Apple and Onion Cornbread Skillet #AppleWeek #FoodnFlix

Today is the final day of Apple Week.  All week long we have been sharing our favorite apple recipes and giving our readers an opportunity to win some great prize packages provided by our sponsors.

Disclaimer: Thank you to #AppleWeek Sponsors: Rodelle, Dreamfarm, Casabella, Flahavan's Irish Oatmeal, Pryex, Chicago Cutlery, Rainier Fruit, and Veggie Wash for providing prizes for #AppleWeek free of charge. These companies also provided the bloggers with samples and product to use for #AppleWeek. All opinions are my own.

You haven't entered the raffle yet?  What are you waiting for?!  This is your last chance.....go, right now, and take care of this over at my Welcome Post.  I will be right here waiting for you when you are done.

Welcome back.  I am so glad you took care of that.  I am really hoping that one or more of my readers are lucky enough to win one of these great sponsor gifts.

I hope you have been enjoying this week as much as I.  I found some great recipes to put on my to make list.  I also loved creating recipes to share with you and to make life even better I was able to combine groups to which I belong on several of the days.

Monday, I incorporated apples and oats into these wonderful muffins for Muffin Monday.  Tuesday I was able to share my thoughts on our Cook the Books selection with these amazing apple turnovers.

Today I am sharing this month's movie selection from FoodnFlix.  I was so happy when Debra of Eliot's Eats chose To Kill a Mockingbird this month.  It is one of my favorite movies and I was happy to watch it again with foodie glasses on.  You can learn more at Debra's announcement post.

I am sure that even if you haven't read the book or watched the film, you know pretty much the premise of the story.  Atticus Finch, a well respected, small town, southern lawyer during the great depression who is given the task of defending a black man accused of raping a white female.  This story is told as seen through the eyes of 6 year old, Scout, his daughter.

There is not a lot of food in this movie but there is a fair amount.  These are the foods that caught my eye.

• Hickory Nuts for payment when Walter needed some legal work provided.
• Atticus accepts the nuts saying the "Collards last week were delicious". 
• Hot biscuits for breakfast 
• Apple being eaten by Jeb 
• Cabbage patch when they met Dill 
• Cookies? when coming out of the house 
• Coffee, Milk Bacon, Scrambled Eggs, Biscuits for breakfast on the first day of school
• Roast, Cornbread, Collard Greens, Beans during dinner and speech about Mockingbirds 
• Squirrels and Rabbits that Walter hunts for dinner 
• Syrup (Molasses) for Walter to put on his food 
• Lemonade, Cookies, Canned Goods in kitchen cupboard 
• Ham (Scout's costume) 
• Angel Food Cakes (brought to Boo's door)

I took my inspiration from that southern staple, cornbread, and, since it is Apple Week, the apple that Jem was enjoying at the beginning of the film.

I made this amazing Apple and Onion Cornbread Skillet that I found at Bon Appétit.  Caramelized onions and delicious fresh apples are sprinkled over homemade cornbread batter and baked to a beautiful golden brown.  

This takes cornbread to a whole new level.  It was amazingly scrumptious.  I couldn't get enough of it.  I served it with dinner one evening when we had guests over and was happy to have a slice leftover to enjoy for breakfast the next day.

I adapted this recipe very slightly and I used thinly sliced Honeycrisp apples from one of our sponsors, Rainier Fruits. I didn't have any buttermilk on hand so I made my own by using fresh milk soured with lemon juice.  The ratio for this is 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar for each cup of fresh milk.  Mix together and let rest for about 5 minutes before using.

I love using a cast iron skillet when making cornbread but you could also use an 8" square baking pan for this recipe.

I want to give a huge shout out of thanks to Carlee of Cooking with Carlee for all of her hard work on this event.  It was a great success and I truly appreciate all of her efforts: organizing, seeking out sponsors, making graphics, spending each day for months checking and double checking all of the components that go into making an event successful. 

You will find all the other final Apple Week offerings directly below this recipe.

Apple and Onion Cornbread Skillet

slightly adapted from Bon Appétit

1 stick butter

1/2 of a large sweet onion, thinly sliced

salt and pepper, to taste

2 medium red skinned apples, thinly sliced

5 T. sugar, divided

5 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves reserved, stems discarded

1 1/2 c. cornmeal

1 c. flour

1 T. baking powder

2 eggs

1 1/2 c. buttermilk

Melt 2 T. of the butter in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat.  Add the onion, season with salt, pepper and 2 T. of the sugar.  Cook and stir until onions soften and begin to brown, about 5 minutes.

Add the apples and thyme leaves.  Cook another 5 minutes, until apples are softened. Transfer mixture to a plate and set aside.

Whisk together the cornmeal, flour and baking powder with a pinch of salt and the remaining 3 T. of sugar.  Make a well and add the eggs, buttermilk and 6 T. of butter, melted and cooled.  Whisk together until batter is smooth with no lumps remaining.  Fold in half of the reserved apple/onion mixture and pour batter into the cast iron skillet used earlier.  Sprinkle the remaining apple/onion mixture over the top of the batter.

Bake in a preheated 400* oven for 30-40 minutes, until golden brown and a skewer, inserted into the middle of the bread, removes cleanly.  Print Recipe

More Amazing Apple Recipes for this Final Day of Apple Week

• Apfelstrudel Recipe (Apple Strudel from Scratch) from House of Nash Eats 
• Apple and Onion Cornbread from A Day in the Life on the Farm 
• Apple Butter Cheesecake from The Redhead Baker 
• Apple and Butternut Squash Autumn Lasagna from All That's Jas
• Apple Chicken Stew from Jolene's Recipe Journal 
• Apple Dark & Stormy from The Crumby Kitchen 
• Apple Mincemeat Pie from Palatable Pastime 
• Apple Pie Bread from Sew You Think You Can Cook 
• Apple Pie Pancakes from 4 Sons 'R' Us 
• Apple Praline Bread from Family Around the Table 
• Apple Stuffing Crusted Pork Chops from Caroline's Cooking 
• Battered Chocolate Caramel Apple Slices from The Freshman Cook  
• Caramel Apple Pull Apart Bread from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks 
• Cinnamon Apple Donuts from Daily Dish Recipes
• Diminutive Caramel Apples from Culinary Adventures with Camilla 
• Easy Caramel Apple Butter from Grumpy's Honeybunch 
• Fast and Easy Peanut Butter Yogurt Fruit Dip from Cooking With Carlee 
• Mom's Apple Cake from Books n' Cooks 
• Roasted Butternut Squash and Apples from Simple and Savory  
• Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Apples from Feeding Big 
• Savory Apple Turkey Brie Galette from Bear & Bug Eats