Jacques Pepin Corn Parfait

A parfait is a smooth cream dessert, and this savory recipe is creamy and smooth as well, hence the name. Corn dishes are always best in full corn season, with the ears picked fresh from the garden. Yet, supermarkets generally have pretty good corn most of the year, and this recipe is a great addition to roast meat or grilled fish, as well as being a good first course for dinner or main course for lunch. This parfait is always better when slightly wet and undercooked in the center.

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups half and half
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
4 ears corn, husked
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Directions:

Coat a 4 or 5 cup gratin dish with the butter. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut the kernels off the ears of corn, and put them in the bowl of a food processor with the flour, eggs, salt, and pepper. Process until well pureed. Add the half and half, and process for another 5 to 10 seconds. Pour into the buttered dish, and sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top.

Bake for about 25 minutes (mine took about 40 minutes) or until just set, puffy, and nicely browned. Serve. (The parfait is best served immediately, but you can make it 1 to 2 hours ahead and reheat it in the oven or microwave.)



Recipe: Jacques Pepin
 photo credit http://homecookinginmontana.blogspot.com

Corn Pudding With Cheddar

While looking for a corn souffle recipe to make for a friend, I came across this corn pudding with cheddar cheese.  It comes from a site I just discovered from GE Monogram called All in Good Food.  Check it out!

In this case, frozen corn is just as good as fresh.


Ingredients

1 Stick Butter

1 Cup Diced Onion

1 tsp Minced Garlic

4 Eggs

4 Cups Fresh or Frozen Corn

1 Cup Cream

1 Cup Cheddar Cheese

2 Tbs Corn Meal

2 Tbs Sugar (Optional)

1 Tbs Salt

1 tsp Black Pepper


Preparation

1.In a small pan over medium-high heat melt the butter and gently saute the onions and garlic until soft

2.In a large mixing bowl beat the eggs until frothy

3.Add the butter mixture along with all the remaining ingredients and mix well

4.Pour into a buttered 9 inch square casserole or a similar sized oven-safe dish

5.Bake at 375 degrees until center is just set (about 25-40 minutes)



Recipe and Photo from All In Good Food

Best Of Show Blue Ribbon Cornbread

Sadly, this was the last week of our local farmer's market and I rushed over to buy as many green and red pepper jellies as I could find to enjoy in the winter and give away as gifts to my northern friends.  There was a guy there who mills his own corn meal and I decided to pick up a bag.  What a difference.  This is the recipe I used to test it out.

Cathy Justice is the wife of the Greenbrier Hotel's new owner.  This is her award winning recipe for cornbread.

Ingredients


1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/16 teaspoon salt (I used 1/2 tsp.)

1 cup buttermilk

1 egg, slightly beaten

3/4 cup canola oil


Directions

Heat oven to 425 degrees F.

Prepare an 8”-x-8” oiled pan. (I used a nonstick pan.)

Mix all dry ingredients. (I whisked the ingredients together.)

Add liquids. (I whisked all the liquid ingredients together until they were creamy smooth and then I poured them over the dry ingredients.)

Stir softly to mix.

Bake for 30 minutes. (The cornbread will rise and a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread should come out clean.)

Creamed Corn, Southern Style

Although I have a hard time with the Neeleys chit chat on TV, I have to admit that as far as Southern food is concerned, they sometimes have good recipes.  This is one of them.  It is as authentic as they come and slightly different from the Creamed Corn recipe posted on my other blog which does not have bacon.  Check that one out if you are concerned with too much fat.

Ingredients


8 ears corn, husked

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup cold water

2 tablespoons bacon grease

1 tablespoons butter

Directions

In a large bowl, cut the tip off cob. Cut the kernels from cob with a small paring knife. Using the back of the blade, scrape against the cob to press out the milky liquid.

Whisk together sugar, flour, and salt and pepper, to taste. Combine with corn. Add the heavy cream and water. Mix.

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat bacon grease. Add corn mixture and turn heat down to medium-low, stirring until it becomes creamy, about 30 minutes.

Add the butter right before serving.

Recipe Food Network

Corniest Corn Muffins

Have been looking for a good corn muffin recipe for awhile now.  I think I've found it!

Dorie Greenspan is one of the best food writers around.  She has written many baking books on her own and co-authored a couple with the great French chocolatier, Pierre Herme and also with restaurateur Daniel Boulud, owner of the world famous New York restaurant Daniel and Cafe Boulud, among others..  If you like baking, take a look at some of her books.

Dorie Greenspan on Amazon


- makes 12 muffins -

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cornmeal

6 tablespoons sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (optional)

1 cup buttermilk

3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

3 tablespoons corn oil

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 cup corn kernels (add up to 1/3 cup more if you’d like), fresh, frozen or canned (in which case they should be drained and patted dry)

Procedure

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. Butter or spray the 12 muffin molds in a regular-size muffin tin, or fit the molds with paper muffin cups.

Working in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. In a large glass measuring cup with a spout or in another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter, oil, egg and yolk. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don’t worry about being thorough – the batter will be lumpy and that’s just the way it should be. Stir in the corn kernels. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin molds.

Slide the pan into the oven and bake 15 to 18 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Pull the pan from the oven and carefully lift each muffin out of its mold and onto a rack to cool.

Serving: The muffins are great warm or at room temperature and particularly great split, toasted and slathered with butter or jam or both (if they’re not in breadbasket at dinner, that is).

Storing: Like all muffins, these are best eaten the day they are made. If you want to keep them, it’s best to wrap them airtight and pop them into the freezer, where they’ll keep for about a month; re-warm in a 300°F oven, if you’d like, or split them and toast them—do that and they’ll be that much more delicious with butter.

Thanksgiving for Two...Cornish Hens With Orange Glaze & Cornbread Stuffing

If your plans were just cancelled and it's just the two of you for Thanksgiving, here's a quick and elegant dinner.  No fuss, no mess and lots of flavor.

Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients

1 large Spanish onion, sliced

2 Cornish hens

Cornbread Stuffing, recipe follows

Olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup orange marmelade


Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Place the sliced onion in the bottom of a roasting pan. Remove the giblets from the hens, and rinse them inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers and pat the outsides dry. Place the hens on top of the sliced onion.

Pack the cavities of the hens with the cornbread stuffing.

Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the hens. Rub the hens with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast the hens for 25 minutes, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Glaze with orange marmelade and return to oven for another 15 minutes.

Cornbread Stuffing:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup yellow onion, chopped

1 cup chopped chestnuts

2 1/2 cups cornbread

1 celery stalk, diced

1/4 cup chicken stock

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Melt the butter in a large saute pan. Add the onion and celery and cook for 5 minutes over medium-low heat, until translucent. Add the chopped chestnuts and sautee for another 2 minutes.Break the cornbread into pieces and place the pieces in a large bowl. Add the onion mixture to the cornbread. Add the chicken stock, parsley, salt and pepper, and mix together.

Labor Day Weekend...The Menu

Well, it's here, the last weekend of the Summer. Fall is in the air, even in Miami!

For us here in Florida it is really a non event, but I remember how much I used to hate it when I lived in New England. Even though the beautiful Fall season is just around the corner, Labor Day and September always mean the end of grilling, weekends at the beach, dinner on the patio, gardening and all the outdoor things we like to do. And if you are a kid, yucks, back to school time. Here in Florida, it is a time for hurricanes, boarding up and stocking up. Hopefully, it will be a quiet season just like the last two. No, Labor Day is definitely not worth the extra day off.

For this holiday, the main dish is Baby Back Ribs. For the sides I suggest a couple of salads already posted, and for dessert, well it's got to be peaches, so take your pick!

Don't despair, Fall is around the corner and apple season is about to begin. You can have a drink on that!

Here are some of the recipes I suggest you consider for this holiday:


Labor Day Menu & Suggestions


The Perfect Bloody Mary

Fiesta Salsa & Tortilla Chips

Irresistible Clam Dip

Ted's Baby Back Ribs

My Mother's Potato Salad

Bobby Flay's Cole Slaw

Tomatoes with Balsamic Olive Oil & Basil

Corn on the Cob

Peach Blueberry Crumble

Peach Crumb Pie

Peaches & Raspberries & Blueberries in Prosecco
with
Amaretti Cookies


The Baby Back ribs will be up Monday 8/24 after 3:00 am for subscribers and the Peach Crumb Pie on Wednesday 26th.