I will admit, I get a little overzealous when making mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving. I always seem to think that each person is going to eat the equivalent of their arm’s weight. I practically do. Allow me to digress for just a moment to explain how much I really like this tuber.

When I was about four my parents took my brother and I to a steakhouse. I barely touched my steak, but proceeded to eat everyone’s large baked Russet potato. All four. Every bit. I was in heaven. Truly, I would have traded my favorite doll for them. It may have been my first encounter with a dressed up tater, I don’t know, but ever since that night I apparently have “an exaggerated sense of what a normal potato portion should be.” I’ve heard that more than once. Clearly I believe the body:potato ratio is much greater than most people would believe it to be. Whatever. Needless to say, we have a crock-pot full of mashed potatoes leftover.

Amateurs.

They sure did come in handy though, along with the other leftovers, when we assembled this delicious Lamb Shepherd’s Pie.

We didn’t use a recipe for this dish as it was a hodgepodge of things in the fridge. First, we ground up our leftover lamb with my new favorite toy: our KitchenAid food grinder attachment (I’m grinding up everything!). Then, we sautéed that with a bit of red wine, garlic and onions.

In an soufflé dish we started layering: lamb first, then carrots, peas, some of Tracy’s corn pudding (a coarser this time as she added more polenta), some sautéed Chanterelle mushrooms, and topped it all with a healthy layer of mashed potatoes. We finished it by sprinkling the top with some of our favorite new black lava flake and set it in the oven to warm and brown.

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Categories:	Uncategorized	7 Comments
Tags:	carrots • chantarelle • corn pudding • Food • foodista • lamb • lamb shepherds pie • leftovers • mushrooms • peas • potatoes • shepherds pie

Tonight Barnaby, Sheri, and my husband John and I are joining other friends and Barnaby’s parents for dinner. We are making Donna Brazile’s mama’s gumbo from her book Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pots in America.  Donna graced us with her presence at an event for the Washington Women Lawyers last week and inspired us personally, politically, and yes – gastronomically. As our contribution, John and I are bringing this corn pudding and two South African wines – Goats in Villages, a Shiraz Pinotage blend from South African winemaker Goats Do Roam, and a Sauvignon Blanc from Porcupine Ridge, another South African bottle from the Cape of Good Hope. Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Corn Pudding

Butter: 1 stick
Corn: yellow or white, frozen or fresh, 5 cups (approx 6-8 ears)
Shallots: 1/2 cup (finely minced)
Jalepenos: 1/4 cup (or to taste, seeded; finely minced)
Onion: 2 tablespoons (finely minced)
Milk: 1 cup
Half-and-Half: 1 cup
Yellow Cornmeal or Polenta: 1/2 cup
Ricotta Cheese: 1 cup
Eggs: 5 large or 4 extra-large (I don’t use extra-large eggs, my mom said they come from older chickens – not sure if that’s true, but it’s turned me away from the big ones – if you have thoughts on this, I’d love to hear it.)
Herbs: chives or basil is nice, though you can experiment with the herbs or include a mixture (approx 3 tablespoons or to taste)
Sugar: 1 tablespoon
Salt: Kosher, 1 tablespoon
Pepper: 3/4 teaspoon (I prefer a mixture of black and white, but you may use either or include pink and green peppercorns as well if you like)
Cheese: I like to ad 3/4 cup of finely grated extra-sharp cheddar, though you may also want to try other cheeses (save a little to sprinkle on top)
Optional Ingredients: You may also add finely minced red pepper, replace the shallot with onion, add green onions, the choices are almost limited. Experiment and let me know what you think works well.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Grease an 8 to 10 cup backing dish. I like to use individual ramekins for this recipe, which should make 10-12 individual servings.

Melt butter and add shallots, onion and jalepeno. Do not brown. Simply cook for 4-5 minutes in order to mellow out these flavors and avoid a raw taste in your mixture. If you are using fresh corn or adding red pepper or other vegetables, I recommend adding them to this step as well. Cool a little before adding to the batter to avoid cooking the eggs.

Whisk eggs and milk together with ricotta cheese.

Add corn meal/polenta, salt, pepper, and sugar to the wet ingredients. When thoroughly blended add butter/veg mixture above.

Add cheese and pour into the baking dish of your choice. Sprinkle with a little cheese (optional).

Bake in a water bath. For those of you unfamiliar with using a water bath, simply place baking dish in a larger pan and fill the pan 1/2 up the sides with hot tap water.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until the top begins to brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Serve warm.

I am preparing this dish for a dinner party tonight and prepared the batter in advance to bake at my Barnaby and Sheri’s house. I plan to assemble the ingredients and bake at their house in order to serve warm and fresh. I was concerned that joining the ingredients too early would cause my pudding to be too oniony – so, I prepared my ingredients into 5 main components: (a) dry ingredients; (b) wet ingredients (milks, eggs, ricotta); (c) butter with vegetables (onions, shallot, jalepeno, etc); (d) grated cheese; (e) herbs; (f) corn (fresh or thawed frozen). I plan to assemble at their house and bake. Next time I make this, I might try to make it souffle-style by beating my egg-whites separately and folding them into the ingredients just before baking. I haven’t tried this yet – so when I do, I will let you know – but if you have, please speak up. I’d love to hear how folding in egg-whites would change the result.

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Categories:	Baked Goods • Cheese • Entertaining • Veggies • wine	5 Comments
Tags:	corn • corn pudding • ramekin • side dish • Veggies • wine