My ultimate goal with this post is to give you the recipe for Blue Cheese and Onion Cornbread. It is a delicious variation on a traditional favorite and will be a great addition to your fall mustard greens and sweet potatoes. But first you have to understand what we went through to get this recipe!!!
My sister, Carole, and I took our parents on a little road trip to Branson, MO last spring. We stayed in a cute little log cabin and saw some good shows. Our favorite was the Sight and Sound production of Noah. Oh my goodness, it was impressive! The belly of the whale passed right over our heads.
Anyway, on the way home we stopped at P. Allen Smith's Moss Mountain Farm.
P. Allen is the southern, male version of Martha Stewart without the criminal record, and because he is southern, without the condescension. Here is a picture of his burlap project. You and I, and Martha for that matter, might make a wreath out of burlap, but here is what P. Allen made:
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| My sweet parents make the burlap house all the cuter :) |
You can spend at day on the farm touring P. Allen's house (he acts as the tour guide when he's there), gazing at pastures of daffodils, gawking at the chicken palace, shopping in the gift shop, and feasting on lunch from his vegetable garden.
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| I didn't realize until I saw this picture that I had a mullet haircut! Ouch! |
Well we did all those things and had a delightful time in spite of the fact that it had started to rain during lunch.
Then we loaded up and got ready to head home. On our way out, we passed by the road to the rose garden. We had totally forgotten to visit it and had heard that it was 18,000 sq. ft. of awesomeness including Gothic garden houses with parapets. However, as we sat at the crossroad with our SUV idling in the now heavy rain, looking down a STEEP incline on a DIRT/MUD road, you would think that one of us supposedly sensible adults would have said, "We better not try that." But, no!!! Down we drove into the valley of the admittedly amazing rose garden.
I'm sure you can see where I'm headed with this story and you're right; we got stuck! Really stuck! So stuck that Dad had to walk back to the farm in the rain and get help. Some farm hands came with a tractor and pulled us out of our mess, but even they couldn't pull us up the that steep hill. All they could do was pull us out of the ruts we had made, away from the deep ditch we had almost slid into, and position the vehicle so that we had ONE chance to gun it and get up the hill faster than we could slide back down!!
We women all got out in the rain and watched from the sidelines as Dad got behind the wheel. Driving like a crazed Mario Andretti, he floored it and fishtailed his way up and out!! Relief overcame our drenched spirits and clothing.
I will forever feel a wet chill, smell mud, and remember the determined set of my Dad's jaw when I open the P. Allen Smith cookbook I bought earlier that day.
And now your recipe:
P. Allen Smith's Blue Cheese and Onion Cornbread
1 Vidalia or other sweet onion, chopped
pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups white cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs
4 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 cup crumbled blue cheese
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 bacon (I used two)
Place cast-iron skillet into the oven and preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat, and add the onions, pinches or salt and pepper.
Caramelize onions and set aside.
Combine next six ingredients.
In separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, and butter.
Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
Fold in blue cheese and onions.
Fry or microwave bacon and gather drippings.
Carefully remove the hot cast-iron skillet from oven and add 1 Tbsp. bacon drippings to it.
Swirl drippings so that they coat half-way up the sides of the skillet.
Place the skillet on top of the stove and pour the batter into it.
Bake for 20 min or until center is firm to the touch and the top is golden brown.
Remove from oven, cool, and cut into wedges.
Love ya'll, Shelli
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