Fried Cornbread

Last week I bought a couple of kilos of cornmeal and have been looking for something to do with it. Yesterday afternoon, I thought about another distinctly Southern dish from my childhood: fried cornbread. They're super simple.

Ingredients

• 1 c. cornmeal
• 1/2 c. self-rising flour (add 1/2 tsp salt if you are in the UK)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 c. vegetable oil
• milk
• 2 jalapeños, seeded and diced or one finely chopped Scotch bonnet (optional)
• diced onions, shallots or scallions (optional)
• 50g grated cheddar cheese

1. Combine cornmeal, flour, egg, and vegetable oil in a bowl. Add enough milk to make a batter. (Just mix in a little bit at a time and pay attention to the consistency.) Stir in your jalapeños and onions.
2. Heat a skillet with a few tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium heat.
3. Using a 1/4 c. measure (or thereabouts), spoon out the batter into the skillet.
4. When the cornbread starts to look dry around the edges, they're ready to flip.

These are great with something that has a broth with them (beans, etc.) We often have them around New Years with black-eyed peas and collard greens.