Taco Cornbread

We had tacos the other night and I’d also meant to make cornbread but I didn’t have time.

So I made some the next night.

And, just for kicks, I threw in some of the leftovers from taco night, too.

Very easy, and a huge hit with my kids, my husband, and me.  I should have made more.

But I’m leaping ahead of myself, as usual….

First, I threw together the basic cornbread – flour, corn meal, baking powder, salt, sugar, eggs, milk, and oil.  To that I added corn (from last summer – some of the last of what I’d frozen) and some shredded cheese.  It was a “Mexican blend” or something from the shredded cheese section of the store.

Once that was all nice and combined, I poured about 2/3 of the batter into a lightly greased 9” cast iron pan (I love cast iron for cornbread).

Then I put the rest of the taco meat/non-meat blend from the other night (a mix of ground beef and “Gimme Lean” beef-flavor stuff) over that layer, almost to the edge.

Then I scraped on the rest of the cornbread batter…

Spread it out gently with a spatula…

and sprinkled the rest of the cheese on top.

I put the pan in a 400 degree oven and baked it for about half an hour.

Once it came out, I let it sit in the pan for about fifteen minutes and then flipped it onto a rack to cool a bit more.

The cornbread was delicious.

Alex or Julia – can’t remember which one – said I should put it on my website.  I love my kids.

Anyway, they each had a drizzle of taco sauce on their wedges of cornbread, and they asked if they could have the same thing for lunch the next day.  A sure sign of a successful recipe.

Speaking of the recipe – see below.

Taco Cornbread

(Makes one loaf or one dozen muffins.)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup cornmeal

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup cooked corn, drained

1 cup shredded cheese, divided into two half-cup portions

1 cup leftover seasoned taco meat (beef, pork, chicken) or non-meat.  Whatever you’ve got on hand.

~~~

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Lightly grease either an 8 or 9 inch cast iron pan, a standard loaf pan, or 12 muffin tins.

Whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  In another bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs and oil.

Blend together the wet and dry ingredients until just combined.  Then stir in the corn and half a cup of cheese.

Spread 2/3 of the batter in the loaf or cast iron pan, or fill each muffin cup about half way.

Spoon the taco filling mixture over the layer of batter, then top with the remaining batter and spread it out gently to cover the filling. 

Top with the rest of the cheese and bake about 25-30 minutes or until the top is dark golden brown.

Allow to rest for fifteen minutes and then remove from the pan (or tins). 

Serve as-is, or with salsa and guacamole.

Enjoy!

Comments

[yummychunklet]

Yum! This looks great. I've been craving tacos for awhile. The cornbread is an added bonus!

[Jamie]

That sounds really tasty. Will try it out the next time we have tacos.

[Meatloaf Recipe]

OMG! Delicious taco cornbread pics! I just can't wait to eat this. AMAZING!

[judith]

Gotta send my sister over here to check this out (she had fried pizza the other day and I thought of you.) This really sounds good, I think Jeffrey would love it.

[Di]

My girls do that, especially B. "Have you taken pictures of this, Mommy? You should really put it on the computer." =) Neat idea with the cornbread!