How? HOW?! Why with individual corn puddings, of course.
I took a walk through some other recipe notebooks I have, mostly things torn out of Martha Stewart Living, and came across this nifty one for corn puddings. Though the recipe calls for fresh corn, I just use frozen, and this time I added peas to them. I suppose you could even do frozen vegetable medley, too. Why not?
Why Not Corn Puddings?
- 4 ears fresh corn or 1 1/2 cups frozen (or mix of corn and peas) thawed and drained well
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 large eggs, separated
- 1 3/4 cup milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground pepper
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- Pinch of cayenne
Fill up your teakettle and get it going on a back burner; you need boiling water for this later.
If using fresh corn, cut kernels off cobs and set aside.
Heat oven to 325. Spray 8 6-oz ramekins with Pam and set aside (I actually do own ramekins, which I love, but I only have 5 in the 6-oz size. The batter ended up filling all 5 and then a larger 8-oz one)
Melt the butter in a saucepan, then whisk in the flour
In a mixing bowl, whisk the corn, egg yolks, milk, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cayenne. Add the melted butter and whisk to combine.
In a small bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form (or use the immersion blender that your FABULOUS SEESTER gave to you for Christmas, oh thank you thank you thank you, I love it so much that I have to name it. Seriously, this thing rocks. Before, to beat two measly egg whites I'd have to drag out the Kitchen Aid. No more!)
Fold egg whites into corn mixture
Pour the mixture into ramekins, distributing corn and batter evenly. Don't overfill—leave 3/4" at the top to allow puddings to rise.
Place ramekins in a baking dish. Fill the pan with enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
Transfer baking dish to oven, bake until puddings are puffed and golden, 50 to 55 minutes. I took mine out at 50 but they could've used that extra 5 minutes. Using a potholder, transfer ramekins to individual saucers to serve.
Best served piping hot if you want ultimate "puff". As they cool, they will deflate somewhat but still be delicious.
