Cheesy Charred Cornbread

Prep time:

20 minutes

Cook time:

25 minutes

Difficulty level:

Intermediate, Simple

WOW! This has such a good flavor. A slight smoky flavor which enhances every single ingredient that is in the recipe. I’ve included directions for both the Easy and the Hard way to make this recipe…depending on if you decide to cheat or not… you’ll see what we are talking about.
Easier Way—buy a box mix for cornbread
Harder Way– make cornbread mix from scratch
Either way… ridiculously amazing

Ingredients

Easier Way Ingredients
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 box of cornbread mix
1 ear of fresh corn
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
Salt, pepper, smoked paprika
Harder Way (From Scratch) Ingredients
1 Cup yellow corn meal
½ cup all purpose flour (we used king Arthur)
1 tsp sea salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup fine grated cheddar
½ cup milk
1 egg
½ tsp baking soda
¼ cup and 2 tbls shortening
1 ear fresh corn
Pepper and paprika (for corn seasoning)

Instructions

Either Way Heat up your grill without the heat deflector for charring the corn. Char corn without the husk. We brushed with butter salt, pepper and smoked paprika before grilling. Then cut corn off the cob into a bowl and set aside. Lower your firebox to bake and add your heat deflector. Temps usually read between 275-320 on the hood thermometer. Place cast iron skillet (10-12” size skillet) on the grill over the heat deflector to get hot before adding corn bread mixture.
Easy Way 1. Mix up box of corn bread mixture according to instructions on the box, most of the lumps need to be removed. Then add charred corn and cheese and mix. 2. Take your stick of butter and rub the iron skillet down before adding the cornbread mixture. 3. Add corn bread mixture to the skillet and then close the lid. Let it rise and become golden fluff of goodness! 4. To check to see if your cornbread is ready to come off, we used a toothpick, stuck it in the middle of the bread and pulled it back out. There should virtually be no batter stuck to the toothpick. It should come out nearly clean. Remove from fire- brush with melted butter over the top and serve right alongside that chili or gorgeous butternut squash soup.
Harder Way (like grandma used to make) 1. Combine flour, cornmeal, salt and baking powder in a mixing bowl 2. Measure out the buttermilk, milk, and egg in another bowl and wisk that all together. Then add baking soda and stir. 3. Pour your liquids into your dry ingredients and mix, removing a huge majority of the lumps. 4. In another bowl melt that ¼ cup of shortening and then slowly add to your batter til it is consistent. Once consistency desired is reached, fold in your cheese and charred corn off the cob. 5. This time you are going to melt the remaining two tablespoons of shortening in the cast iron skillet before pouring your mixture in to bake. 6. Repeat steps 3 and 4 of the easy way listed above. 7. ENJOY!