Hot Corn Bread with Cherry Peppers by Nancy T. Maar
Cherry peppers are mild to moderately hot; jalapeños tend to be hotter. Try different varieties of hot peppers to see what your palate prefers. The seeds and veins have a great deal of added heat, so you may want to clean away these elements.
Yields 1 loaf; serving size 1 slice
Calories: 76.03
Protein: 2.80 grams
Carbohydrates: 12.98 grams
Sugar: 0.91 gram
Fat: 1.68 grams
1 tablespoon cooking oil
2 cherry or jalapeño peppers, stemmed, seeded, deveined, and minced
1 tablespoon fresh chives, snipped with kitchen scissors
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose or whole-wheat flour
2 tablespoons Splenda
In a small saucepan, heat the oil and sauté the peppers and chives over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Set aside. The oil will serve as shortening for your bread.
Preheat oven to 350°F, and prepare a standard loaf pan with nonstick spray. In a bowl, whisk the eggs and buttermilk together. Slowly beat in the rest of the ingredients, then fold in the peppers, chives, and oil mixture.
Pour into the loaf pan and bake for 60 minutes in the middle of the oven. Let cool slightly before turning out and cutting. Serve with sugar-free jalapeño jelly.
Too Hot Is Dangerous!
Every time you burn your mouth on hot peppers, you kill some of your taste buds. That's why people who get used to hot food want it progressively hotter. Most — but not all — taste buds will regenerate in time.
