Cornbread is an American classic, often served with chilli beans on the side, but it also goes well with soups. Here we’ve added some tinned creamed corn to the mix, but you could instead use frozen kernels in their place.
1 cup instant polenta
3 Tbsp lard, ghee, or coconut oil
¾ cup grated sharp cheddar
250ml buttermilk
½ tsp salt
¾ cup creamed corn (or use the same amount of defrosted frozen kernels)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 large eggs, beaten
2 spring onions, chopped
½ teaspoon chilli flakes
Preheat the oven to 220°C
Toast the polenta for a few minutes in a dry, ovenproof pan (cast-iron is ideal) until fragrant. Put into a bowl and allow to cool slightly. Keeping aside the lard, ghee or coconut oil and ¼ cup of the cheese, put all the remaining ingredients with the polenta and mix well
Heat the lard in the oven-proof pan until melted and almost smoking. Pour into the polenta mix and stir well. Pour the batter into the hot pan and spread to the edges (it should give a resounding sizzle), scatter over the remaining cheese and put into the oven
Bake for 15-20 mins until the top is golden. Leave to sit in the pan for 5 mins, before slicing and serving. Best eaten warm
Swap it out:You can omit the spring onions and chilli, if none too hand. Feel free to use any tasty-style cheese in place of cheddar. If you don’t have any buttermilk, you can use milk with a squeeze of lemon juice added