Skillet Corn Bread with Jalapeño Honey Butter

I am on a mission people. A mission to clean out all of the bits and bobs and random bags of who knows what that have been hiding in the dark corners of my pantry (can just one cupboard be called a pantry?) and fridge for who knows how long. First up was the half full bag of cornmeal and the sad jalapeño left over from a pepper jelly adventure. Note to self: use gloves next time you make pepper jelly, seriously you are not that tough. Moving on...I think my heavy cast iron skillet was the most important part of this bready equation so use one if you have it. If you don't, a stainless steel skillet would probably work, but you will miss out on the superb crunchy crust that the cast iron gives the bread. I originally planned on chopping up the jalapeño and adding it into the batter, but Mr. Honey Bear caught my eye and I realized that it would be much better utilized in a sweet, spicy accompaniment, and jalapeño honey butter was born. The sweet, savory, spicy combo will knock your socks off so break out the cast iron this weekend and try out this recipe. Happy Friday!

Skillet Cornbread
adapted from epicurious

1 1/2c yellow cornmeal
3/4t baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
kernels from one ear of fresh corn, about a cup
2 large eggs
1 3/4c buttermilk or milk with 1T of lemon juice or vinegar mixed in
4T unsalted butter, softened

Heat your oven to 425º. Place a dry, 9'' cast iron skillet in the middle of the oven to heat while you prepare the other ingredients

1. In a medium bowl, stir the cornmeal, baking soda, and salt together.
2. In another bowl, whisk the eggs and buttermilk together.
3. Remove your skillet from the oven, careful it's hot! Toss in the butter and swirl it around the bottom and sides to melt it. Add the melted butter to the buttermilk/egg mix, then put the skillet back into the oven until you are ready to use it.
4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry, then gently fold in the corn kernels. Pour the mixture into the hot cast iron pan and slide it back into the oven. Bake for 20-25min or until golden. Serve warm with jalapeño honey butter.

Jalapeño Honey Butter

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
3T honey
1/2 of a jalapeño, minced finely
pinch salt

Whisk all of the ingredients together. Store leftover butter tightly wrapped in the fridge or freezer.

Note:
- If you are nice to your cast iron pans, they will last forever. Just please, for the love of unicorns, don't wash it with soap and make sure it is totally dry before you put it away. I always heat mine on the stove until all of the water evaporates.
- If you don't have a cast iron pan, you can buy them real cheap at most hardware stores.

Honey Oat Scones

If I had to choose, I would say that scones are my favorite jam delivery vehicle. Sure, you could spread it on toast or make it into a sandwich with some peanut butter, but for true jam appreciation, scones win every time. I am partial to simple scones without dried fruit or nuts and these subtly sweet numbers sure fit the bill. I toasted the oats before adding them to the dry ingredients which gave them so much toasty, delicious flavor that I am going to try toasting some oats for my next batch of oatmeal cookies.

Honey Oat Scones
yield, about 8 scones

1 1/2c old fashioned oats
1/4c buttermilk
1/4c heavy cream
1/4c honey
1 egg
1 1/2c flour
2t baking powder
1/4t baking soda
1/2t salt
10T cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

Preheat oven to 375º

1. Evenly spread the oats onto a baking sheet and slide them into the oven to toast until fragrant and light brown (7-9 minutes). After they have cooled, remove 2T to sprinkle on top of the scones. Turn up the oven to 450 degrees.
2. In small bowl or measuring cup, whisk the buttermilk, heavy cream, honey and egg.
3. In a large bowl mix the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using a fork or pastry cutter, cut the cold butter into the mixture until it resembles a coarse meal with a few larger lumps of butter.
4. Make a well in the center of the mixture and pour in the milk mixture, gently stir until a cohesive dough forms, being careful not to over mix.
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and pat 1'' thick. Use a round cutter or bench scraper to cut out your scones. If you have any scraps, gently press them together and cut again.
6. Place the cut scones on a parchment lined baking sheet about 2'' apart, brush the tops with heavy cream, and sprinkle with the reserved oats. Bake the scones until golden (12-14 minutes) and cool slightly before eating.

These are best the day that they are baked, but you can store them at room temperature in an airtight container for a day or two.