I moved to Texas mid-way through my junior year in high-school and lived there for seventeen years before my heart called me back to the mid-west where I was born.
What I remember most about traditional southern-style cooking include chicken-fried steak, fried okra, black-eyed peas, and cornbread. The okra and black-eyed peas were pretty good, but I didn’t care for the chicken-fried steak, and I found the cornbread to be dry, gritty and flavorless. Mind you; I was smart enough to know you never tell a Texan you don’t like their food.
But I’m a bread lover, so I was convinced there had to be a way to make cornbread enticing. So after a few tries, I found the flavor and texture I was looking for in this version made with buttermilk, Greek yogurt, and sour cream. Aside from the fact it also has cooked bacon and roasted jalapeño (how could I go wrong there?), it has just the right balance of moisture to the cornmeal, smokiness from the bacon, and a nice low heat from the peppers.