Squares of hot spicy and cheesy cornbread await being buttered and eaten.
Years ago, when I was young, Carl and Shirley Sontheimer, then owners of Cuisinarts, Inc., hired me to travel all over the country to teach people how to use the food processor. One of the many recipes I created was, “Yogurt and Jalapeño Corn Bread.” I demonstrated it all over the country and people raved about it, and I included it in a book of food processor recipes and techniques, "Patently Easy Food Prcessor Cooking." As the years passed, I lost track of the recipe until recently when I was making a beef and bean chili and my wife said, “Why don’t you make that yogurt cornbread to go with it?” "Terrific idea, dear!", I yelped. "I'll do it." In the original recipe I used the food processor to shred the cheese, chop the chiles and onion (I now use shallot), cut the butter into the dry ingredients, and mix in the yogurt and eggs with a few quick pulses. If you have a food processor, you’re most welcome to make the recipe that way.
Any Corn Meal May be Used.
Lacking a food processor, just follow the directions in the recipe here. This cornbread is moist, has a slight tang from the yogurt, and is great with chili or any time you’re serving something saucy. You can use any cornmeal you like, yellow or white, stone ground or not. I add the bit of sugar to balance the yogurt's tang, but you can omit it if you like.
After playing around with the recipe some more, it told me to up kick up the spiciness a bit. Recipes do have a mind of their own, you know. This cornbread loves butter, and it also loves to sop up sauces.