Sweet Corn Spoonbread

For the past couple of months my Sunday morning tradition has been to watch Cook's Country on PBS while eating breakfast. It's a nice, relaxing way to start my Sunday. Pretty much every time I watch Cook's Country, or America's Test Kitchen for that matter, I want to make whatever they are making. They make all of their dishes sound fabulous. However, I don't always feel like getting up to find a pen and some paper to write the recipe down, so most of the time I just watch and wish I were there. Sometimes I can find the recipe online later, but not always, so not writing it down can be a bit of a gamble. 

It was different when this dish came on one morning, after hearing the description I instantly jumped up and grabbed a notebook and a pen. It sounded so delicious that I knew I had to try it! That was a couple of weeks ago, and this week I finally made it. 

Now, I've never, ever had a souffle before (don't worry, that will change sometime in the not so distant future), but I imagine this is basically a corn/cornmeal souffle. It was pretty easy to put together, and turned out beautifully! I did have to let it bake a little longer than the directions said, but that didn't seem to be a problem. 

 Sweet, golden, deliciousness!

 I used coarse cornmeal, I don't know if that made a difference in the final product

but it was delicious nevertheless

 Ready to begin

 Letting the cornmeal soak in milk

 Soaking up all the creamy goodness

 Note to self, try this recipe again in August when corn is in season

 But for April corn, it really wasn't as bad as I thought

 Cut those kernels off

 I love corn

 Simmering away

 Thick and creamy

 I could have stopped right here and eaten the whole bowl, it was delicious!

 Lara, whipping up some egg whites

 Folding in some of the whites

 Here come the rest

 Lara being ever so gentle

 And into the dish it goes

 Thanks for letting me borrow the souffle dish mom!

 Headed for the oven

 The finished product, I think it should be much browner on top, 

but oh well, it still tasted delicious

 Ready to dig in

So happy!

Sweet Corn Spoonbread

from Cook's Country

 Ingredients

• 1 cup cornmeal
• 2 3/4 cups whole milk
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus additional for greasing dish
• 2 cups corn kernels (from 3 to 4 ears of corn, or frozen, if defrosted and well drained)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar 

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F. Generously grease a 1 1/2 quart soufflé dish or an 8-inch square baking dish. Whisk cornmeal and 3/4 cup of milk in a small bowl until combined and set aside.

Melt butter in a Dutch oven or large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Cook corn until beginning to brown. Stir in sugar, salt, cayenne and remaining 2 cups milk and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, cover, and let mixture steep for 15 minutes.

Transfer mixture to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth (or use an immersion blender). Back in the pot bring mixture back to a boil, reduce heat to low and add the cornmeal-milk mixture, whisking constantly until thickened, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Transfer to a large bowl and return mixture to room temperature, about 20 minutes.

Once cool, whisk in egg yolks. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in a medium bowl until stiff peaks form and fold it in to the corn mixture, one-third at a time. Pour batter into prepared baking dish and bake until spoonbread is golden brown and has risen above rim of dish, about 45 minutes. Serve immediately.