The Dusky Kitchen
Abi whisking the dry ingredients for cornbread batter. Photo courtesy of the author.
Abi Balingit of the Dusky Kitchen shares an original recipe for Queso de Bola & Chive Cornbread topped with a Boy Bawang Garlic Crumble & Mike’s Hot Honey
Text & Photography Abi Balingit / The Dusky Kitchen
From Hella Pinay Issue 02: Interconnected - Fall/Winter 2021.
Last summer, my Uncle Benjie was sick in the hospital and my family would host virtual rosary prayer nights every day for him. Even though I hadn’t attended mass for a couple years since moving to New York in August 2017 (please don’t tell my mom!), these rosary nights brought me the kind of comfort that I hadn’t known for a while. Most of my family lives on the West Coast in sunny California, and I logged onto Zoom to see their faces I wasn’t able to see IRL throughout the pandemic.
While we murmured “Hail Mary, Full of Grace…” in a disjointed cacophony because some people forgot to mute themselves, I allowed my mind to wander and to reminisce about the memories we shared together. I thought about my childhood in San Jose, and then Stockton, growing up surrounded by relatives at every dinner table.
By the last mystery, I liked to fantasize when we could have a Christmas reunion without fear of contracting COVID-19. When would I be able to see my cousins from the Philippines and my aunts in the Bay Area in one room? Life was, and still is, full of these uncertainties. In the year of “But what is grief if not love persevering?” and just unimaginable loss due to COVID-19, you really start to relish the moments when grief gives way to hope.
Finished Queso de Bola & Chive Cornbread. Photo courtesy of the author.
When I’m baking, I’m in my happy place and dream of flavors that bridge both my Filipino and American worlds. In the iconic Nicholas Sparks movie A Walk to Remember, Shane takes Jamie to the Virginia and North Carolina border so she can stand with one foot on either side of the two state lines. Thus, fulfilling her bucket list wish to be in two places at once. This recipe for Queso de Bola & Chive Cornbread Topped with a Boy Bawang Garlic Crumble & Mike’s Hot Honey is my Mandy Moore moment.
While cornbread is traditionally a Southern comfort food, I loaded this recipe with Filipino staples like queso de bola, or Edam cheese and my favorite garlic-flavored Boy Bawang corn nuts. I might have gilded the lily with Mike’s Hot Honey, but I love the sweet and spicy element it brings to the cornbread. Mike’s Hot Honey is also a Brooklyn staple that brings this bake home for me. I can’t wait to make this recipe for my family one day; not over Zoom, but IRL.
Wherever you are in the world, I hope this recipe gives you something to look forward to sharing with the people you love the most.
Abi with finished cornbread. Photo courtesy of the author.
Queso de Bola & Chive Cornbread Topped with a Boy Bawang Garlic Crumble & Mike’s Hot Honey Recipe
Yield: One 10” Skillet
Ingredients:
For the Boy Bawang Garlic Crumble:
1 cup pulverized Boy Bawang garlic corn nuts (18-20 pulses in the food processor, some chunks are okay)
1 cup panko bread crumbs, plain
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup queso de bola cheese, shredded
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
For the Queso de Bola & Chive Cornbread:
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted & divided
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups buttermilk, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup queso de bola cheese, shredded
1/4 cup chives, chopped
For Serving:
Mike’s Hot Honey, to taste
2 tablespoons chives, chopped
Dry ingredients for crumble. Photo courtesy of the author.
Directions:
For the Boy Bawang Garlic Crumble:
Mix the pulverized Boy Bawang garlic corn nuts, panko bread crumbs, cayenne pepper and ¼ cup shredded queso de bola together in a medium bowl.
Stir in ½ cup melted butter with a spoon until well-incorporated. Set aside.
Corn nuts before pulverizing. Photo courtesy of the author.
Mixed crumble with butter added. Photo courtesy of the author.
Abi stirring in onion powder. Photo courtesy of the author.
Premixed cornbread batter. Photo courtesy of the author.
For the Queso de Bola & Chive Cornbread:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Position your oven rack in the center of the oven.
Brush the 10” cast-iron skillet with 2 tablespoons of the melted butter.
In a medium bowl, mix the all-purpose flour, yellow cornmeal, baking powder, kosher salt, garlic powder, onion powder and granulated sugar together.
Then, whisk in the remaining 8 tablespoons of melted butter, buttermilk and eggs until smooth. Add in 1 cup shredded queso de bola and ¼ cup chives.
Shredded queso de bola. Photo courtesy of the author.
Chopped chives. Photo courtesy of the author.
Pour batter into the prepared skillet and bake for about 10 minutes.
Take the skillet out of the oven and spoon the Boy Bawang Garlic Crumble evenly over the top of the partially baked cornbread.
Return the skillet to the oven and bake for additional 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Serve warm with a drizzle of Mike’s Hot Honey and 2 tablespoons of chives.
From Hella Pinay Issue 02: Interconnected - Fall/Winter 2021.
Finished Queso de Bola & Chive Cornbread. Photo courtesy of the author.
Growing up Pinay, self-love and acceptance are ever growing and transforming