Southwestern Spoon Bread - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
1 cup coarse yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or 1/4 cup parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1 small tomatoes, seeded and chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1/4 cup butter, softened
4 large eggs, separated

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350\u00b0F.
Grease a medium casserole dish.
In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil over high heat, then reduce to low heat.
In a small bowl, combine the next 6 ingredients, then whisk the mixture into the hot water.
Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and bubbles, about 5 minutes.
Stir in butter.
In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks.
Then, whisk half-and-half mixture, a little at a time, into the egg yolks.
Whisk egg yolk mixture into the saucepan.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture bubbles again, about 2 minutes, then remove from heat.
In a large bowl, whisk egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites into half-and-half mixture. Try to use a rubber spatula to do this, and fold until just blended.
Pour mixture into prepared casserole dish, and bake until golden brown,about 40 minutes. A knife inserted into center should come out clean.