Corn Bread

While I had the Bread Baker's Apprentice out, I though I'd check in his recipe for corn bread, which someone on a message board recommended.

It's ok, but I doubt I'd make it again. For one thing, corn bread is a "quick bread", meaning that it uses baking soda and/or baking powder for leavening, as opposed to yeast. So it's the kind of side dish you can make on the spur of the moment. Except that this recipe calls for you to soak the cornmeal in the buttermilk overnight, which I think is pretty silly, even though I was willing to give it a try.

The other reason I probably won't make it again is that it's very sweet. Now, I'm not opposed to a little bit of sugar in my cornbread (I like it fine without, too), but not only is this too sweet, the sugar in it also makes the texture too much like cake and not enough like bread.

The good news is that the sweetness was nice for offsetting the spice of the chili. But still. Speaking of the chili, it's the same chili I made back in January, and pretty much the only chili I ever make. Love it.

• Chipotle Beef Chili with Lime Crema (Bon Appetit, September 1999)
• Corn Bread (The Bread Baker's Apprentice, Peter Reinhart, p. 151-153)