Faux Pasta: A Sister Cooking Blog

Light and Puffy Corn Pudding for Labor Day Brunch

I received about 50 million ears of corn in my Riverdog CSA last week, which means I quickly turned to one of my favorite cookbooks, Recipes from a Kitchen Garden. It might have been More Recipes from a Kitchen Garden, which is also good. Fresh corn requires fairly quick planning to keep the sugar in the kernels from turning straight to starch. Calvin Trillin has a bit in one of his books about running from the cornfield with one of his daughters, straight to a boiling pot in the kitchen. Since reading that, whenever I get around a container of fresh sweet corn, I’ve become quite the nervous Nellie. Boy, is that the first time I’ve said that. Deadpan face. Deaaaaadpan face. “Run! Run faster than the wind! Your corn kernels are turning to STARCH!”

If you’re planning a leisurely Labor Day brunch this weekend to try and relax around the overwhelming amount of fresh sweet corn, and want a simple, “mix it up and put it in a pan and then put it in the oven and fix yourself a bloody Mary and kick it chill-style because you just launched a site refresh at work yaaaaayy” dish, this would be the one. 

It should come out puffy, but it’ll deflate, as shown in this bottom picture. It’s not as dramatic but it does look like someone’s mom made it, which means it’ll get eaten first.

Light and Puffy Corn Pudding
From Recipes from a Kitchen Garden, by Renee Shepherd

4 eggs

2 cups fresh corn kernels

3 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 tbsp. sugar

1 cup milk or cream

1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese (if you want to make this more substantial)

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, beat the eggs thoroughly. Add corn, mixing well. Whisk the remaining ingredients (including cheese if you want it) slowly into the egg and corn mixture. Pour into a buttered 1 ½ quart casserole dish. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. A knife inserted into the center should come out clean. Serve hot.

- Nellie