Make Ahead

MEXICAN CORN PUDDING SERVED WITH SMOKY CHIPOTLE SAUCE

by:
August 16, 2010
5
1 Ratings
  • Serves 10
Author Notes

Last Spring, I went to the beach for the weekend with a group of women I've known since my freshman year in college. I made a beef tenderloin Friday night which I served with a smoky chipotle sauce. It was a great combination, but everyone fell in love with the sauce. We ate in with our eggs the next morning for breakfast, some of us even drizzled it onto our chicken salad for lunch. It goes well with everything. Since then, I've made a few times. (It's a little addictive). Recently, I served it with this Mexican Corn Pudding. With Mexican cheese and green chilis, this corn pudding has plenty going for it to eat it without the chipotle sauce, but I think that the sauce is the proverbial icing on the cake. Warning: HEAT ADVISORY. - Waverly —Waverly

Test Kitchen Notes

The recipe was extremely simple to make. However, there was nothing simple about the flavor. The combination of corn, green chiles, smokey chipotle and tomatillos give this dish a great Southwest flavor with a bite. I decided to finely chop the green peppers and add them to the batter as opposed to blending them in, which kept the green peppers from masking the flavors of the corn while giving the dish additional texture. I baked the dish for an additional 10 minutes to let it firm up a little more, retain its moisture and form a nice brown crust on top of the pudding. I highly recommend this dish. - Ben Jackson —The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Butter for greasing the dish
  • 1/4 cup plain breadcrumbs to coat the bottom of the dish
  • 8 medium-sized ears of corn, kernels removed from the cob
  • 1 cup butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 6 large eggs
  • 4 ounces queso fresco
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 (4 1/2 ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
  • FOR THE SAUCE:
  • 3 peeled cloves garlic
  • 4 medium tomatillos, husked, rinsed and cut in half
  • 2 canned chipotle chiles en adobo
  • salt to taste
Directions
  1. PREP: Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 9 x 13 inch baking dish and then cover the bottom with an even layer of bread crumbs. With a sharp knife, cut the corn off of the cobs into a large bowl (or the bowl of a food processor if you have one).
  2. COMBINE: Add remaining ingredients to the corn and stir to combine. If you are using a food processor, pulse until mixture is smooth. If you do not have a food processor, puree the mixture in batches in a blender until smooth.
  3. COOK: Pour the corn mixture into the baking pan and bake 1 hour.
  4. WHILE CORN PUDDING COOKS, MAKE THE SAUCE: Lay garlic and tomatillos (cut-side down) in a non-stick skillet and saute over MEDIUM HIGH heat until tomatillos are brown, about 4 minutes. Turn over and brown the other side. Transfer everything to a blender. Add chiles + 1/4 cup water and blend until coarse. Season with salt to taste. Pour into a serving bowl and serve at room temperature.
  5. SERVE: Serve corn pudding warm with smoky chipotle sauce drizzled to taste. It is nice and hot, so start off with just a little.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • fiveandspice
    fiveandspice
  • Waverly
    Waverly
  • mpittsm
    mpittsm
  • Ben Jackson
    Ben Jackson
Waverly used to be a lawyer and is now a mother 24/7. She has made a commitment to cooking for her family and absolutely loves it even when her family does not. She is teaching them, one meal at a time, to enjoy wholesome homemade food. She abhors processed food but recognizes its insidious nature and accepts the fact that her children will occasionally get some Skittles, Doritos, or the like. Her philosophy and hope is that if she teaches them well at home, they will prefer wholesome healthy foods when they go out into the world without her.

4 Reviews

fiveandspice July 25, 2011
This sounds wonderful Waverly! I somehow missed it last year, but I'm definitely going to give it a try as soon as we come by some more corn.
 
mpittsm July 25, 2011
Sounds delicious! On my to do list!
 
Waverly August 31, 2010
I am happy that you enjoyed it!
 
Ben J. August 31, 2010
The recipe was extremely simple to make. However, there was nothing simple about the flavor. The combination of corn, green chilies, smokey chipotle and tomatillos give this dish a great south west flavor with a bite. There is a great yin and yang that goes on between the sweet-mild flavor of the corn and the bold smokey flavors of the chipotle sauce.

I used a sweet white corn that let the subtle flavors of the cheese and green peppers come through. I also decided to finely chop the green peppers and add them to the batter as opposed to blending them in. I found that this kept the green peppers from masking the flavors of the corn while giving the dish an additional texture. I also baked the dish for an additional 10 minutes which seemed to let it firm up a little more while still allowing it to retain its moisture. The additional cooking time also allowed a nice brown crust to form on top of the pudding. I highly recommend this dish.