Cornbread with White Sauce

Foods help remind us of people and experiences.  When I think of my grandmother, I think of her ribs and rhubarb crumble.

When I eat peaches, stew, or green chile, I think of my father.

When I camped or backpacked as a kid, we would always pack M and Ms for snacking and eat pizza on the way home from the trip.

We would get an ice cream cake for our birthdays.  We ate our leftover birthday cake by ourselves.

My mom made cornbread and topped it with a white sauce filled with peas and tuna fish.  I never ate it anywhere else.  It is simple, but comforting and delicious.

I got the cornbread recipe off the corn meal package.  

The ingredients for the sauce are 2 tablespoons flour, 2 tablespoons butter, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 cup milk, pinch cayenne pepper, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 2 4 ounce cans tuna fish, and 3/4 cup frozen peas.  The cornbread ingredients are 1 cup corn meal, 1 cup plain flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons oil, and 1 1/4 cups milk.

I whisked the flour, corn meal, sugar, salt, and baking powder together.

In another bowl, I combined the eggs, oil, and milk

I poured the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stirred until the batter was just combined.

I poured the batter into a greased nine inch square pan.

I baked the bread for 12 minutes as 435 degrees.

For the sauce, I added the flour, butter, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper into a saucepan.  I cooked this over medium heat for a few minutes until the mixture become a paste and the color had become a little golden.

I gradually added the milk while whisking.  I added a little milk and whisked until the ingredients were smooth and combined.  I only added more milk when the ingredients were amalgamated.  I cooked the sauce until it had thickened.

I added the tuna fish and peas.

I continued cooking the sauce once the ingredients were warmed through.

I cut each slice of cornbread in half and generously scooped the sauce over the bread.

This wasn't the most ascetically pleasing dish, but it was comforting, nourishing, and satisfying.

The sauce was creamy and hearty.  It had a touch of heat from the cayenne pepper.  It was packed with peas and tunafish.

The bread was tender and flavorful.

It was a savory and superb meal.