A recipe from Caitlin Schumacher, who has been working in restaurants for the last 15 years and has been the Pastry Chef at FIG in downtown Charleston for the last 6 years.
Ingredients:
10 oz cherry tomatoes
1 ½ tsp salt
1 lb Tarvin shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne
Black pepper
2 eggs
3 Tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp + 1 ½ tsp white vinegar
2 c. milk
1 c. all purpose flour (120 g)
¾ c. yellow cornmeal (100 g)
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
3 Tbsp chives, minced
2 c. corn kernels (from 2-3 ears corn)
4 oz feta cheese
1 c. heavy cream
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease a 10’’ skillet (cast iron is ideal, but any straight-sided skillet will do so long as it is at least 2’’ deep. Place skillet in hot oven.
Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Add the whole cherry tomatoes (they will sizzle when they hit the pan). Season with salt and a few cracks of black pepper. Allow the tomatoes to blister for 3-4 minutes, tossing often, then turn heat to medium-low and let tomatoes soften but still hold their shape, about 10 minutes.
Toss shrimp with salt, pepper and cayenne. Set aside.
Mix cornbread: In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and melted butter. Add sugar, salt, vinegar and milk. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Stir the chives into the dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to the egg mixture, fold until almost incorporated but a few streaks of flour remain. Add corn kernels and fold into batter, being sure no lumps remain.
Remove skillet from oven and pour cornbread batter into pan and smooth into an even layer. Scatter sauteed cherry tomatoes all over, then top with seasoned shrimp in an even layer. Add a few cracks of black pepper, then pour cream into center of cornbread and do not stir. It will look like it is going to overflow, but it won’t!
Bake for 50 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 5-10 minutes and serve warm.
