Smoked Chili and Skillet Cornbread

The weather finally cooled off here in Cincinnati and that means it’s time for some comfort food! Today, I’m sharing recipes for smoked chili and skillet cornbread.

Smoked Chili

I’ve shared this chili recipe before, but it doesn’t hurt to remind you DO NOT INHALE the steam from sautéing the onions, green paper, habanero and garlic.

We made the batch the night before. In the past we’ve just put it on the crockpot all day, but this time we threw it on the Rec Tec to turn it into smoked chili. There is so much flavor with the beans, onions, garlic, peppers that I don’t even mind that it’s meatless.

Skillet Cornbread

Trusting my Uncle Steve’s recipe recommendations, I made this cornbread recipe he gave me awhile back. When I was mixing the wet ingredients I wasn’t too sure…

Ingredients

1 cup butter (2 quarters), melted
1 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 (15 oz) can creamed-style corn
1/2 (4 oz) can chopped green chili peppers, drained (optional)
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish or, better yet, a 12-inch cast iron skillet.

In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar.  Beat in eggs one at a time.  Blend in creamed corn, chiles, Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheese.

In a separate bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt.  Add flour mixture to corn mixture; stir just until smooth.  

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for about 35 minutes in a cake pan or about an hour in a skillet, until a toothpick inserted into center of the pan comes out clean.  If using the skillet – watch carefully as edges may brown too much and time should be under an hour.

Ours took much longer than an hour on the Rec Tec. I had mixed everything and set it in the fridge for Nolan to just pop it on the grill, so that’s probably why it took longer. Even though the toothpick came out clean it still seemed sorta raw. But after my first bite I knew it was perfect!

I think from now one we’ll be smoking the chili rather than using the crockpot. It had the perfect smoky flavor and I love how you can make it as spicy as you want by adding more/less sour cream. And if it gets too hot, just take a big bite of cornbread. (I did add green chiles, but they didn’t add any heat, just flavor.) Happy Fall Y’all!