This cornbread recipe works with one 5-inch cast iron skillet. For a large skillet, double the recipe. To save time on the day of serving, make the bacon jam in advance!
I have a crush. To clarify, it’s not a romantic crush (hi honey!) but a culinary one. Ever since I watched Bryan Voltaggio compete on Top Chef I have been a huge fan.
I love his food. And I am so lucky that he’s local to the DC area and has several restaurants near me. I’ve copied his work before. Almost two years ago after dining at his restaurant Volt, I returned home to create my own version of one of his dishes- butter poached lobster with steel cut oat risotto.
It’s as good as it sounds. I think Bryan is a culinary wizard and am in awe of his creativity in the kitchen.
If Volt wasn’t an hour outside of the city I would dine there much more often. You can imagine my joy when I learned he was opening a new restaurant right down the road from us called Range. It is one metro stop or a five minutes drive from my house.
It was very difficult to get a reservation when the restaurant first opened but we were able to enjoy our first meal on my birthday in July. Everything was amazing from the kale caesar salad to the bone marrow with golden raisins, caramelized onions and pine nuts.
I still daydream about the lamb course. But one of the unexpected highlights of the meal for me was skillet cornbread with bacon jam and chive butter.
All of the components worked perfectly together. I loved that it was served in a small cast iron skillet identical to the one I often use in recipes. It was the perfect serving for two people. And the bacon jam was phenomenal. Smokey, intense, rich.
Within days I was planning out my own version of the recipe at home. I can’t say my bacon jam turned out quite as perfect as his but it’s pretty damn good. I know you will fall in love with this dish just as I did.
Homemade Buttermilk Substitute
Did you know you can make homemade buttermilk from scratch to use in this recipe? Save yourself a trip to the store by checking out my post How To Make Buttermilk Substitute!
Skillet Cornbread with Bacon Jam and Chive Butter
Ingredients
Bacon Jam
- 1 pound bacon, preferably thick cut, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 medium yellow onion, halved and sliced thin
- 1 medium shallot, minced
- 4 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 cup brewed coffee
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/3 cup cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
Chive compound butter
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon fresh chives, chopped finely
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Skillet cornbread
- 3/4 cup finely ground cornmeal
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons buttermilk
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
Prepare the bacon jam:
- In a dutch oven, render fat from bacon and then cook over medium high until crisp. Remove the bacon from the pot, leaving the fat, and drain on paper towels.
- Add the onion, shallot and garlic to the pot and cook over medium heat until the ingredients soften, approximately 10 minutes. Return the bacon to the pot and add the coffee, water, vinegar, maple syrup, sugar and honey. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring periodically, until the mixture thickens substantially, approximately 1 - 1 1/2 hours.
- Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool for 15 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the mixture to a food processor, leaving as much excess fat behind as possible. Discard the bacon fat.
- Pulse the jam until finely chopped.
- Store in the refrigerator in an airtight jar for up to 2 weeks.
Prepare the chive compound butter:
- In a small bowl or ramekin, mix the butter, chives and salt until evenly combined. Shape into a pat of butter and chill in the refrigerator or freezer until it firms up.
Prepare the cornbread:
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Place the cast iron skillet in the oven on a middle rack and allow it to get hot while preparing the ingredients.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda. In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk, egg and all but 1 tablespoon of the butter. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and stir until just combined.
- Remove the skillet from the oven and turn the temperature down to 375 degrees F. Pour the reserved tablespoon of butter into the skillet and swirl it around. Pour the batter into the skillet and place back in the oven.
- Cook until a toothpick comes out of the center of the cornbread cleanly and the top is just starting to turn golden brown, approximately 25 minutes.
- Serve with bacon jam and compound butter.
Notes
Please read my full post for additional recipe notes, tips, and serving suggestions!
Nutrition
Recipe Troubleshooting
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Making the bacon jam as we speak! Ohyeah!
I TOTALLY have a crush on those brothers. And sort of romantic in a dirty way. It’s OK, my husband is fine with it. I’ll just distract him with this cornbread and bacon jam.
I am obsessed with skillet cornbread! The bacon jam sounds awesome, I want to put it on everything!!!
Your photos are flawless. This cornbread looks amazing and I am dying to taste the bacon jam, yum!!
YUM! Ah, this recipe sounds so delicious! Bacon, cornbread, chive butter… what’s not to like? I’ve never heard of the chef you mentioned but I think I need to look him up. My chef ‘crush’ at the moment is Yotam Ottolenghi, I was reasonably late in discovering him but now I’m cooking my way through Jerusalem. So many amazing, inspiring recipes. Thanks for this gorgeous cornbread recipe. I’m going to make it soon. And stuff my face, booyah! x
Jennifer you are amazing. Your photos captivate me. But it’s the way you hone in on a dish and deliver it that causes envy. xo
Wow, thank you. That made my day!
Finally tried the bacon jam recipe – flippin’ deeeelicious. We’re trying to come up with other foods to spread the jam on!! Thanks Jen!
Dumb question: what is the diameter of a small skillet?
Not a dumb question at all! In fact, that’s a very good question. They are typically 5 or 6 inches. Either will work here, mine is 6 inches.