag.
Cornbread!
And you know what?
It came out pretty damn well. Not amazing, but it totally was yummy broken into my chili and eaten like that. I ate almost all of the chili like that, no joke.
At one point, I even just put a piece in the bottom of a bowl and ladled the chili right on top of it. How awesome is that?
If I can make this recipe, you’d have to be fairly incapable of reading to mess it up. (Watch me try this again the next time I make chili and totally FAIL. Haha.)
But the best part of this? Since that day, since that moment… I’ve been on a baking and candy making kick non-stop. It kind of pushed me into that, hell, why not try that. So I’ve been scouring my cookbooks and most of the time, it’s a matter of, “Do I have all of the ingredients on hand? I do? Special equipment? Yes? Okay, let’s go!” And I’ve made a lot of things that just over a month ago, if you told me I’d be attempting, I’d have laughed in your face and asked you what you were smoking because damn it would be good.
Stay tuned to find out what else I’ve made. 😉
Cornbread recipe found here. My only modification is that I don’t own ANY ROUND CAKE PANS (which has prevented me from making a couple of cakes I saw in my cookbooks, sadface! Any recommendations on equipment brands, what I need to buy and what I don’t? Thanks!)… so I used a 9″ square tin foil pan I had for making brownies, and they came out perfectly, plus I was able to cut into neat squares for the above photographs.
Perhaps the unofficial resolution of 2011 shall be “I will learn how to bake.”
We’ll see 🙂
Connie says
Chili, stew and soup are perfect for cold winter months! Looks good. Whether or not it is traditional or regional, all that matters is that you like it.
As for the baking pans, I recommend three 8″ or 2 9″ round. I like my cakes tall so I use the 8″. I use Baker’s Secret, found at Pyrex outlet stores but I am sure you can find them at Target, Kohls, Kmart and Walmart. (Ex: http://www.shopworldkitchen.com/bakers-secret/cake-pan-116497007) The pans are dark nonstick, but some people prefer light pans like the Wilton cake pans for a light colored crust (http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3A50C6E9-475A-BAC0-56BF8D4A78CF972F&killnav=1). I spray the pan lightly with nonstick spray, like Pam, and line pan with a round of parchment paper (also sprayed with Pam).
Good luck, Feisty Foodie, you can do it!
Feisty Foodie says
Thank you! I admit I haven’t been making the cake recipes I’ve found because of my lack of round cake pans, and it seems like so much stuff to buy – round cake pans, oh and parchment paper, and Pam… lol
Connie says
Hahaha, you can grease the pans with butter and flour the pans instead of using nonstick spray and parchment! (You have butter and flour, right? ;-))
Feisty Foodie says
Hahaha I should hope so (though I’m running low; the stuff usually lasts FOREVER in my apt, but now that I’m using it constantly…)!!!
BlindBakerNYC says
Welcome to my world! 😛
Lisa says
Two recommendations re: baking cakes that I find make life much easier – and make the cakes fairly fail-proof are:
a) parchment circles to place at the bottom of each cake pan (just be sure to spray with baking spray also) before pouring in batter – makes cake release from pan much easier and leaves a nicer surface for icing. You can buy on Amazon or make your own.
b)Evenbake Cake Strips – they are strips of insulated fabric that you wet and wrap around each cake pan before putting in oven. Cakes bake more evenly, without cracking or doming. They’re also much lighter and more moist. Wouldn’t bake cakes without them. You can also get on Amazon.
Happy Baking!
Feisty Foodie says
Ah, and even more stuff to buy! Thanks for the suggestions!!! This definitely helps!
Connie says
I’ve never heard of the Evenbake Cake strips, I think I will need to check that out!
Hungry says
Kitchenaid mixer and rubber spatula.
Feisty Foodie says
How about you register for one of those and give it to me? Hahaha <3
Nicholas says
I’ve never put cilantro on my chili before… but now I really want to try it. It might even fix Wawa’s second-rate chili!
BlindBakerNYC says
Dude, you know where I work, right??? I have cake pans coming out of my butt!
Ateco makes cake pans I really like. Stay away from Wilton brand pans as well as the kind that are dark in color and/or non-stick. Wilton is cheap and flimsy, dark metals brown the outside of cakes too much, and nonstick coatings are notoriously thin on cake pans and will flake into your food. Silicone cake pans are iffy in my opinion.
Connie says
I’m going to have to check out those Ateco pans! I use the cheaper ones, haven’t had any issues yet but then again I haven’t used them enough times to say that I have a problem with them. I hope my pans don’t start flaking! I am scared to even try the silicone pans…not for the ability of containing good cakes, but for the fact I am certain I will spill the batter even though the counter top I usually use to prepare cake batter is merely 2 feet from the oven.
chakrateeze says
My grandmother made dee-licious cornbread. Melted in your mouth!
But she NEVER used a cake pan! No way! You use an black iron skillet. It’s cheap, holds the heat and lasts forever. And, she also never greased and floured her pan, she just greased it. As in BACON GREASE! What you do is put glob in your skillet, put it in the oven while it’s pre-heating and pour the batter in when it’s sizzling-hot. It gives it a nice crunchy texture on the bottom and tender crumbs on the inside. Also, next time you make chili, try cut up chuck roast instead of ground beef. It gives it a stew-like consistency.
T.C. says
Yay, chili and cornbread. Looks smashing.
AND Def. take you hand in baking. CAKE CAKE CAKEY CAKE!
skippymom says
Must always have cornbread with chili. It is a deal breaker for us. 🙂
Nice job FF – it looks delicious. But [and you know what I am going to say] no cilantro. tyvm.
Now go get yourself some pans woman!
Chili Dude says
Love cornbread and chili!!!!! It rocks If you feel really bold add yellow mustard to your cornbread and chili recipe!!!