Southern Corn Pudding

Corn Pudding is likely on every Thanksgiving and Christmas table throughout the Southern US. Midwesterners hardly ever heard of it but everyone seems to love it. Its a great side dish, very moist and buttery with just a touch of sweet.

You make the whole thing in one pan, pop it in the oven for an hour and yum.

Corn Pudding

1 (8.5 oz) Box Jiffy Corn Bread Mix (you know, those little blue boxes?) or any corn bread mix that size
1 Can Creamed Corn (14 oz)
1 Can Whole Kernel Corn (14 oz) - DRAINED
1 Stick melted butter
2 Eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 Tblsp sugar (can be omitted)

Melt butter in 9 x 9 pan (microwave 10 seconds at a time). Add corn ingredients first to make sure butter isn't hot after melting that will curdle eggs. Then the add the rest, straight into pan. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees until brown (at high altitude 375.) Serves 4 to 6 (use 9 x 13 pan if you double this recipe)

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I am also including a recipe to make it from scratch (this is a bit larger so use 9 x 13 pan), still 350 degrees for 1 hour.

2 Cup Flour
1 Cup Cornmeal
1/4 Cup Sugar
1 Tsp Salt
3 Tsp Baking Powder

Mix dry ingredients then add to:

2 stick melted butter
1 cup milk
2 eggs
2 cans cream corn
2 cans whole corn drained

Note: I will be posting a recipe each day this week. Y'all come back now, ya hear!!

Summer Corn Saute

Oh my heck. (Janai, put your hands over your ears) I've fallen off the wagon twice this week. Steak last night and filet mignon at Grand America for lunch today. What is wrong with me?

I AM A VEGETARIAN. Really.

Oh, all right, let's just go with it. So what goes better with steak than corn! The perfect summer duet.

This recipe really belongs to Martha but we won't tell her. The ideal side dish for your summer dinner and extremely easy. Who needs to fuss with all that boiling water and messy butter anyway.

Corn and Zucchini Saute

4 thin green or yellow zucchini squash, halved and then sliced thin
4 - 5 ears of yellow or white corn, raw, cut off the cob
3 Tbs olive oil
coarse salt and pepper to taste
Several large leaves of fresh basil
1 Tbs of white wine vinegar

Heat oil in large skillet, add squash and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Add corn, coarse salt and pepper and continue to saute for another 3 minutes or until corn is getting tender. Take off heat, add wine vinegar and torn basil leaves, then stir. Done. Simple. Easy. Corn. Yum.

Spencer's Greek Feta Salad

This recipe didn't actually come from Spencer's kitchen. I've had it in my recipe box for awhile. But as the word Greek was running through my head I thought of Spencer, a distant hero, someone who took the time to create something beautiful in honor of my Uncle Chris. Spencer lives in Chicago; Uncle Chris in Peoria, 150 miles apart. I have never met Spencer but ended up spending some time on the phone with him when my Uncle Chris passed away suddenly last Spring from a massive heart attack at age 56.

(I am on the left, with Eva, Chris and Edie on the right.)

Spencer and Chris called each other every Friday for the last 20 years. Throughout the years, Spencer, an English Professor, tried to get Uncle Chris to publish his many short stories and poems. Chris didn't have the confidence in his own writing to do this. So out of love for his best friend, Spencer asked if he could have Chris' writings after he passed. I gathered up what I could from the garage in Peoria, dragged them back to Chicago and passed them along to Spencer. Eight months later, he published the book,

A Time In The Country And Other Stories.

So in honor of Spencer's selflessness, I name this salad after him.

Spencer's Greek Feta Salad

1 Head of Fresh Broccoli
1 Small container of Grape Tomatoes (approximate 1 cup but you can be generous)
8 oz of Feta Cheese crumbled
1/2 Red Onion sliced thin
2 Tbsp extra virgin Olive Oil
2 Tbsp wine vinegar (I used rice vinegar, its what was in the pantry)
2 tsp Dijon Mustard
1 clove Garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt and pepper

Cut broccoli into florets, Peel and cut broccoli stems into 1/4 inch thick slices. Steam broccoli about 2 minutes or until bright green. More if you like it more tender. Drain broccoli and plunge in ice water to stop cooking and capture the bright green color. Drain and set aside. Slice tomatoes in half and slice onion thin.

In large bowl, whisk oil, vinegar, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper. Add brocolli, feta, tomatoes and onions; toss to coat. Serve.

German Potato Salad

I met Fred about nine years ago and each time his mother visits us from Philadelphia, he requests she make this German Potato Salad along with her Philly Style Mac and Cheese. At first, as a good Mid-Western girl, I was appalled that this didn't have any mayo in it. But over the years I've learned more about what's really healthy and this salad has won a place in my favorites. I love the simplicity of olive oil, vinegar, salt and onions. Very easy. This salad sits out on the counter overnight to develop the flavor and truly it only tastes its best at room temperature where the oil stays golden.

Eleanor's German Potato Salad

5 lbs of Large Baking Potatoes

1 Medium Yellow Onion minced fine

1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/3 Cup Cider Vinegar

Salt and Pepper

Boil potatoes with skin on in a large pot of water. Start checking them for doneness at about 10 minutes. You want the potatoes to give to the tines of a fork but not be so soft that pieces break off. Pull the potatoes out of the water and set on a rack or towel to cool a bit. When you can handle them without burning yourself, peel away the skins. Slice the potatoes while still very warm into a large glass or ceramic bowl (do not use metal or wood, as they affect the taste).

Add your minced onion to the warm potatoes, then pour the oil over the potatoes and the vinegar on around the outside of the potatoes so it pools to the bottom. Fold all this gently, so the oil, vinegar and onion are distributed evenly. Add salt and pepper to taste. Depending on the amount of potatoes, you may need to increase your oil and vinegar. This salad is meant to be wet. Keep your oil 1/3 more than your vinegar (so if you add 3 Tblsp of oil, then add 2 Tblsp vinegar). Cover and leave out overnight so the oil and vinegar soak into the potatoes. Refrigerate if you must but before serving, let it sit to room temperature. You can also add chopped bacon.

Thai Coconut Rice

I love coconut! I've searched high and low for this box of rice! I read someone's review on Amazon and it sounded so great. Basil with garlic and coconut and throw in some lime at the end and its excellent! I found it at our Smith's grocer on 400 S. 600 E.

I decided to serve it with Grandma Schubert's 'Salat' which is just iceberg lettuce cut in small pieces, add equal amounts olive oil and cider vinegar, then sprinkle with garlic salt. Make sure its fairly oiled/wet. Nothing worse than dry iceberg.

I finished this off with a side of black beans (I used canned organic).

Risotto with Carrot

This makes a hearty sidedish or maybe even a main dish for a vegan/vegetarian diet. I used short grain brown rice to make it a bit healthier than white rice but I've tried it both ways and it truly comes out better with white rice. So you pick. If you make this with brown rice, you can plan on your cooking time doubling, or about an hour. You can choose vegetable broth and non-dairy parmesan to keep it truly vegan, or skip the cheese altogether.


Ingredients

• 14 oz chicken or veg broth
  
• 2 TB olive oil
  
• 1 med red onion finely chopped
  
• 6 med carrots grated
  
• 1-1/2 cups short grain brown or long grain white rice
  
• 1/2 dry white wine (I used apple juice instead)
  
• 1/4 cp grated parmesan (substitute or omit for vegan)
  
• salt and pepper to taste

First, heat the broth to boiling, then turn down to very low simmer. Clean and grate the carrots. The first time I made this, I hand-grated the carrots. Yikes, what a chore. So this time I pulled out my food processor from the depths of my cabinet. Ahh, much easier.

Heat your oil in a large pot on med-high and add carrots. They should sizzle when they hit the oil! Saute, stirring constantly for 2 minutes, then add onion. Season with salt and pepper (1/2 tsp each salt and pepper). Continue to cook for 5 minutes.

Add your rice and 1/2 cp apple juice (or wine). This should be really boiling, you want evaporation taking place, but not too hot to burn. Cook another 2 minutes until juice is absorbed. Now you are going to continue adding liquid (the hot broth) about 1 cup at a time, continuing to stir until all that liquid is absorbed. As you near the end of the broth, the rice should be thickening up and getting very sticky.

If you are using brown rice, you want it to cook another 30 minutes or more after you are done, so you will leave it somewhat liquid and turn the burner to low and cover. If you are using white rice, you will test for tenderness after all the liquid is absorbed. If you find the rice is still not done, add a 1/2 cp juice or water and continue to cook until done. Remove from heat and add parmesan. You brown-rice folks need to keep checking for doneness and add more liquid as necessary, continuing to simmer until done and all liquid absorbed.