My family cannot get enough sweet corn during the summer months. Once the sweet corn appears at the farmers market in late July, you can put me down for a dozen ears a week. Why buy fewer than twelve ears when corn is so inexpensive? I cook all dozen ears at the same time. Once the water is boiling, or the grill is hot, it is no extra work to cook the whole dozen. We eat as many as we like off the cob on that first night. After dinner, I remove the kernels from any leftover ears and save them for the next night’s dinner.
Leftover cooked corn kernels can be used in all kinds of delicious summer dishes, from zucchini-corn pancakes to corn and tomato relish. Corn chowder would be delicious too if it weren’t too hot to eat soup. But my family’s favorite use for leftover corn kernels is corn pudding. My husband and I have a soft spot for corn pudding because it was served at our wedding. I enjoy playing around with various versions — some sweet, some spicy — depending on what is in my refrigerator. If corn pudding has a vice, it is that it can be dry so I also like to experiment with different sauces and toppings.
A flavorful, sharp cheddar is a key ingredient in my corn pudding recipe. The cheese adds moisture to the batter as well as flavor. So when my friends at Cabot Creamery issued a challenge to home cooks to add one of their new Farmers’ Legacy Collection Cheddars to a treasured family recipe, my first thought was corn pudding. I selected the White Oak Cheddar because it was inspired by Cabot’s delicious Clothbound Cheddar, one of my all-time favorite cheeses.
This version of corn pudding has to be the best one ever. It combines the sweetness of corn, the heat of jalapeños, the sharpness of cheddar and the tang of buttermilk into one tender, flavorful mouthful. The blistered tomato relish adds moisture and another layer of sweetness and flavor. One of my favorite things about this recipe is how it was inspired by the bounty of a summer farmers market. The corn, the jalapeño peppers, the cherry tomatoes and the basil were all locally grown and are at the peak of their season.
Do you have a treasured family recipe that calls for cheddar? If so, then Cabot Creamery Coop has a big recipe contest for you. You can win a $10,000 prize — $5000 for you and $5000 for a volunteer organization of your choice — for adding one of Cabot Creamery’s new Farmers’ Legacy Collection cheddars to your family recipe. The two runners-up will win family vacations to Vermont – home of Cabot Creamery.
You do not even need to have a blog to enter; you just have to submit your recipe and a photo. So go ahead and enter! What do you have to lose? And entering the contest gives you an excuse, not that you needed one, to go out and buy one of Cabot Creamery’s new Farmers’ Legacy Collection cheddars.
And while you are enjoying your sweet corn this summer, give my cheddar jalapeño corn pudding a try. It may just become a favorite in your house as well.
- 3 jalapeño peppers
- 4 eggs
- 4 cups cooked corn kernels
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup cornmeal
- 1 TB sugar
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp. salt
- 6 oz. Cabot Farmhouse Reserve White Oak Cheddar, grated
- 3 oz. butter, melted
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 3 pints mixed cherry or grape tomatoes
- 2 TB olive oil
- 2 oz. basil, sliced
- Preheat the oven to 350 and butter a deep, 2-qt. baking dish.
- Roast the jalapeño peppers in a dry skillet or on the grill until the skin is charred all over. Allow to cool and remove the skin. Slice the peppers in half, remove the veins and seeds and chop into thin strips.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add the corn kernels and stir to combine.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking soda and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the eggs and corn. Add the sliced jalapeños, 4 oz of the grated White Oak Cheddar, the melted butter and buttermilk and stir to combine.
- Pour the pudding mixture into the prepared baking dish.
- Top with the remaining 2 oz of White Oak Cheddar.
- Bake at 350 for one hour.
- While the pudding is baking, prepared the blistered tomatoes. Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the tomatoes and sauté until the skins begin to crack and the tomatoes start to break down.
- Pour tomatoes and their juices into a bowl and toss with salt and basil.
- To serve, top each portion of corn pudding with some of the blistered tomatoes and their juices.
Full disclosure: This post is not sponsored by Cabot Creamery. As a member of the Cabot Cheese Board, I occasionally receive Cabot Creamery products free of charge for review purposes. I have not received any compensation for sharing the information about the #LegacyRecipe contest.
Oh my goodness! I was just wondering what I could do with some leftover grilled corn. You’ve solved the problem…deliciously. Can’t wait to dig in!
Thanks Candace! So many uses for leftover grilled corn: pudding, salsa, pancakes. I love it!