Zucchini Corn Bread with Bacon

One year. I have been writing on RecipeSpinoff for one year this week, and I did not notice until I looked at the date and thought: March 2016. That is when it started. That is when a truck driver in Grand Island, Nebraska, decided to write about chili in a slow cooker and see if anyone cared.

People cared. More people than I expected, which is not saying much because I expected approximately nobody. But my posts about truck cooking have found an audience, which I am told is the goal of writing on the internet, though the audience still surprises me every time someone comments. A woman in Missouri said my tater tot casserole saved her Tuesday. A man in Oklahoma said he bought a 12-volt slow cooker because of me. A teenager in California said she made my chicken fried steak for her parents and they cried. I do not know why they cried. Maybe the gravy was that good. It probably was.

I am not going to make a big thing about the anniversary. I am just going to keep writing because writing has become part of the routine, like Sunday bread and the slow cooker on Monday mornings and calling Gayle after dinner. It is something I do, and it is something that connects me to people I have never met, and the connection is real even though the distance is measured in miles and bandwidth.

This week I made something I have not made in years: my mom cornbread dressing. Not stuffing, dressing. There is a difference, and the difference is that stuffing goes inside the bird and dressing is baked in a pan, and dressing is better, and I will accept no arguments. Cornbread, crumbled. Celery, onion, sage, chicken broth, eggs. Mixed, poured into a buttered pan, baked at 375 until golden and set. It is Gayle recipe, handed down from her mother, and it tastes like the kitchen I grew up in, which is the kitchen that taught me everything I know about food and love, which are the same thing in this family.

Gayle called this week. She said she read my blog. She said you write nice, Brenda. I said thank you, Mom. She said your carrots are still too thick. I laughed. She laughed. The carrots will always be too thick. Some things do not change. Some things should not.

When I went looking for the cornbread to start Gayle’s dressing this week, I ended up making something a little different — a zucchini corn bread with bacon that still has all the warmth and weight of the recipe I grew up on, but with a little extra going on, the kind of extra that comes from a year of cooking in a truck and learning that the best food is the food that surprises you without losing you. Gayle would probably say the zucchini is unnecessary. She would probably be right. But the bacon would win her over, and that’s good enough for me.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes | Servings: 9

Ingredients

4 strips bacon, chopped
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup zucchini, shredded and squeezed dry (about 1 medium zucchini)
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 green onions, thinly sliced

Instructions

Cook the bacon. In a 9-inch cast iron skillet or oven-safe pan over medium heat, cook the chopped bacon until crisp. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the bacon drippings in the pan and set aside. Preheat oven to 375°F.
Prep the zucchini. Shred the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater. Wrap shredded zucchini in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze firmly to remove as much moisture as possible. Set aside.
Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, and garlic powder until combined.
Mix the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, and melted butter until smooth.
Combine and fold. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined — do not overmix. Fold in the shredded zucchini, cheddar cheese, green onions, and cooked bacon pieces.
Prepare the pan. Carefully coat the reserved bacon-drippings pan (or a well-buttered 8x8-inch baking dish) with the remaining drippings, swirling to coat the bottom and sides. This gives the crust a golden, savory edge.
Bake. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake at 375°F for 28–32 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool and serve. Let the corn bread rest in the pan for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve warm, as a side to soup or chili, or crumbled into a pan of dressing the way Gayle would.

Nutrition (per serving)

Zucchini Corn Bread with Bacon — The Recipe That Brought Mom’s Kitchen Back to Me