Green Chile Spoon Bread

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch square baking dish with butter; set aside.

Cook chopped bacon in a large skillet over medium-high, stirring often, until crisp, about 10 minutes. Transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate, reserving drippings in skillet. Add onion and poblanos to drippings in skillet; cook over medium-high, stirring often, until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Set onion mixture aside for batter; reserve 1/3 cup onion mixture for topping.

Bring 2 cups of the milk to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium. Stir together cornmeal, sugar, salt, pepper, and remaining 1 cup milk in a small bowl. Gradually whisk cornmeal mixture into hot milk. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring constantly, until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes.

Remove saucepan from heat, and sprinkle in baking powder. Add butter to saucepan, and stir until melted and combined. Beat egg yolks in a small bowl; stir in a small amount of hot cornmeal mixture. Add yolk mixture to pan, and stir well.

Beat egg whites with an electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes. Fold egg whites, bacon, and reserved onion mixture for batter into cornmeal mixture. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish. Top with reserved 1/3 cup onion mixture.

Bake in preheated oven until puffed and golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes. Garnish with sliced scallions, and serve warm.