The Cornbread Curse

There is something going on with the cornbread around here. The past few times I have tried to make cornbread/corn muffins something has gone wrong. Either it gets burned to a crisp (I had three separate groups of people come to look at our apartment/put down a deposit 5 minutes before the cornbread would have been golden brown...of course I forgot about it until 45 minutes later!), or it doesn't cook in the middle, even after being in the oven for 75 minutes (50 more than the recipe calls for), or tonight's fiasco...the cornmeal was rancid. Unfortunately, I didn't discover the rancidity (is that a word?) until after it came out of the oven all golden brown and tempting, the butter melting off the side and a bit of honey drizzled on top. What a huge let down to bite into that awful creation! Ah well, I try again another day.

I think the most disappointing thing is that I actually made a white bean chili (Devin's comment when he found out what was for dinner...I thought you didn't like chili! But this stuff is divine!) And I was excited to have chili and cornbread for dinner tonight. Even though the cornbread didn't work out, the chili was fantastic! The recipe is from a sister in our ward. She made it for the Ward Chili Cook-off in October last year. When you see the ingredients, you'll see why it was so yummy!

White Bean Chili

1 lb chicken, cut up
1 medium onion,chopped
1-1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 cans white beans, rinsed and drained*
1 can chicken broth
1 can green chilies
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 C whipping cream
1 C sour cream

Fry together the chicken, onion and garlic (I'd actually use only 1 tsp garlic powder). Add the white beans, green chilies, chicken broth, salt, oregano, and pepper. Heat thoroughly on stovetop. Just before serving add the whipping cream and sour cream.

*I used 1/2 lb of dry great northern beans. I rinsed the beans, put them in a pot with 2 quarts of water and brought it to a boil. I boiled them for 5 minutes, then turned off the heat and let them soak for 1 hour. Then I drained and rinsed the beans, added more water and then simmered them for 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Important if you choose this method for cooking beans...don't add anything to the beans until they are softened (salt, onions, tomatoes, etc.) or it will take forever for them to soften.