When I was in my twenties, my mom decided she didn’t want to cook a full Thanksgiving dinner for just three people. Despite not really liking most traditional Thanksgiving dishes, I volunteered to take it on. What can I say, I love tradition.
Sine I was now in charge, I started hunting for recipes that appealed to me. Fresh green beans with a vinaigrette instead of green bean casserole. Pumpkin cheesecake instead of pumpkin pie. The one thing I wanted to keep somewhat traditional was stuffing. To me, cornbread stuffing is where it’s at, and I found a recipe for a jalapeno-cornbread sausage stuffing that has become on of my favorite dishes ever,
This year, I’m taking it up a notch with a homemade cornbread instead of store-bought. After looking at a few different recipes, I opted to start with a test run of The New Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook‘s Jalapeno and Roasted Red Pepper Cornbread.
Make or Skip the Jalapeno and Roasted Red Pepper Cornbread?
I think we have a winner. Everyone who tried it commented on how good it was, despite a little hiccup on my part. I didn’t have a 12″ skillet, so I used my 10″ one. Because that made the cornbread so deep, even an extra 10 minutes of cooking wasn’t quite a enough and the very middle wasn’t cooked through. Next time I’ll try my 14″ skillet and starting checking for doneness early.
Tips, Tricks & What I Would Do Different
The cookbook says you can make this up to one day in advance. If, like me, you’re using it for Thanksgiving cornbread stuffing, you can also make it several days in advance and freeze. I find spreading out the prep over several days makes for a much more relaxing Thanksgiving!
You may be able to make this in something other than a cast iron skillet, but I haven’t tried it. I use my cast iron skillets more than any other cookware, and I recommend one for every home kitchen. IF you don’t have one already, this Lodge cast iron skillet is a great option.
Get your copy of The New Cast Iron Cookbook (Amazon Associate Link)
