My Cornbread

It’s cold.

Like, really cold. This winter has been disgustingly cold. And today it was cold enough that school districts were closed just because of the wind chill being in the -40’s and -50’s.

When it’s cold, we all want to eat something hearty like soups, stews, and chilis. And what goes better with those things than some good ol’ cornbread?

Now, I’m not a Southern girl, but I did have a Granmammy. She was my great-grandmother, and while as long as I ever knew her she lived in Chicago, she never lost her southern drawl. And my love of all things biscuit and cornbread says I’ve got a little southern in me.

Savory Corn Pancakes with Smokey Cherry Jam and Pulled Pork

How’s that for a long title?

This is shaping up to be the kind of week where I don’t get much posted here. After my day on Monday, I felt like it should be significantly closer to the weekend than it was. We’ve had ongoing appliance issues this past month, and right now the refrigerator repair man is here for the 2nd time in a few weeks. Yay.

So I don’t really have a recipe for you, just an idea. I made this for lunch on Sunday. We had leftover pork shoulder that I got to take home after an awesome Fortify gathering, but it wasn’t quite enough for a full meal for Hubs and me. I had just made some smokey cherry jam, and at first planned to make sandwiches with the pork and jam and some tasty cheese. But then I remembered seeing a recipe for corn pancakes and had a crazy idea that they all might work together.

This was really tasty. It still felt like there should be some sort of sauce, since it was pancakes and all, but I couldn’t quite figure out what it would be. The pancakes were really moist, though, so it didn’t really need it. But if you have a fantastic idea, I’d love to hear it!

Here are the recipes I used:

Corn Pancakes

by smitten kitchen. I omitted the sugar & vanilla to make them savory, but other than that followed the recipe. I had to add a little bit more flour, too, to get it the right consistency.

Smokey Roasted Cherry Jam

by Eating Well. I made this as instructed, but I think if I made it again I’d use more smoked paprika.

Make the pancakes, top with the jam and some slow-roasted pork shoulder. Garnish with cilantro. You’re done!

Shepherd’s Pie

So. I’ll admit I like to make fancy meals for people.  This is not one of those meals. This is simple and delicious and sooo not fancy.

There are a lot of Shepherd’s Pie recipes out there.  This one is really easy, and you probably have all the ingredients in your kitchen already.