Bounty of the Season

 

Kolarik farmstand on M-22 (yes, peaches, too)

Sweet corn season is here at last--the fresh, local sweet corn we wait for eagerly all summer--and this past weekend I was inspired to do something different with it. For some reason, the idea of corn pudding came to mind. I'll let you look up recipes for it yourself, as there are many, and maybe you even have a favorite family recipe, something your mother or grandmother made for special occasions.

Most of the recipes you'll find in cookbooks or online call for a combination of canned whole kernel corn and canned creamed corn. My inspiration was to forget the cans. I can't give a recipe because I didn't measure anything, but you can consult recipes and adapt my changes to them. I am big on kitchen improvisations. I love to consult more than one cookbook and then look online, also, and combine the ideas that appeal to me, winging it as I go.

Steam the corn for around 5 minutes, let it cool enough that it won't burn your fingers, and cut the kernels off the cob. Put about half of that corn into a food processor with either milk or cream and buzz it to the texture you want. You're done with the food processor now and can mix by hand your creamed corn and whole kernels, enough flour to bind, as many eggs as you think you'll need with as much corn as you used, and a sweetener.

I used evaporated milk for the creamed corn, almond flour to bind, and pure Michigan maple syrup for sweetener.

Evening porch light

More table flowers

The first batch of corn pudding I baked in a large casserole dish. Be careful if you're using a recipe, though, because at 350 degrees my corn pudding en casserole certainly did not need to bake for 75 minutes! It would have been burnt to a crisp! You can see from the serving below (next to peach-glazed salmon) that it was definitely not underdone. The grated Parmesan topping could be added earlier than I added it, and you could use more Parmesan, too, but I was leery of drying out the pudding by baking it much longer than 30-40 minutes (even after reducing the heat).

Peach-glazed salmon & baked corn pudding

The second batch, two evenings later, I baked in little ramekins for individual servings, and instead of Parmesan on top I grated the merest light sprinkling of fresh nutmeg.

It would be impossible to duplicate this dish in midwinter. In fact, right now is about the only season it's possible at all, so run out to your nearest neighborhood farmstead for that fresh local corn and try this at home yourself. Then let me know how heavenly yours turns out!

Corn pudding: individual serving

Rhubarb-Apple Chutney

 

Once established, rhubarb pretty much takes care of itself. Water if rain is not abundant, harvest when stalks are firm and tall. Pulling rather than cutting is recommended, but I cut stalks and have had no problems. I don't want to pull out an entire plant by accident. You will have to decide for yourself.

Fresh ginger root is a kitchen must (as is whole nutmeg, not used in this recipe). There is something very satisfying about peeling and slicing and mincing and breathing in the aroma of fresh ginger. Powder from a can doesn't even come close.

Aroma? Oh, my! Rhubarb, tart apple, golden raisins, red onion, fresh ginger, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, a smudge of allspice, some pickling spices, red pepper flakes--cook it all down and ladle hot into sterile jars. This chutney will be delicious on turkey or pork or certain fish or roasted root vegetables. And the glow of satisfaction those jewel-like jars provide will last much longer than satisfaction of having swept your floors.

You wouldn't believe how good this is!

 

Snowed In and Raiding the Freezer

When the refrigerator has less and less to offer, and getting to the grocery store is not an option, cupboard and freezer come to the rescue. I was happy to find in my freezer tomatoes and okra and—saints be praised!—sweetcorn from my neighbor’s September stand. I do have more tomatoes in cans and boxes, but it was fun to throw together a meal from the freezer, where I also found frozen chopped jalapeño and one last chicken breast from a bird braised earlier in the season. Using the last of my garlic (rookie mistake, running out of garlic!), I had to resort to garlic powder augmentation. Better than nothing, so good to have on hand in the pantry for emergencies.

 

What to go with this hearty, nourishing winter meal? What else but corn muffins made with Bob’s Red Mill polenta, so wonderfully coarse-grained and toothsome? Even if it does use up one of the last two precious eggs in the house! If I were snowed in for several weeks, I could survive on polenta and oatmeal after today’s snowed-in feast, which will stretch another day or two into the future. As it was, adding reconstituted tomato paste, filé gumbo spice, and hot sauce, I had enough to take some to a friend once my driveway was plowed. 

Serve over rice. Very satisfying!