Jalapeno & Cheddar Cornmeal Biscuits

My apologies for not posting in over a week. I was explaining to a coworker today that I need to update my blog, because I simply haven't had time to make a recipe and publish any night recently. He suggested I just do some really simple baking, so that was the inspiration for tonight's entry. I usually make this recipe with chives, not jalapenos, but true to tonight's goal, I am throwing together whatever I had in the fridge (tomorrow morning I go to the farmer's market, I promise no more clean out the fridge meals for a few entries).

This recipe looks like it has a lot of ingredients, but it really doesn't. You probably already have all of them or most of them in your fridge and cupboards. And what you don't you can improvise (milk instead of buttermilk, herbs instead of jalapenos, feta instead of cheddar, etc). Just keep the basic dry ingredients, butter, and the 1 cup of milk product.

- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 3/4 cup cornmeal
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter, cooled and cubed
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
- 1 small jalapeno, finely diced
- 1 cup buttermilk

1. Combine all dry ingredients in mixing bowl or stand mixer.
2. Add butter cubes. Either use stand mixer on low speed to blend into small chunks with dry mix, or use two knives to "cut" the butter into the flour. It is very important the butter is cooled, so it does not blend with the dry mixture.
3. Add cheese and jalapeno, combine.
4. Add buttermilk. Mix until a dough-like substance is created.
5. Dust a cutting board or counter with some flour. Form the dough into a large ball with your hands and flatten into a cake-like shape on the floured surface. Use a knife to cut into 6 biscuits (like you are cutting a birthday cake or a pizza).
6. Dust a baking sheet lightly with flour before placing biscuits on sheet. If you have leftover buttermilk, lightly brush it on top of each biscuit using a pastry brush.
7. Bake at 425 F for 12-15 minutes, or until slightly golden on top.

These biscuits are easy (30 minutes max to make, including clean up if you clean while they're baking) and make a delicious morning snack on the way to work or a nice compliment to soup for lunch/dinner. However I also highly recommend eating one while it's still warm shortly after taking them out of the oven. Butter at your discretion.

In other news, I won second place in the Janice Beaton "Warm, Cheesy Goodness" contest! The guy who won first is the head chef at a restaurant in Calgary though, so I like to think I won first place in the amateur division. Free grilled cheese lunch and wine for 2 for the next 3 months, here I come!

Complete list of entries and winners here: http://www.farm-restaurant.com/webpage/1002676/1000637