honey & sage skillet cornbread

October is (and was) a doozy of a month. First, I helped throw a wedding reception for my little sister. Then, I helped cater ‘Hogtober Fest’ (more on that in a moment). In addition, I coordinated my cousin’s wedding in Salem last weekend, and I just got back into town from coordinating a friend’s wedding in Southern California. (And lest we forget, I work a full time job, write a food blog, and am now the proud member of a food blogging group and a book club. What can I say…I like to keep busy?)

Sadly, the blog tends to suffer a bit when I’m in “busy mode”. I do hope you all can forgive me for the lack of posts. That being said, this post is coming to you a little later than I would like – but such is life. Better late than never, I suppose!

So, I made this cornbread a couple weeks ago for the epic event that was “Hogtober Fest”. Hogtober Fest was an event that centered around a single pig. This particular pig was purchased from a local farm by our friends Ezra and Harry – and then was butchered, cured, smoked, and prepared in a million different and delicious ways. Anyway, once the pig was purchased, Ezra then invited everyone he knew to “Hogtober Fest” – which essentially consisted of eating delicious pork in Ezra’s backyard – along with beer, wine, live music, and a whole host of delicious sides. (Ezra also happens to work in the organic produce business – so, the food was incredible, to say the least.)

Nich and I had been asked ahead of time to help out with some of the food preparations, and we gladly accepted. Nich was on meat duty – and worked tirelessly alongside the boys for days to ensure that the pork was perfect. I volunteered to make a couple of sides – and was asked to make a “giant” pan of mac n’ cheese and a whole bunch of cornbread (to go with a pork shoulder chili).

I made my old standby mac and cheese recipe because I knew it’d be a hit (it always is!). But, I wanted to try something new and different for the cornbread. So, I stumbled upon this recipe for a honey sage skillet cornbread and was immediately sold. I love cooking with cast iron, and I loved the idea of a sweet and savory cornbread. I also happened to have sage growing on my front porch, and a I had a jar of honey in the cupboard. Done and done. The recipe was really quick and simple, which was great as I had to make 4 batches of it.

Overall, Hogtober Fest was a wild success. I don’t know if anyone did an official count, but I’m sure there were over 100 people in attendance. Nich and I cooked our little behinds off — and were “grill masters” for most of the night. It was exhausting, and yet terribly satisfying. So much good food, and so many great people. And, the corn bread and mac n’ cheese got rave reviews! Both of my sides disappeared quite quickly, which I take as a wonderful compliment. That being said, this will be a go-to cornbread recipe from here on out.

Sage & Honey Skillet Cornbread
Adapted from The Parsley Thief (Makes one cast iron skillet: Serves 8-10)

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup honey
1 large egg
1 stick unsalted butter {divided}

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a 10″ cast iron skillet into the oven & let it heat up while you prepare the cornbread batter.

In a mixing bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder & salt, with a whisk. Add in the chopped sage & stir it in. In a separate bowl, whisk the milk, honey & egg together.

Melt 6 tablespoons of the butter in a small saucepan, or in the microwave & add it to the egg mixture, whisking while adding it so you don’t “cook” the eggs.

Remove the skillet from the oven. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in hot skillet. Swirl the butter around, to coat the pan well.

Pour the egg mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients & stir until just combined. Be careful not to overmix -it is okay to have lumpy batter.

Pour the batter into the skillet & bake until the edges are browned & a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes. Depending on how hot your skillet is, it may take even less time. (Keep an eye on it & try not to overcook it. Moist cornbread is much better than dry cornbread!) Let it cool slightly, before inverting the pan onto a serving plate. Slice into wedges & serve. (**Note: I left the cornbread in the pan, as I think it looks nice for serving!)

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