Mexican Beef Cornbread
Jane Lumpkin Clotiaux (originally from Mr. Green, a male librarian at C.O. Wilson Junior High School in Nederland, Texas)
Yield: 4-6 servings
1 cup yellow cornmeal (1 1/2 cups plus 1/2 cup flour, otherwise it gets all crummy and falls apart)
2 eggs, well beaten (by George Foreman)
1 cup sweet (that’s right, sweet) milk*
1/2 tsp soda
3/4 tsp salt (don’t you hate those fractions?)
1 (15.25oz) can cream style corn (leave this out if you’re a weight watcher)
1/2 cup bacon drippings (or corn oil)
1 lb ground beef
1 large onion
1/2 lb Cheddar cheese grated
4 canned jalapeño peppers
Yield: 4-6 servings
The original text of this recipe was from a handwritten card in Jane Lumpkin Clotiaux’s recipe collection, which was titled “Mexican Corn Bread/Meat.” We've kept the funny side notes, but added some info for clarification. —Cheri Clotiaux Stringer (Dec 1996)
“Sweet milk” is just whole milk. The “sweet” annotation was an old-fashioned Southern term commonly used to distinguish between buttermilk and fresh milk in the days before refrigeration, when people churned their own butter and always had buttermilk on hand. Sometimes, it’s preferable to bake using “sweet” milk when there are other strongly flavored ingredients, such as sharp Cheddar cheese.
1 cup yellow cornmeal (1 1/2 cups plus 1/2 cup flour, otherwise it gets all crummy and falls apart)
2 eggs, well beaten (by George Foreman)
1 cup sweet (that’s right, sweet) milk*
1/2 tsp soda
3/4 tsp salt (don’t you hate those fractions?)
1 (15.25oz) can cream style corn (leave this out if you’re a weight watcher)
1/2 cup bacon drippings (or corn oil)
1 lb ground beef
1 large onion
1/2 lb Cheddar cheese grated
4 canned jalapeño peppers
Mix the above and soda is used even though the milk is “sweet.” Set aside.
Sauté 1 lb (1.5 is better) ground meat, drain on absorbent paper, after it is just brown, mash while cooking (I guess they mean the meat) to avoid lumps. The next three ingredients are prepared and placed in separate mounds, ready to use: 1 large onion, chopped finely; 1/2 lb Cheddar cheese, grated; 4 canned jalapeño peppers, chipped (cut down some if you don’t like it hot).
Grease a large black iron skillet, sprinkle a thin layer of meal in it and brown, just slightly. Pour one. Whoops! that is pour 1/2 of the batter in pan. Sprinkle cheese over batter. Then add in following order: Meat, onion and peppers. Top with remaining batter. Bake 45-50 minutes at 350˚F.
Cut in wedges, serve hot with green salad. (I notice they forgot to tell you to grate the cheese, but then you’re supposed to know stuff like that.)