A Spoon Full of Pudding

Last weekend I planned on making a quiche using fresh eggs from Laurel Creek Farm, smoked bacon from Benton’s Meats, and milk from Cruze Farms but my plans went astray.

Wednesday night I was planning on making the tea-smoked salmon for IMBB#17 and I thought some corn pudding would be good so Wednesday I went by the farmers’ market and bought the eggs as well as just-picked corn. I was more successful this time and even got the Cruze Farms milk and some Amish butter.

I last had corn pudding at The Hermitage (President Andrew Jackson’s home) in Nashville, and though the stuff at The Hermitage wasn’t very good it was good enough to remind me of just how good corn pudding can be and just how long it had been since I last made it.

There are probably as many recipes for corn pudding as there are Southern cooks. The recipe below is a cross between spoon bread (using corn meal) and the more typical recipe of just a custard of milk and eggs. I like the body the cornmeal adds to the mixture as well as the unadorned sweetness of the fresh corn. This recipe comes from Recipezaar.

Corn Pudding

6 tbsp butter
3/4 c cornmeal
1 c boiling water
3 lg eggs
2 c milk
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 c corn kernels

Heat oven to 375F. Put 2 Tablespoons butter into 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Place in oven to melt.

Put cornmeal in a medium bowl. Add boiling water and whisk until smooth. Add remaining 4 tablespoons butter and stir until melted.

In another bowl beat eggs until blended. Beat in milk, then stir in powder, salt, and pepper. Beat or whisk into cornmeal mixture, stir in corn.

Pour into melted butter in baking dish and bake 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F and bake 35-40 min longer or until puffed and golden brown on top.

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