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Cooks Illustrated All-Purpose cornbread

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1.5 cups all purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
.75 tsp table salt
.25 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
.75 cup frozen corn, thawed
.25 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Preheat oven to 400F.

Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl and make a well in the center

In a food processor, process the corn, buttermilk, and brown sugar just until combined, about 5 seconds. Add the eggs and process to combine, another 5 seconds. You should still have corn lumps.

Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and fold it in with a rubber spatula until barely combined. Add the melted butter and continue folding until the dry ingredients are just barely moistened.

Pour the batter into a sprayed or buttered 8×8 glass baking dish, or as I did, a 10-inch cast iron skillet. Bake 25-30 minutes or until it’s a deep golden brown and passes the toothpick test in the center.

Tina’s notes:

The cast iron, being dark metal, cooks faster so start checking at 20 minutes. It gives a marvelous crust on top and all around the sides of the cornbread!

In spite of the sugar, which made me nervous because I prefer savory rather than sweet bread, the results are perfectly balanced, not too sweet at all.

Savory Tomato Cornbread Cobbler – The Washington Post, August 14, 2013

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IMG_1889From Lewes, Del., resident Becky Hamill: “This is from a very old-fashioned recipe for fruit cobbler — every old Junior League cookbook has it — and can be found in many online simple fruit cobbler recipes. Every summer I prepare lots of these ‘EZ’ fruit cobblers with peaches and blueberries.

“Last July, I decided to experiment by adding some cornmeal with the flour; spices, herbs and salt instead of the sugar; and tomatoes instead of peaches. This savory cornbread tomato cobbler is the result.”

We tested this as submitted and also with a few tablespoons less butter, and we found that the cobbler works better with the amount called for.  6 to 8 servings

For the filling
1 pound mixed-variety sweet cherry tomatoes, each cut in half
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon hot Mexican chili powder
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Finely grated zest and juice of 1/2 lime
1/4 cup minced scallions, plus 2 tablespoons minced green scallion tops for garnish

For the crust
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter (see headnote)
1 cup whole or low-fat milk

Place a medium (10-inch) cast-iron skillet in the oven; preheat to 350 degrees.

For the filling: Cut each tomato in half and place all of them in a mixing bowl, along with the garlic.

Combine the chili powder, celery salt, kosher salt and cumin in a small bowl, then sprinkle the mixture over the tomatoes. Stir in the lime zest and juice and 1/4 cup of the minced scallions.

For the crust: Combine the flour, cornmeal, salt and baking powder in a mixing bowl.

Once the skillet is hot, add the butter. Watch closely; when the butter is melted and bubbling, stir the milk into the flour mixture to form a somewhat lumpy batter.

Transfer the skillet to the stove top just long enough to pour in the batter, spreading it evenly.

Immediately top with the tomato mixture. Return to the oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the cobbler is crisped on the edges and has started to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Cut into wedges; serve hot or at room temperature, garnished with the minced scallion tops.

Recipe Source:  From Becky Hamill of Lewes, Del.