Whenever we bought variety muffin packs growing up, I somehow always got stuck with the corn muffin, after all the chocolate chip and banana nut ones were gone. As such, I always thought of corn bread as the evil homemade (Isn’t that the worst word to hear when you’re a kid?) cousin of the corn muffin, which to me was the most boring muffin on earth. Seriously, even bran muffins had raisins! However, I quickly had a change of heart on a trip to Charleston where almost every meal is served with cornbread as a side. I had an epiphany when I realized that cornbread makes a delicious supplement to any flavorful dish. Not only that, I ate cornbread with a variety of additional ingredients like cheese, onions, and nuts. How silly of my inner child, reducing the best type of bread to have at the table with a poor excuse for dessert! In this recipe, I added lemongrass for a little Asian kick.
Lemongrass Cornbread (Serves 4-6)
• 1 cup corn meal
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup lemongrass syrup (recipe below)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp oil
For lemongrass syrup:
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 lemongrass stalks
1. Remove the ends off lemongrass stalks. Chop into 1 to 1.5 inch pieces.
2. In a pot, mix 2 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar. Add chopped lemongrass and mix evenly. Boil on medium to low heat for 90 minutes. If you like a strong lemongrass flavor, let the syrup simmer for longer. Feel free to make this the night before, as it takes a bit of time. After the syrup has thickened, use a slotted spoon to remove the lemongrass.
3. Mix together corn meal, flour, salt and baking powder. After the dry ingredients are mixed evenly, add 1 cup of syrup, milk, eggs, and oil.
4. Whisk batter and pour into a grease loaf pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.
5. Slice cornbread and drizzle with remaining lemongrass syrup.
