Silky Savory and so Yummy

Jalapeño Corn Pudding

This silky, savory corn pudding recipe is one of my favorite dishes after dinner.

If you are looking for a new Thanksgiving side dish (or something to accompany the green beans), look no further than this corn pudding. It is comforting and familiar, and even though it has a spicy, peppery kick, that didn't stop my six-year-old from devouring it last year.

Jalapeño Corn Pudding

1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 C diced yellow onions
1 1/2 C fresh kernels of corn (about 3 to 4 ears) or equivalent amount of frozen which is likely what you'll find this time of year
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 C heavy whipping cream
3 C cornbread, crumbled
8 oz Jalapeno Jack cheese, shredded and divided (1 C and 1 C) You can add more if you're like me and love melty cheesy goodness.
dash of salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 fresh jalapeños, seeded and thinly sliced*
2 to 3 roasted red peppers, thinly sliced (I omit these because I like the jalapeño to be the star)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Grease and 8 inch square pan.

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onions and corn, saute until onions are translucent. Remove from heat. Stir in eggs, cream, cornbread and 1 C cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour pudding into pan. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and top with jalapeno and red pepper slices.
Place pan in a water bath and bake 50 minutes-1 hour or until firm.

Sesame Corn Saute

Frozen whole kernel corn is a must-have in my freezer. There are so many things that you can make with it. If you're a fan of corn dishes, also see my Corn and Bacon Saute. It attracted me because it seemed like a simple recipe with familiar ingredients used in a different way. I just happened to have all of the ingredients already. We have a beautiful basil plant in our back yard. I wanted to put it to good use. Make it work for its money. Plus, corn and sesame together? I was intrigued and, at the end, very pleased.

Sesame Corn Saute

2-1/2 tsp. sesame seeds
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
6 ears fresh corn, shucked, kernals cut off the cob (about 4 cups)
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp. fresh basil chiffonade (very thinly sliced)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toast the sesame seeds on a baking sheet until very light tan, about 6 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat olive oil and saute garlic for about 2 minutes. Add the corn, salt, and pepper. Cook until corn is just tender, about 8 minutes. Gently toss in the sesame seeds and basil.

First, I made a slight change in the original recipe's directions by toasting my sesame seeds in a skillet. It only took a few minutes. Then, I reused the skillet to cook the corn.

Such a pretty color. It looks and smells like a Japanese restaurant in here.

Garlic: If one clove is good, two cloves are better.

I cooked the garlic for a few minutes in the olive oil over medium heat before adding four cups of corn. Again, I deviated from the original recipe by using frozen corn. I seasoned with salt and pepper.

The basil in our garden is so pretty right now. And, the afternoon rain shower we just received made the basil even happier.

I used about this many leaves of basil.

I cut the basil into really thin strips. I waited to do this at the last minute so the leaves wouldn't turn dark.

When the corn is completely cooked, sprinkle in the sesame seeds.

And, stir in the basil.

A simple and savory side and the perfect way to make the most of the fresh basil growing in your garden.

Enjoy!!

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Dive into side Corn(er)!

This corn side dish  called “Cheesy Creamed Corn with Cilantro” but I omitted the cilantro, because Cilantro seems to be one of those love-it-or-hate-it herbs, doesn’t it? 

While I personally like cilantro just fine, I have to say this recipe was really good even without it. The sweet corn pairs very nicely with the bright, tangy cheese, and the scallions round out the flavor and give it some much-needed color. This is a perfect side dish to pair with a spicier main  and to use up all that wonderful corn that’s overflowing this time of year! And pair it with a less-expensive cheese!

I love the look of scallions!

What creamed corn recipe would be complete without starting with some melted butter? I happened to have found fancy butter on sale, so I used “the good stuff” for this recipe. Isn’t it amazing what a difference in taste there can be in basic ingredients like butter and cream? This Plugra butter is so good, I eat a bit of it straight from the wrapper every time I cook with it. I just can’t help myself!

The scallions are cooked in the butter first.

The last few steps are as easy as sauteing the corn, pureeing some of it and adding it back into the rest, and topping with cheese to serve.

I liked that this creamed corn wasn’t too creamy and retained that fresh SUMMER flavor that fresh corn has. To me, “creamed corn” conjures up cold-weather meals, not summer, so I was happy to see that this one was more bright and flavorful than comforting. Although if you like fresh corn half as much as I do, this will certainly provide plenty of comfort, too!

Cheesy Creamed Corn

This recipe, I think it could actually feed more than 8 people. 12 ears of corn is a lot of corn for 8 people! We had 7 and only ate about half the batch, but I did cook too many side dishes so I think everyone ate a bit less than a full person’s serving.

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups chopped scallions
• 12 ears corn, kernels cut from cobs
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 2 large garlic cloves
• 6 oz queso fresco (or substitute mild feta), crumbled

In deep large heavy skillet, heat butter over medium-high heat until foam subsides, then cook scallions until softened, about 5 minutes. Add corn and 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together cream and cornstarch until thoroughly combined. Add mixture to corn and simmer, stirring, until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Transfer about 1 1/2 cups corn mixture to a bowl and add garlic. Blend with immersion blender until smooth (be careful, it’ll be hot!). If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a regular blender or a food processor.

Return blended corn mixture to skillet and cook, stirring constantly, until just heated through and combined with whole corn mixture. Just before serving, sprinkle cheese on top.

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Anniversary of a cool item!

It's 119th anniversary of the coolest dessert!

The sundae is an ice cream dessert. It typically consists of a scoop of ice cream topped with sauce or syrup, and in some cases other toppings including chopped nuts, sprinkles, whipped cream, or maraschino cherries. The first historically documented sundae was created on Sunday, April 3, 1892.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the origin of the term sundae is obscure, however, it is generally accepted that the spelling "sundae" derives from the word Sunday or, according to one source, from the German name Sonntag, which means Sunday.

Among the many stories about the invention of the sundae, a frequent theme is that the dish arose in contravention to so-called blue laws against Sunday consumption of either ice cream or ice cream soda (the latter invented by Robert M. Green in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1874}. The religious laws are said to have led druggists to produce a substitute for these popular treats for consumption on Sunday. According to this theory of the name's origin, the spelling was changed to sundae to avoid offending religious conventions.

In support of this idea, Peter Bird wrote in The First Food Empire: A History of J. Lyons and Co.(2000) that the name 'sundae' was adopted as a result of Illinois state's early prohibition of ice cream consumption on Sundays, because ice cream with a topping that obscured the main product was not deemed to be ice cream. However, according to documentation published by the Evanston, Illinois Public Library, it was the drinking of soda, not the eating of ice cream, that was outlawed on Sundays in Illinois. 

Other origin stories for the sundae focus on the novelty or inventiveness of the treat or the name of the originator, and make no mention of legal pressures.

Various American localities have claimed to be the birthplace of the ice cream sundae. These claimants include Ithaca, New York; Two Rivers, Wisconsin; Plainfield, Illinois; Evanston, Illinois; New York City; New Orleans, Louisiana;Cleveland, Ohio; and Buffalo, New York.

Types of sundaes

 American parfait
This is a sundae served in a tall glass filled with layers of ice cream and flavorings, such as granola, syrups, or liqueurs.

 Double fudge sundae

The double fudge sundae is like a regular hot fudge sundae, except that it is two times bigger and served in a glass banana split dish or boat. It is made from the same ingredients a regular hot fudge sundae, including whipped cream, optional nuts or sprinkles, and a maraschino cherry on top.

 Hot fudge sundae

The classic hot fudge sundae is a variation on the classic and is often a creation of vanilla ice cream, sprinkles, hot chocolate sauce (hence the "hot fudge"), whipped cream, nuts, and a single bright-red maraschino cherry on top. A hot fudge sundae can be made with any flavor of ice cream.

 Caramel sundae

This is a variation of the hot fudge sundae in which heated caramel sauce replaces the heated chocolate sauce. the other ingredients remain unchanged.

Black and white sundae

This sundae features a scoop of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and a scoop of chocolate ice cream with creamy white marshmallow topping.

 Banana split
This dessert consists of three sundaes in one, side by side between two halves of a banana, sliced lengthwise. The classic banana split consists of strawberry ice cream topped with chocolate syrup, chocolate ice cream topped with crushed pineapple, and vanilla ice cream topped with strawberry syrup. Each scoop is individually garnished with whipped cream and a maraschino cherry.

 Other heated sauce sundaes

Occasionally other stiff-textured sweet sauces replace the hot chocolate sauce of the classic hot fudge sundae. These novelty sundaes include the peanut butter sundae, the Nutella sundae, the hot maple syrup sundae, and so forth.

 Brownie sundae

This is a rich sundae made with brownies, vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, peanuts, hot fudge, and whipped cream, often topped with maraschino cherry. If a blondie replaces the brownie, then caramel sauce is used as a topping instead of chocolate sauce.

 Classic ice cream sundae

The original sundae consists of vanilla ice cream topped with a flavored sauce or syrup, whipped cream, and a maraschino cherry. Classic sundaes are typically named after the flavored syrup employed in the recipe: cherry sundae, chocolate sundae, strawberry sundae, raspberry sundae, etc. The classic sundae is traditionally served in a tulip-shaped, footed glass vase. Due to the long association between the shape of the glass and the dessert, this style of serving dish is generally now known as a sundae glass.

 Turtle sundae

The popular combination of vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, and hot caramel sauces, and toasted pecans is known as a turtle sundae. The name derives from a popular candy called a turtle, which consists of pecans covered with caramel and then dipped in chocolate.

Most expensive

At a price of 1,000 U.S. dollars, the most expensive ice cream sundae is the Serendipity Golden Opulence Sundae, sold by Serendipity 3 restaurant in New York City.The dessert consists of five scoops of Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream infused with Madagascar vanilla, covered in 23-carat edible gold leaf, rare Amedei Porcelana and Chuao chocolate, American Golden caviar, passion fruit, orange, Armagnac, candied fruits from Paris, marzipan cherries, and decorated with real gold dragées. The sundae is served in a baccarat Harcourt crystal goblet with an 18-karat gold spoon.

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Eating Insects!

Experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN agreed with the opinion of scientists that should convince people to eat insects instead of meat. Firstly, in cricket and grasshoppers as much protein as a piece of meat for the steak. Secondly, their growth is much cheaper and requires less space. Experts note that the edible for humans are about 1400 species of insects. They are eaten in 36 African, 29 Asian and 23 countries in North and South America. And in some states of insects is considered a delicacy in others - the insects are part of the daily diet.

 But in China, everywhere you can see the fried grasshoppers, which are sold on wooden sticks.

Many people in various parts of the world consider this locust plague. But do not mexicans. In Mexico, especially in its southern regions, in addition to all kinds of tortillas, and you'll find fried grasshoppers, wrapped in fresh tortillas.

And if Mexico's fried insects you can buy just a tray with a street vendor, then in other Western countries such dishes - it is rather a refinement, which is served in expensive restaurants. For example, a New York restaurant of the Explorers Club, "annually arranges a reception during which serves dishes from the insects.

 The Chinese have a humorous talk about his gastronomic tastes: "We eat everything that flies except planes, everything that has four legs except the table and chairs. Of course, China is in the use of insects - in front of the entire planet. Many restaurants specialize exclusively on dishes made with insects.

 In a lot of people only thought about what to eat this mountain of larvae can cause severe aversion.

 But the Chinese are less squeamish. They are ready to absorb even the fried scorpions on skewers. After all, the taste - it's important ...

 This is a real exotic for tourists but for local - the absolute ordinariness: everything that crawls, will be used for food.

 Would you like to snack between meals? How's that fried to a crunch-fried spider? Cambodians, he is even to taste.

 While many people, so many tastes. In Thailand, for example, more like fried water beetles.

 Tourists traveling normally try new dishes. And a growing number of tourists insect hits the spot. Take, for example, at least this Australian.

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