Corn Pudding

Corn Pudding, a slightly sweet, custard consistency side dish, a wonderful comfort food.

Ingredients:
butter to coat baking dish
3 cups frozen corn kernels (could use fresh)
3 eggs, well beaten
2 cups milk
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp salt
1 cup cheddar cheese
pepper to taste
paprika

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 8×8 baking dish with butter.
2. In a medium saucepan over high heat, bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Add the corn kernels and cook 1 minute, regardless of whether the water returns to a boil. Drain; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, milk, cornstarch, maple syrup, salt and cheese. Add pepper to taste.
4. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish and sprinkle with paprika. Bake until it is puffed and golden, about 1 hour. Serve warm.

This is a baked side dish that is so simple and delicious, serve this side dish alongside anything you want to serve with a side. This corn pudding is mostly savory and only slightly sweet with the addition of the maple syrup but the main flavor in this dish is the corn itself.

*Camala*

Apple Bread Pudding

This recipe is one I did when I was a pastry chef for an unique and innovative restaurant here in Naples.  Even though bread pudding  is a very simple dessert, people loved it and ordered it all the time.  This one has apples in it that give it a little extra something. Its like “comfort food”.  Easy to make, not too many ingredients, and so so good!!    I make a little more custard so there is always a layer at the bottom–which you can see if you can manage to let it cool before eating it—-very hard to do!!!

The bread pudding has to soak–depending on how dry the stale bread is–I found the longer the better—even overnight is OK.   So there is no point in heating the oven until you are ready to bake it.
This recipe is for a small casserole dish–serves 4.  It can easily be doubled.

Ingredients
3 cups diced stale bread (crusty bread like a french baguette works best)
4 eggs
2 full cups half & half
1/4 cup sugar plus 1 Tablespoon
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 large crispy apple peeled and cubed
1/4 cup raisins

Place bread, apples and raisins in small casserole and mix them up.
In a medium bowl place eggs, half & half, vanilla, sugar and spices.  Whisk together until well blended.  Pour wet ingredients over the bread and make sure all the dry ingredients are well covered.  Cover dish with plastic wrap and place in fridge for several hours or until bread is no longer hard.
When ready to bake, heat oven temp to 350F degrees.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the custard is no longer runny.  The time may vary depending on your oven.  The pudding will rise and get golden brown.
It goes without saying, this can also be eaten for breakfast or anytime of the day.  A nice vanilla rum sauce over top can make it a little more fancy but it is good all by itself.
*Christine*

Tapioca Pudding

Creamy and Fluffy, Classic Tapioca Pudding.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup small pearl tapioca
3/4 cup water
2 1/4 cup milk (I would recommend 2% or whole)
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Soak small pearl tapioca in water for 30 minutes in a saucepan.
2. Add milk, salt and lightly beaten egg yolks to tapioca and stir over medium heat until boiling. Simmer uncovered over low heat for 10-15 minutes; Stir often.
3. Beat egg whites with sugar until soft peaks form. Fold 3/4 cup of hot tapioca into the egg whites, then gently fold mixture back into saucepan. Stir over low heat for 3 minutes.
4. Cool for 15 minutes then add vanilla. Serve warm or chilled.

I never really ate tapioca before I met my husband, during the first part of our marriage he asked me to make him some, he told me his mom used to make it with the eggs separated. So, I got a recipe and made it, I have tried several tapioca recipes because this isn’t the quickest tapioca recipe around but we always turn back to this recipe because to us, it is more fluffy and creamier than all the rest. Even though it is a bit of a hassle to let the tapioca soak and to separate the eggs, to me it is so worth it.

*Camala*