It's not even been a week, but let's see how much I remember...here's the base recipe, which I chose because I had plenty of grits, but very little cornmeal left, to go with the vegan chili adjacent soup I'd made.

• 1/2 C corn grits (coarsely ground corn meal)
• 1/2 C corn meal
• 1/2 C all-purpose white flour
• 1/2 C WW flour
• 1 T vinegar (&/or lime juice) added to make up
• 1 C (soured) milk (i.e. buttermilk)^[1]
• 1 t sugar (or 1 T...)
• 1.5 t baking powder
• 0.25 t baking soda
• 2 eggs (reduce to 1 is fine)
• 2–4 T oil (reduce to 2T?)
• 1 C grated habanero (or regular) cheddar
• 1/3 –1/2 C? finely chopped onion
• 1 (or 2 jalopeno) finely minced hot pepper^[2]
• 1/3–1/2 C finely chopped sweet (mini) peppers (e.g. 3)
• 2 T butter

N.b. cheese and veges can easily add up to 2C

Method

• add vinegar (and/or lime juice to milk to sour it. Or substitute yogurt and/or sour cream and/or soured, thinned whipping cream)
• preheat oven to 400F
• melt 2 T butter in cast iron pan;
• mix dry ingredients
• add oil & eggs; beat in well
• add milk, milk
• add veges & cheese, mix just to distribute
• swirl melted butter onto sides of pan
• add batter; put 5 slivers of butter on top of batter
• bake until toothpick comes out clean (19 minutes in this case) and top is golden brown.

Edges should be browned and slightly crispy; edges has an overall slightly chewy texture behind the thin crust of burnt crispy butter bits—this is what made this version special.

Add'l notes: I didn't add the butter, and wouldn't’ve thought to use so much. It does make a lovely crust, so reduce oil in batter to bare minimum (2T), so butter can make up the crust. Dots of butter may have been put on top, like a pie-crust—this was a pretty rich variation.

Bacon fat variation:

• 1-1/2 C grits (one cup slightly ground in blender)
• 1/2 C www flour
• 1 T lime juice plus enough milk to make
• 1 C (butter)milk substitute
• (approx) 6 T bacon fat, divided
• 1/4 C aquafaba
• 1 egg
• 1.5 t baking powder
• 1 t sugar
• 0.25 t baking soda
• 3/4 t salt^[3]
• 1–2 jalopeno peppers, chopped fine (include seeds & pith)
• (approx) 1 C sharp cheddar, grated
• 1/3 – 1/2 C onion, diced fine
• 1/4 C minced cilantro (opt)

Method

• sour milk by adding lime juice;
• place roughly 1/4 C bacon fat in skillet
• place in oven, heat to 400
• mix dry ingredients, cheese & veges;
• carefully remove 2 T melted fat from skillet & mix in
• assemble remaining (liquid) ingredients, mix into batter
• carefully remove pan from oven (again)
• spread batter into pan
• dot with more bacon fat (about 1 or 1-1/2 T)
• bake at 400 d F for about 15–16 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean and cornbread is nicely browned (like the picture)
• (made 11mar23)

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