One of my all-time favorite restaurants was Bandera, located in Sacramento, California. Specializing in American cuisines with a Southwestern flare, the upscale dinner house was part of the Hillstone Restaurant Group. It operated nationwide, often using names such as Hillstone’s in San Francisco and Rutherford Grill in Napa, California.
Unfortunately, in June 2018, after twenty years in business, the popular restaurant on Fair Oaks Boulevard closed permanently. As dedicated patrons held out all hope, the restaurant group sought alternatives to reopen at another Sacramento location. As of this writing, it has not happened, and the establishment joins a long line of other fine restaurants like Biba, Bistro 33, Mace’s, and Paragary, whose culinary excellence will leave our watering mouths in time to be nothing more than a memory.
Fortunately, some of us have tried recapturing these favorite recipes like the Bandera Cornbread. Adding creamed-style corn, chilies, cheddar, Monterey Jack cheeses, and lots of butter and sugar, we can still enjoy reasonable facsimiles of now-gone recipes. Following is my version of the cornbread. I have reduced the sugar by half, and rather than cook in the six-inch cast iron skillets as Bandera did, I use a 12-inch skillet.
Click the link below for the recipe.
Bandera Cloned Cornbread Reci – Carolyne Lark Swayze (carolyneswayze.com)