Confetti Cornbread

This year, we were charged with making Christmas dinner for the family. Since we were responsible for every course (ham, whiskey/apricot marmalade glaze, beans Anglais) and tweaking them for the family's dietary restrictions (no olive oil, no garlic), we decided to make this super easy and colorful cornbread as our requisite carb. This recipe is more dense and moist than many of its crumbly cornbread counterparts, but we're cool with that. It's great for a Super Bowl party or barbecue.

Confetti Cornbread (clipped by Bake's mom from Parade magazine)

• 1 c flour
• 1 c cornmeal
• 3 tsp sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 c milk
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1 large egg
• 1 c finely diced mixed peppers (red, green, and orange are recommended for color, and feel free to add in some jalepeno for more of a kick)
  

This tiny specimen was, somehow, the only whisk in Bake's parents kitchen.

Preheat oven to 400 and butter an 8- or 9-inch square pan.

Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Separately, whisk milk, butter, and egg together. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and gently stir until the batter is evenly moistened. Add the peppers and stir to combine.

Bake for 25 min or until a cake tester (cornbread tester?) comes out dry. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Stuffed peppers with a Hungarian* twist

. *This recipe was created by a good Hungarian friend of mine. She followed a rough recipe from the internet but added a lot of her own style.

Ingredients:

• 3 or 4 peppers, any colour.
• rice (enough to serve 2)
• half a pound mince meat
• mushrooms
• courgettes
• onion
• garlic
• chilli powder
• salt/pepper/basil/oregano
• olive oil
• tomato puree
• tin chopped tomatoes
• sour cream
• cheese. Very strong cheeses are best, when cooked they compliment the flavours in the dish very well. Use a mixture of any types that you want.
• Vegetable stock

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Chop the peppers in half, wash and clean out all the seed. Place in a dish side by side and drizzle a little olive oil into each one. Whenever the oven is fully heated, place into the oven for 10 minutes, to soften the peppers. Leave for 10 minutes only, then remove and leave aside for when you are ready with the filling.

2. Cook the rice in a saucepan of boiling water.

2. In separate a saucepan, heat some oil, then add in the chopped garlic, onion, and mince meat. Stir constantly until the meat is browned.

3. Add in the tomato puree, salt, pepper, and chilli powder.

4. When the rice is cooked, drain it well, and add it into the meat. Then mix in the tinned tomatoes, and chop and add all the vegetables you will use.

5. Stir the entire mixture together, tasting and adding in any more herbs as necessary.

6. When this is finished, take the dish of peppers and spoon the mixture into all the peppers. You will have far too much so once the peppers are filled, spoon it around the peppers throughout the dish, until all of the mixture is in the dish.

7. Mix some vegetable stock into a little water, not much, maybe 50 mls. Pour this into the bottom of the dish. (To stop the dish drying out while in the oven).

7. Spoon all of the sour cream on top of the rice/meat filling, covering the whole dish.

8. Slice all the cheese into nice thick slices and place it on top of the sour cream.

9. Put into the over and cook for 30 - 40 minutes. Leave uncovered for the first 10 minutes, and after this cover with tin foil and leave to cook for the remaining time.

10. To serve, spoon out each pepper onto a plate with all of the surrounding filling. Best accompanied by salad and coleslaw methinks, but of course anything that tickles your fancy will do!