Brown butter cornbread with black pepper honey butter

Melt butter in a cast iron pan in a 425F oven and cook it 10 to 20 minutes until the milk solids brown and it is nutty and a little foamy, not black.

Whisk five ounces of yellow cornmeal, five ounces of all purpose flour, two tablespoons of brown sugar, a teaspoon of kosher salt, two teaspoons of baking powder and a quarter teaspoon of baking soda together, breaking up the clumps of brown sugar.

Whisk a couple of tablespoons of honey, two eggs and 10 ounces of buttermilk together in a second bowl.

Variation: use six ounces of sour cream with four ounces of buttermilk, or six ounces of sour cream with four ounces of regular milk, for a more pronounced tang.

Pour most of the brown butter out, leaving about a tablespoon in the skillet to keep it greased.

Whisk the wet into the dry, then whisk in the brown butter along with all of its solids.

Pour the batter into the hot skillet and return it to the oven.

Bake until done, about 23 minutes: a skewer or metal chopstick comes out with no wet batter on it, and it sounds hollow when flicked.

Drizzle a little more honey over the top and glaze the surface with a stick of butter.

Variation: mix cilantro and diced jalapenos or serranos, or scallions and cheddar, or bits of bell pepper into the batter.

Microwave butter on low power about 45 seconds, beat it up with a fork, and stir in a drizzle of honey, a pinch of salt and coarsely ground black pepper.

Cut into squares straight in the skillet and serve with the black pepper honey butter.