Hatch green chile cornbread

When I arrived at the church potluck in Chambersville, Texas, on the counter was the usual assortment of luncheon dishes such as deviled eggs, meatballs, brisket, corn pudding, casseroles, salads, and brownies. There were also a slices of Hatch green chile cornbread, which my grandma said my uncle had made.

In typical potluck fashion, I piled up my plate with a little bit of everything. While I usually prefer cornbread with beans and greens, it went well with the eclectic assortment of dishes. I’m guessing it was because the cornbread was rich and tender with a just a whisper of heat from the roasted chiles.

The next time I visited my grandma at her farm, my uncle had made a pot of field peas for dinner, along with a salad and sliced ripe tomatoes. Green chile cornbread was on offer, as well. This time, the skillet bread went very well with the meal, as savory legumes and cornbread are natural partners.

After dinner, I again commented on how much I enjoyed the cornbread as it had such an inviting texture and a good balance of heat. Usually, my uncle’s recipe for a dish is simply a guide without many specifics, but when I asked how his cornbread was prepared he surprised me. He said the recipe was from Luby’s.

He told a story about how one night he had dinner at a friend’s house, and they served a jalapeño cornbread. He marveled at its flavor and asked for the recipe. They gave it to him, citing the beloved cafeteria as its original source. He then began tweaking it himself.

When I looked at the Luby’s recipe, I noticed sugar was included. I asked my uncle if he used it and he said yes, which surprised me as classic Texas cornbread doesn’t call for sugar, so I decided forgo it when I made my batch. I made a few other changes, such as swapping in bacon grease for the oil, using all buttermilk, and increased the amount of chiles while leaving out the corn, which I don’t usually enjoy in my cornbread.

Some chile cornbreads can be embellished with cheese and creamed corn but this one stayed true to the bread’s form, with the addition of peppers giving it just enough pep to be a little more exciting yet still very traditional and true to form.

The result was a luscious bread that’s crisp on the outside and soft within. There were plenty of peppers to give it a kick, yet it wasn’t overpowering. And it was fine on its own, but a pat of sweet butter warm and melting into the cornbread’s crevices made it especially good.

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