Southwestern Corn Pudding

Sometimes I try a new dish because I just hate to see food go to waste.

This weekend we hosted a fabulous potluck, but the corn never made it to the table. The woman who was supposed to bring it ended up coming late, and the next morning I had 12 cobs of corn sitting in my kitchen.

I love corn on the cob, but there was no way my husband and I were going to eat it all by ourselves. So I decided to sift through the recipe books and found an easy recipe for corn pudding. Imagine cream of corn, but stiff, like bread pudding. I had all the ingredients on hand and I even added some green chilies to spice things up. It was delicious! Especially if you like corn.

So, if you have a bunch of leftover corn this summer, here's an easy side dish from the Texas Cowboy Cooking cookbook:

4 tbs butter
2 tbs flour
1 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups of corn, cut from the cob (about 4 cobs, depending on the size)
1 1/2 tbs of canned diced green chilies. Add or subtract chilies as you like.
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter and stir in flour. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly until thickened (3 to 5 minutes). Remove from heat and add the beaten eggs, stirring with a wire whisk. Stir in the corn, sugar, salt and pepper, and pour into a small buttered baking dish. Place the dish in a shallow pan half filled with warm water (I used to bottom half of a small roasting pan). Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until pudding is set.