Skillet Corn Bread with Corn Relish

By Coppermouse

Ingredients

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup stone-ground yellow or white cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 large eggs lightly beaten
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 1/2 cups well-drained Corn relish with Roasted Peppers (see recipe below)
• Corn Relish
• 12 ears of corn shucked
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 green bell pepper
• 4 jalapeños
• 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 Spanish onion finely diced
• 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
• Salt

Preparation

Step 1

Corn Relish

Fill a large bowl with ice water. In a large pot of boiling water, cook the corn until the kernels become slightly translucent, about 3 minutes. Transfer the corn to the ice water; let cool. Drain the corn and pat dry. Cut off the kernels.

Roast the bell peppers and jalapeños over a gas flame, turning, until charred all over, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover and let cool slightly. Peel, stem and seed the peppers and jalapeños. Cut the bell peppers into 1/2-inch dice and the jalapeños into 1/4-inch dice.

In an enameled cast-iron casserole, combine the vinegar and sugar and bring to a boil, stirring. Add the corn, peppers, jalapeños, onion and mustard and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes. Season with salt and let cool.

Ladle the corn relish into four 1-pint canning jars and refrigerate for up to 3 months.

Corn Bread
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Heat a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over low heat and add 2 tablespoons of the butter.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the cornmeal, baking powder, sugar and salt. In a large glass measuring cup, melt the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter in a microwave oven. Whisk in the eggs and milk until blended. Add the liquid ingredients and the Corn Relish to the cornmeal mixture and stir with a spatula just until the batter is evenly moistened.

Scrape the batter into the hot skillet and spread it evenly. Bake in the center of the oven for about 35 minutes, until the corn bread is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the skillet to a rack and let the corn bread cool for about 20 minutes. Cut into squares and serve.