This cornbread is baked in a cast-iron skillet, where the batter is poured on top of a layer of sweet, slow-cooked caramelized onions and endives. When the cornbread cools down, you flip the contents over onto a serving plate. This leaves a golden-brown layer of onions & endives resting on top of the warm cornbread.
Cornbread with Caramelized Onion & Endive
This cornbread is baked in a cast-iron skillet, where the batter is poured on top of a layer of sweet, slow-cooked caramelized onions and endives. When the cornbread cools down, you flip the contents over onto a serving plate. This leaves a golden-brown layer of onions & endives resting on top of the warm cornbread.
Ingredients
- 3 large white onions, (sliced 1/8” thick)
- 4 endives, root removed, (leaves cut into ¼” slices.)
- 12 Tbsp butter
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp kosher salt
- 1.5 cups flour ((all-purpose))
- 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp cornmeal
- 1/3 cup plus 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 3 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1.5 cups whole milk
- More softened butter, (for serving.)
Instructions
- Slice the onions and endives. Heat a large skillet and add 6 Tbsp butter and 2 Tbsp olive oil and onions.
- Gently caramelize the onions for ten minutes on medium heat, stirring infrequently to encourage some coloration.
- Add the endives and continue to cook down the endives and onions in the butter and oil.
- Cook gently until both the onions and endives have reached a uniform golden-brown consistency.
- Carefully add salt at this stage to taste.
- When you are satisfied with the final flavor of the onions and endives, remove them from the heat and set aside in a bowl for later.
- Preheat oven to 380F. Grease a deep-sided cast iron skillet with 2 Tbsp butter.
- Place your onion & endive mixture in an even layer inside the greased cast iron skillet.
- To make the cornbread batter, whisk together the dry ingredients, including the all-purpose flour, the corn bread, the baking powder and baking soda, sugar, and salt.
- Melt 4 Tbsp butter and mix with 1.5 cups whole milk and 2 large eggs and whisk together thoroughly.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients and gently fold together with a rubber spatula until no significant lumps remain. Do not overmix.
- Pour the cornbread batter on top of the onion & endive layer in the cast iron skillet.
- Bake in the oven at 380F for roughly 40-50 minutes, or until the cornbread is golden-brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cornbread comes out clean.
- Bake in the oven at 380F for roughly 40-50 minutes, or until the cornbread is golden-brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cornbread comes out clean.
- Place a flat serving plate over the top of the skillet and carefully flip the cornbread over onto the plate.
- If any of the onion & endive layer is stuck to the cast-iron skillet, simply scrape it off and spread it back onto the top of the cornbread.
Notes
If you’ve ever wondered what to do with a bunch of leftover endives, look no further! While endive leaves by themselves are quite bitter and often seen in salads, they are also wonderful when cooked down like this in butter with slow-cooked onions. The bitter endive and sweet onion flavors meld together to create something new and amazing.