When corn on the cob comes into season, I like to make corn pudding. It’s amazing fresh, but also reheats so perfectly that I’d serve even the leftovers to friends. Fantastic, everyday recipe for really good home cooking.
8-16
servings40
minutes35
minutes50
minutes15
minutes2
hours20
minutesIngredients
4 Tbs (unsalted) butter (2 oz.), plus more for greasing pan
4 cups fresh corn kernels (from 4-6 ears)
8 scallions, chopped, white and light green portions
6 large eggs
2 cup whole milk (see notes)
2 Tbs all-purpose flour
2 Tbs honey
1½ tsp garlic powder (optional)
1½ tsp onion powder (optional)
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
1½ tsp fine sea salt
½ tsp black pepper
8 large sprigs of thyme, leaves removed and stems discarded
4 oz. coarsely grated sharp cheddar cheese (1 cup), divided
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- In a large (10-inch), high-sided (2-inch) skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the corn and scallions and sauté until the scallions soften and the mixture becomes fragrant, 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove skillet from heat.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs slightly, to break up the yolks. Add the milk, flour, honey, (garlic powder, onion powder), cayenne, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and thyme. Whisk to combine well, about 200 strokes.
- Add the corn-scallion mixture to the bowl, as well as the two-thirds of the grated cheddar. Mix thoroughly.
- Pour the pudding into a 9×13 baking dish. Sprinkle top with remaining cheddar.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes. Allow pudding to rest 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
- To approximate whole milk, remove 3 Tbs from 2 cups of 2% milk, and add 3 Tbs of heavy cream
- Substitutions: 8 large basil leaves, julienned, or 1 Tbs dried basil, or 1 Tbs dried thyme, for the fresh thyme. Half-and-half or heavy cream for some or all of the whole milk. 8 Tbs butter instead of 4: in that case, reduce the milk to 1½ cups. 4-6 Tbs sugar for the honey.
This is particularly good … almost perfect. In fact, it probably is perfect. What might be lacking is only a matter of my preference, not of quality. I’d prefer it to be a bit creamier. I think I could accomplish this by swapping cream for some of the whole milk, or by processing two or three ladles of the mixture to a puree as a last step before pouring the batter into the pan. Or by adding more cheese. Can you ever have enough cheese? I don’t think so. But I wouldn’t want this to feel like it was about cheese.
Anyway, as it is, I’m calling it friend-worthy, meaning that I’d be more than happy to serve it as a side if I were making dinner for friends. Or as a Thanksgiving side … which immediately makes me wonder why I’m posting this in August. Where I live, local sweet corn season starts in August. Historically, it used to be a September-October crop, but modern agriculture has nudged it forward.
Social Learning
In terms of servings, I could eat half of this myself, if that’s all I was eating. And I’d be happy doing that. If it were your only side, and you wanted hefty servings, you could divide this into quarters. It’d be a little outrageous, but if I served a side that size to any of my brothers, I don’t think they’d blink an eye. Eighths would be far more reasonable, especially if there were at least one more side. Sixteenths would be fine if it were one of many other side dishes.
At the end of Step 2, you actually have a really great, super-fresh side dish right then and there. Just add salt and pepper to taste.
If you have leftovers, remove them from the pan before storing them in the fridge. Otherwise, it will be difficult (but not impossible) to cleanly remove servings from the pan, and the pan will be hard to clean even after it’s soaked.
The Backstory
I live in the northern Midwest, not the corn belt. Nonetheless, local sweet corn is a thing here. When it happens, everyone has their favorite farm that grows “the best corn.” And, like so many other things, once you find the best, locally grown version, nothing you can get in a supermarket can compare. Often, local grocers sell “local” corn, but it’s rarely as good as the farm-stand corn I can get on the way to the supermarket. No surprise. The legal definition of “local,” from what I understand, is 400 miles wide, and non-binding. To me, “local” means that I could ride a bike there, or if I had to drive, it’d be a short drive … a distance equal to the typical width of a county in my region. What about you? How far away would something have to be before you’d consider it to be regional instead of local?
Corn Pudding
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Looks fabulous!!!
Thanks, Mimi!
I’ve never had corn pudding, and have no idea what was in it. I would’ve thought more like polenta, but this is lots of egg! I like that it’s mostly savory – I’m going to give this one a try. Love corn & basil together.
I have a feeling that there are many variations on this dish, so maybe there are versions that are more like polenta. I would call it savory, even though it has honey in it, as well as the sweetness inherent in the corn. When you taste it, it’s mainly “corn” that hits you, with a beautiful aroma from the onion and herbs. It doesn’t register as obviously sweet. You could take the honey out if you wanted to; in fact, I’ve considered it.
Wow — beautiful, Jeff. And a far cry from my sister-in-law’s version that is all cans of creamed corn! I will try to give this a go before corn season winds down. As for local? I consider that if I get it at my farmers market, it’s local. I live in a big city, so walking or biking to get my corn isn’t an option… well, not if I want it from a farm!
🙂
I love corn pudding but nly in the fall. I freeze corn kernels when sweet corn is at its peak and use them when I make it. I will give this recipe a whirl closer to Thanksgiving.
I know what you mean. It was a neighbor, actually, who brought me the corn that I used for the batch I made for this post. With the rest of it, he was doing the same thing that you suggest!
This looks so delicious! I wonder what it would be like as leftovers with a fried egg and all the breakfast taco toppings! YUM!
What a great idea! I’ll top some with an egg tomorrow, and I’ll let you know how that goes. I probably also have a lot of taco toppings in the fridge.
This dish is right in my wheelhouse. It has a beautiful combination of ingredients.
Ah, well, go and grab yourself some corn while it’s in season! And thanks!
I wish I could eat corn now, unfortunately it’s not gut friendly for me, and if I could this would be on my list to bake. It looks delicious Jeff. Fresh juicy corn is a thing to behold, I do remember it.
Oh, I’m sorry to hear that! I know how it is, though.
Todo tipo de tartas saladas me encantan y esta promete estar muy buena.
Un saludo.
Thank you!
This sounds amazing! I love that you highlight how fresh corn really shines on its own and that the pudding reheats so well, perfect for serving friends or keeping for leftovers for my lunchbox the nxt day
Thanks!
Wait. It can be 400 miles away and still considered local!? That must be what the grocery store is doing because their corn is never as good as the stuff at the farmstand! Either way, I do love corn pudding, and I can’t wait to try your recipe. This is a childhood comfort food…perfected. Delicious!
Yeah, that’s what I read, anyway (about the 400). Well, the corn pudding is definitely tasty. I don’t know if it can compete with your childhood memories, though! 🙂
I’ve never made a corn pudding, I really liked your recipe.
Thank you, Javier!
How interesting! I love savoury puddings and casseroles, but I don’t think I’ve ever had/ made one with corn. It looks and sounds delicious.
You know, I’d never made one before now. Believe it or not, I heard about it on Schmigadoon, which is an absolute must see! Although what they appear to be serving looks more like creamed corn.
That corn pudding sounds wonderful, even though I have never heard of corn pudding. I agree about puréeing some to make it creamier, you’ll probably want to add a binder like xanthan gum to help hold things together and make it creamy. Although we are not strictly in a local corn-growing area, we do have access to some Niagara corn, so this time of year, I buy corn on the cob and JT grills them on the Big Green Egg. I cool them and then cut the grilled kernels off into a ziplock bag. I think grilled corn would be amazing in this pudding. It sounds like you are enjoying your new home with the backyard. I’m a little off the buzzing insects as one decided to climb up my pant leg and sting me three times. Don’t worry, I squished it before it could do more damage.
Ack!
Yes, grilled corn would probably be fantastic! I’d never heard of corn pudding either, until I saw it in Schmigadoon (see reply to Ben’s comment for a link). But now that I’ve made some, and have been telling everyone how much I liked it, a lot of people have told me that it’s a staple at their Thanksgiving dinners.