Farmgirl Friday and a Recipe

Happy Farmgirl Friday Friends!  I am sure that most of the Farm Girls that come to visit know how wonderful it is to cook with cast iron.  I personally only have one skillet at this time having lost 3 that I had stored in camping gear that was given away by accident with some older things not used anymore.  I have bought a new cookbook and made my first recipe out of it tonight for our dinner.  It is The Lodge Cast Iron Cookbook.  One of the reasons given in the book to use cast iron is that it is a superior conductor of heat and also that it heats slowly and evenly and retains heat longer.

Tonight's recipe is Upside-Down Salsa Cornbread
Serves 6
Filling:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 medium green or red bell pepper, seeded and cut into rings

Topping:
2 cups Martha White Buttermilk Self Rising Corn Meal Mix
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon sugar (I left out)
1 (16 ounce) jar chunky style salsa
1 1/4 cups milk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten (out of our hen house of course)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Make the filling:  Heat the oil in a 10 1/2 inch cast iron skillet over medium heat until hot.  Add the ground beef, onion, chili powder, salt and garlic salt; cook until the beef is not longer pink, stirring frequently and breaking up any clumps of meat.  Remove the beef mixture from the skillet to a bowl.  Place the bell pepper rings in a single layer in the bottom of the skillet.  Spoon the beef mixture over the rings.
3. Make the topping:  Stir together the corn meal mix, cheese, sugar, salsa, milk, oil, and egg in a medium bowl; stir until well blended.  Spread the batter evenly over the beef mixture in the skillet.  Bake until golden brown, 32 to 38 minutes.
4.  Place a serving plate over the skillet; carefully invert and remove the skillet.  Cut into wedges.  Or you can serve from skillet.

Unfortunately some of the green pepper rings did not come out whole.

Some substitutes I made:
My best friend and my youngest daughter sell Wildtree organic foods.  I substituted the Wildtree Texas Corn Bread for the Martha White mix.  I also used Wildtree Grapeseed Oil instead of the Vegetable oil.  Grapeseed oil is a healthier way to go.  I also substituted the jar of salsa with Wildtree Salsa mix that you add to canned tomatoes.  Doing this lowers the salt count on the dish.  On a side note if you are interested in these organic foods you can e-mail me and I can direct you to someone that can help you find them.

When I picked up the mail today I received my Farmgirl Sisterhood Certificate and badge!  I am Farmgirl number 4048.  Now I will need to decide what badge to work for next.  How fun!
Linking up to:

Blessing from out home in the woods!