Barefoot Contessa's Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread

I can not believe that this is the second Thursday of July Already?! Scary. Time sure flies. Our cooking event for the first half of July is a Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread. The choice of this cooking event was selected by Sabrina and Alexander of Cooking with the Kids.

Being from the Northwest, my family already enjoys cornbread that has a little sweetness added to the flavor and the Barefoot Contessa's cornbread not only had that extra sweetness but included a cake like texture. Diced jalapenos, scallions, and sharp cheddar cheese makes the cornbread addictive and all I could think of making was either chili or chicken tortilla soup to go with the cornbread. I made the chili, in the middle of summer, I made chili! I am really glad I did. I found this awesome chili recipe from Rosie with Bitchin' In the Kitchen.

The chili actually uses 6 POUNDS of hamburger. . .incredible! I'll have to blog about the recipe later since I really want to devote this blog to Ina. Ina's recipe can be found on the Food Network cooking site.

This cornbread will permanently be added to my favorite recipe list and I have already shared the recipe with friends. I just love the Barefoot Bloggers group! I do not think I would have tried this particular recipe if I had not joined in on the fun. I have so many recipes just waiting to be tried already! Thousands, literally, collected over the last 5 years.

Mixing the dry ingredients together is a snap. Flour, corn meal, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

I just use a small whisk to give everything a quick toss.

I am now ready to add the milk, eggs, and butter to the dry ingredients. =D

Diced jalapenos, scallions, and sharp cheddar cheese has also been added to the mixture. I just let the mixture sit at room temperature for 20 minutes before turning into a 13 x 9 baking dish.

While waiting out the 20 minutes, I pre-assembled the rest of the ingredients and sprayed my baking dish with Pam.

I put all my extras over the top and toss this into the oven for 35 minutes. I needed the full 35 minutes of baking time too.

The end result is a beautiful, fluffy dish of bright yellow cornbread. The colors are as beautiful as the dish is flavorful. A definite keeper for a recipe! YUM! =D