Corn Pudding

Early American food!

     This recipe dates back to the early colonial American days.  Corn pudding is a traditional southern Thanksgiving holiday side dish.
     This recipe has been handed down in the southern side of my family since the late 1500's.  Thats right!  My family has been in America since 1586.  "Old world cooking meets the new world" was the unavoidable theme of the colonial age in culinary history.
     Corn and simple English custard pudding with no sugar is the flavor of this recipe.  Sweet corn or fresh white corn is required to make this recipe.  After tasting, you would swear that there was sugar in the list of ingredients.  The simple custard amplifies the sweetness of corn.
  
     Corn Pudding Recipe:
     Whatever size casserole dish that you use, the corn pudding should be less than 2 1/2" deep or the corn will sink and settle under the custard.  If you make a small amount, then use a small casserole dish or a custard cup.  This recipe makes 1 large portion, like the one in the pictures.
     Heat a sauce pot over medium/medium low heat.
     Add 5 pats of unsalted butter.
     Add 1 tablespoon of finely chopped onion    
     When the onions turn clear in color, add 1 1/2 cups of sweet corn kernels.
     Reduce the temperature to low heat.
     Stir and just gently saute and sweat the corn, till it starts to become tender and sweet.
     Remove the pan from the heat.
     Place 2 eggs in a mixing bowl.
     Add an equal amount of cream.  (About 5 ounces.)
     Add 3 ounces of milk.
     Add sea salt and black pepper.
     Add 2 small pinches of nutmeg.
     Add the corn.
     Stir the mixture.
     Lightly brush a casserole dish with unsalted butter.
     Pour the corn custard mixture into the casserole dish.
     Bake in a 350º oven, till the surface of the custard lightly caramelizes.  (About 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the size of the casserole dish that you bake it with.)
     Set the corn pudding casserole dish on a serving platter.
  
     Enjoy this great recipe from an age before America became a nation!  The sweet corn flavor is thoroughly infused with the custard.  Custard was a yankee term in later years.  Southerners called this dish "pudding" just like the English do.  This is a very simple recipe and it is tasty!  ...  Shawna