This recipe is a good one and has been around a long time, but if you haven’t baked or eaten it, it will be new for you. I think you’ll like it. It is shared with us today by Valoree King.
Several years ago, First Baptist Church of Georgetown published a church cookbook, and this recipe of Ms. King’s was among those printed.
I can’t find Ms. King, but the Courier Detective Agency is on the job. The search is aided by my Ed’s niece, Jane Moon of Georgetown, who is sleuthing between her teaching duties.
Ms. King isn’t a member of Georgetown First, and her recipe was probably submitted by someone on the cookbook committee. Jane and I are on her trail.
Dr. Ted Sherrill, the pastor, is in his 11th year at the church, which has an early 8:30 a.m. service on Sunday followed by the second one at 11:30 a.m. The combined services average more than 630 each week. The church has a full program of Southern Baptist activities: Sunday school, discipleship training, RAs, GAs, WMU, etc.
Part of the Southeast Association of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, the church recently celebrated the 300th year of the Baptist presence in the state, i.e., 1710. Georgetown First was organized in 1794.
If I baked this recipe using the chili peppers, I would still be walking about with a glass of ice water in my hand, so I substituted three teaspoons of chili powder. That was spicy enough for us, but tastes vary. Also, I wasn’t sure how I could “fold” the shortening into the mix, so I used canola oil.
This is a bread that will complement many family meals and will become a family favorite. I shall cook it often. On the day I baked it, our son-in-law Joel, whose business is nearby, was having lunch with us as he does some days. After his plate was empty, he took another square of Mexican Corn Bread for “dessert.”
Thank you, Ms. King, for sharing your recipe with First Church of Georgetown and with the rest of us. I’m sure many of us will be baking this for a long time, and I’m sorry I could not talk with you personally.
Serve this Mexican Corn Bread, hot, cut in squares, and have butter on the table. Because it goes together quickly and bakes in a short time, you can make this easily after you get home from church and have it hot for … Sunday Dinner.
Mexican Corn Bread
1 cup yellow corn meal
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup shortening
1 8-ounce can cream-style corn
4 tablespoons chili peppers
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup grated cheese
Heat oven to 475 degrees. Grease a 9×9-inch baking pan. Set aside.
Blend the corn meal, sugar, salt, flour and baking powder. Fold in milk, eggs and shortening, and beat vigorously 1 minute. Stir in the corn, cheese and peppers. Pour into prepared pan and bake 20-25 minutes.