Tortilla Corn Pudding

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Gotta Love a One Dish Wonder

I have to apologize; I know I've been a little remiss about postings lately. June is just an awful month for me. I tend to work fourteen hour days and weekends. That being said, I plan to make up for my absence with a recipe post. When I started this blog I promised there would be some cooking sprinkled in.

I first got the idea for this recipe from Rachel Ray. I know some people find her to be incredibly irritating, but I like her. I do wish her recipes were a little healthier though. Here's the original recipe from Rachel Ray:

Tortilla Bread Pudding

Ingredients:
* 2 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed
* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 3 eggs
* 1 1/2 cups whole milk
* 4 large flour tortillas (about 9 inches), ground into coarse crumbs
* Salt and pepper
* 2 scallions, thinly sliced
* 6 oz chorizo

Frozen Assets
Wrap the baked pudding in foil and freeze for up to 1 week. Thaw in the refrigerator, then bake at 350° for 15 minutes.
Directions:


1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Grease an 8-inch square baking dish. Using a food processor, puree 1 cup corn.
2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1 cup corn and cook until the corn begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chorizo.
3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Stir in the milk, pureed corn and tortilla crumbs. Add the onion-chorizo mixture and season with salt and pepper. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and bake until set and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes; let sit for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the scallions.

I was intrigued by this recipe, but it seemed to need a little more pizazz. Plus, I'm not really a sausage person. What follows is my lower fat, jazzed up version.

Tortilla Corn Pudding

Ingredients:

* 2 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed
* 3 eggs or 3/4 cup Egg Beaters
* 1 1/2 cups fat free half & half
* 3 large flour tortillas, ground into coarse crumbs
* 2 small corn tortillas, ground into coarse crumbs
* Salt and pepper
* 2 scallions, whites and greens thinly sliced
* 6 oz center cut bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (approx. ten slices)
* 1 jalapeno, finely chopped
* 1 red pepper, coarsely chopped
* 1 tsp dried sage
* approx. 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Grease an 8-inch square baking dish or 2 quart casserole dish.
2. Using a food processor, grind tortillas into course crumbs.
3. Using a food processor, puree 1 cup corn.
4. In a large nonstick skillet, begin to cook bacon over medium-high heat.
5. Add the peppers, remaining corn and scallion whites and cook, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is crisp.
6. In a large bowl, beat the eggs or add Egg Beaters.
7. Stir in the half & half, pureed corn and tortilla crumbs.
8. Add the bacon mixture and season with sage, salt and pepper.
9. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and sprinkle with shredded cheddar.
10. Bake until set and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes; let sit for 10 minutes.
11. Sprinkle with scallion greens and serve.
I know it doesn't photograph well, but trust me, this is yummy. You could probably make this lower fat by using turkey bacon, but I'm not really a fan. The difference in fat content between center cut and turkey bacon is minimal, while center cut has the advantage of tasting like real bacon. I guess you could also cut out the cheese, but cheese is one of life's great joys. In addition, you could also bring the heat up a little by the addition of another jalapeno, but one is about all my husband can handle. Really, this recipe could be modified a million different ways, with different flavor combinations. Let me know what you tried out.