Serves 8
WHEN TEMPERATURES PLUMMET AND WE ENTER SOUP-, STEW-, AND CHILI-MAKING weather, cornbread becomes a bit of a necessity. Much as with the bran muffins here, I grew up loving Jiffy brand cornbread mix from the box, and I wouldn’t turn my nose up at it today. But when you make it from scratch, you can get the ratio of cornmeal to flour and sugar just right, and cram lots of blue cheese and scallions into it. And yes, southern cornbread disciples, I said flour and sugar—this recipe is unapologetically Yankee-style. Without the cheese and scallions, this is a great foundation recipe to have in your back pocket whenever a meal calls out for side of cornbread.
Nonstick cooking spray for pan
1 cup/165 g medium-grind, degerminated yellow cornmeal
1 cup/128 g unbleached all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
¼ cup/50 g granulated sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 ounces/113 g blue cheese, crumbled, divided*
⅓ cup/25 g finely sliced scallions (2 to 3 large scallions, white and light green parts)
1 cup/240 g full-fat sour cream or whole-milk Greek yogurt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
3 tablespoons/42 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 tablespoons/42g vegetable oil
Position an oven rack to the center of the oven and preheat it to 400°F/200°C. Spray an 8-inch/20 cm square metal baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix in three quarters of the cheese and all of the scallions with your fingertips, to keep them from clumping together.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream, eggs, melted butter, and oil until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients into dry and fold gently until there are no more dry pockets in the batter—don’t overmix. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese crumbles. Let the batter rest in the pan for 15 minutes.
Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs, about 25 minutes. Let the bread cool slightly in the pan before turning it out, slicing, and serving. It’s best served the day it’s made.
*My first cheese choice here is Maytag blue—Iowa’s pride and joy, salty and funky and piquant. If I can’t find it, I look for a firm, crumbly, unpasteurized cow’s milk blue that’s got a spicy kick to it, such as Gorgonzola Piccante, a.k.a. Mountain Gorgonzola.