May 9, 2007

Black-Eyed Pea Corn Bread

Credit: Chris Granger

SERVES 6 – 12

Unlike traditional corn bread, this version is soft and rich—more like a soufflé or a spoon bread.

1 tsp. butter
1 lb. fresh loose spicy pork sausage meat
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1 cup white cornmeal
1⁄2 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1⁄2 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1⁄2 cup vegetable oil
8 oz. cheddar cheese, grated (about 2 cups)
1 15-oz. can black-eyed peas, drained
3⁄4 cup canned cream-style corn
1⁄2 cup canned chopped green chiles
1⁄2 cup drained sliced pickled jalapeños, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9" × 13" baking dish with butter and set aside. Break sausage meat into chunks and put into a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook, breaking sausage up with a slotted spoon, until meat is lightly browned and just cooked through, about 10 minutes. Transfer sausage and onions with the spoon to paper towels to let drain.

2. Whisk cornmeal, flour, salt, and baking soda together in a large bowl. Beat eggs, buttermilk, and oil together in a medium bowl. Add egg mixture to cornmeal mixture, stirring until cornmeal mixture is just moistened (batter will be lumpy). Stir in sausage mixture, cheese, black-eyed peas, corn, green chiles, and jalapeños. Pour batter into prepared dish, smoothing top with the back of the spoon. Bake until golden brown, 50–60 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

This article was first published in Saveur in Issue #78

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Ratings & Reviews (3)

by suebeeplm on 2008-07-13

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by nwfoodie on 2009-12-28

Don't be put off by the ingredients, sausage, cheese, peppers, in corn bread? YES! I've made this dish twice to raves both times. I did use Jimmy Dean sausage and do to time constraints I used 2 boxes of Jiffy corn bread mix. But the results are amazing! This is not your typical corn bread. The note at the top is correct, it's more like spoon bread but...oooo what spoon bread it is. Give yourself some good luck this new year and TRY this.

by nashwill on 2011-01-10

've been through four or five cornbread recipes on this website; every one of them has wheat flour added, and one has sugar! Have you people no shame? Now, there is in Tennessee a modified cornbread, called "Corn Light Bread", that allows the introduction of flour, and I know that some self-rising cornbread mixes sold by Martha White and White Lily contain flour, but after having grown up thinking that "cornbread" was something made out of Jiffy mix I finally saw the light. I got the religion, and swore I'd never sully my skillet with any cornbread batter containing flour or sugar again. Amen.

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