Corn Timbale

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...To market, to market to buy a fat pig, but I came home without one jiggity jig. That's not to say I came home empty handed. Corn, at twelve ears for a dollar, was an unprecedented bargain, even for markets in this area. I loaded my basket with 24 ears and hatched a plan to do some recipe testing that I've postponed for a long time now. I've been holding on to two very old recipes that I wanted to try, and corn, at that price, provided the incentive I needed to finally proceed. Both recipes are variants of corn pudding. One of them turned out to be very pedestrian and is not worth your time. The other is Julia Child's corn timbale and it is interesting only because the recipe is hers. I must admit a prejudice going into this. I have never understood why it's necessary to take a delicious vegetable and try to make something of it that it's not. Corn is a very basic thing. A timbale usually is not. A timbale is a molded dish that holds a custard that's used to bind a mixture of cheese and vegetables or meat together. A true mold has high sides and is closed at the bottom, much like a charlotte pan. The dish is baked in a hot water bath and allowed to sit briefly before unmolding. The corn timbale is a good looking dish, but it takes a lot of butter and cream to get it to the table and I'm not much into showmanship these days. I'll let you read the recipe and decide if you want to proceed with it on your own. I found it to be pleasant, but strangely bland for one of Julia's recipes. If you don't have a corn creamer, you can use the large holes of a box grater to scrape the ears and make corn milk. Here's Julia's recipe. Bon Appetit! Kinda! Sorta! Maybe!

Corn Timbale...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, courtesy of Julia Child

Ingredients:
3 cups corn milk (scraped from the cob with a corn creamer)
6 large eggs
3 tablespoons minced onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2/3 cup fresh breadcrumbs
2/3 cup grated swiss cheese
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper

Directions:
Butter an 9-cup charlotte mold or high-sided baking dish and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper. Whisk together corn, eggs, onion, salt, parsley, breadcrumbs, cheese, cream, red pepper, and black pepper. Pour into prepared charlotte mold. Set mold in a larger dish and pour boiling water around it to come two-thirds of the way up its sides. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, then turn down the oven to 325 and bake for 45 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes, then unmold onto a serving plate. Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Spoon Bread with Leeks and Gruyere Cheese - One Perfect Bite
Summer Corn Pudding - Stacey Snacks
Southwestern Corn Pudding - Janet is Hungry
Baked Corn Casserole - Never Enough Thyme
Corn Spoon Bread - Deep South Dish
Classic Corn Pudding with Cheddar and Chives - The Runaway Spoon
Corn Pudding - Closet Cooking

Pear Flognarde

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This homely dessert, called a flognarde, is associated with provincial kitchens in the Limousin region of France. A flognarde is a clafoutis made with any fruit other than cherries. This dessert, like the clafoutis, is a cross between a pudding and a cake and it's made by pouring a custard-like batter over a layer of fruit. It's one of those rare desserts that can really be made with a wooden spoon or whisk. A pear flognarde lacks the pocked appearance of the versions made with berries, and because the fruit remains at the bottom the pan, it is characterized by a smooth and richly browned top. If you enjoy pears, you will love this dessert. Be sure to use ripe but firm fruit for the flognarde. Overripe pears will weep into the batter and you'll have unpredictable results. While the recipe utilizes heavy cream, no additional fat is used in its making. You can substitute light cream or half-and-half if you must, but it will change the texture of the dessert. It happens that this is one of my favorite desserts. It is easy to do and when pears are in season it has outstanding flavor. I have a bottle of pear liqueur that's been in my pantry for nearly 40 years. I'm very stingy with it and use it only to enhance the flavor of desserts I love. While I use a splash of it in the flognarde, it's a nice but not necessary addition to the batter. If you start with ripe and flavorful pears you'll do fine without it. Just make sure to put pear liqueur on your Christmas list. Do serve this while it is still warm. Here's the recipe.

Pear Flognarde...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
4 ripe but firm Bartlet pears
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
Optional: 1 tablespoon pear liqueur
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour, sifted
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter an 11 x 7 x 2-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon granulated sugar.
2) Peal and core pears. Cut in 1/2-inch dice. Arrange on bottom of baking dish.
3) Place eggs and sugar in a large bowl. Beat until mixture is pale yellow and fluffy. Add vanilla, cream and liqueur to mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour and cinnamon and beat until blended. Pour batter over pears.
4) Bake for 40 minutes or until puffed and firm. Remove from oven and serve immediately. Yield: 6 servings.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Blueberry Flognarde - One Perfect Bite
Plum Clafoutis - The English Kitchen
Chocolate and Cherry Clafoutis - Cook Sister!
Strawberry Clafoutis - Delishhh
Peach Clafoutis - Sugar and Spice
Apple Walnut Clafoutis - Jungle Frog Cooking
Individual Strawberry Clafoutis - Baking Bites