Spoonbread with Jalapeño

A wooden spoon in a casserole dish of spoonbread.

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: southern food

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: spoonbread

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 45

Cooling time: 10

Total Time: 1

Servings:

Calories: 410kcal

Spoonbread is a custardy, soufflé-like version of cornbread that you can eat with a spoon! It's an easy gluten-free side dish.

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US Customary - Metric

Equipment

Ingredients

1 yellow onion
2 large jalapeños or 4 small ones
6 tablespoon butter divided
1 ¼ cups fine yellow cornmeal
2 ¾ cups whole milk
1 tablespoon sugar
3 eggs
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
1 can corn (15 oz can)
1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Drain the liquid from the can of corn, then place the corn in a wire mesh strainer over a bowl to continue draining while you prep the other ingredients.
Remove seeds and ribs from the jalapeños (or if you like it spicier, leave them in) and dice finely. Dice the onion.
Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a deep pot or Dutch oven. Add the onions, jalapeños, and salt. Sweat the vegetables until they are soft and the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add the milk and sugar to the pot and bring to a boil. While continuously whisking, slowly add the cornmeal ensuring that there are no lumps. Reduce the heat slightly and keep whisking until the mixture thickens and all of the liquid is absorbed, 4-6 minutes.
Remove the mixture from the heat, transfer to a large mixing bowl, and stir in the drained corn and baking powder until thoroughly combined. Allow to cool to a lukewarm temperature. Stir from time to time to speed the cooling and prevent lumps.
Meanwhile, use a hand mixer to whip the eggs until foamy and no liquid remains.
Add about a third of the eggs to the cornmeal mixture and stir vigorously to loosen it. Then gently fold in the remaining egg in two batches until throughly incorporated.
Heat a casserole pan or cast iron skillet over medium high and add the remaining butter. Once the butter is foamy, add the spoonbread batter and remove from heat. Spread the batter evenly in the pan and transfer to the oven.
Bake for 25-35 minutes until it doesn't wobble in the center and the edges are golden brown.

Notes

When adding the cornmeal, I first put it in a bowl, then I grab a handful and let it rain down through my fingers, repeating several times. This is a trick I learned from Lidia Bastianich that keeps it from clumping. Be sure to whisk constantly while doing this.
Use your biggest bowl and stir frequently when cooling the dough to lukewarm. The bigger bowl exposes more of the dough to the air so cooling takes less time.
This recipe allows for endless variations. If you don't like jalapeños, try green or red bell peppers. You can add cheese, you can leave out the corn, whatever suits your fancy.
This recipe is an adapted mashup of Carla Hall's from her book Carla Hall's Soul Food and one from Smoke and Pickles by Edward Lee.

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Nutrition