Tuesday, September 21, 2010

You be the Sommelier

Summer is officially over, and although I love autumn, I do feel gloomy about it. I love summer, just love it. I love how long the days are, all of the great things to eat at the market, the feeling of sitting on the deck at 9pm bathed in 72 degree warmth.

The thing is, summer is actually about to begin again. Think of it this way - it's almost Halloween and then before you know it, it's Thanksgiving. And then it's the end of the year holidays. Okay, there's tough stretch in January-March but then it's spring, and we all know how quickly spring flies by. Then it's summer again. So actually, it's almost next fall.

In this time of year, I like to make use of things that we won't be eating for a while. On Saturday I got what might be our last corn of the season, and made a simple corn pudding:

Beat 2 eggs, and whisk them with 2 cups of some combination of milk and or cream. I used a cup of each, and it was almost too rich. Whisk in some salt, a bit of sugar (which you can omit), 3/4 cup of flour, and corn. I used the scraped kernels from 5 cobs. You can use less or more depending on how corny you want your pudding to be. I like a lot of corn in there. Here you can add chopped basil, grated cheddar, whatever else you like. I kept it plain with the little daughters in mind, and added only a half stick of melted butter, spread the mixture in a pan and bake at 350 for an hour and a half or until the top is golden brown.

That's it, that's the dish. There are many things that would be great to drink with this. Please, you be the sommelier. What would you open with this corn pudding?

10 comments:

TWG said...

Kabinett Riesling

michelecolline said...

Corn-as, a good Corn-elin...jokes aside...must need an Italian of some sort...

Anonymous said...

minervois

Nicola said...

The creaminess that I'm imagining in this dish would be complemented by a medium or full-bodied white burgundy.

Tim Buzinski said...

I am thinking Loire Valley Chenin Blanc, a richer style Vouvray or Anjou perhaps. Sounds like the perfect transition (summer to fall) dish: still using that great summer produce but making it more suitable for cool nights.

ty said...

Dolcetto?

Paula said...

Depending on which aspect you want to highlight: 1) enhancing the sweetness, I'd suggest 2009 Von Voxelm Saar Riesling, Germany. A real nod to the savory would be 2007 Cotes du Jura, Domaine Macle, France (a chardonnay-savagnin blend). And if you went with the latter, I'd substitute comté for the cheddar. Bon appetit!

Anonymous said...

I second Nicola (something from the Maconnaise) and/or Paula (Jura).

Anonymous said...

1996 Cazin Cour-Cheverny Cuvee Renaissance. Ideal level of acidity and RS...and its drinking perfectly at the moment

Brooklynguy said...

thanks for all of the ideas. i made a similar dish last month, a corn flan, and we drank a delicious kabinett riesling with it and the pairing was great - nothing to improve on.

this time i wanted to try something different, and we drank a Spanish white, the 2007 Bodegas y Viñedos Mengoba Bierzo. The wine is mostly Godello with some Doña Blanca (?) too. I don't have a lot of experience with Godello, but I like the wines. Sort of remind me of good Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire, and this one had lovely bitter herbal undertones that balanced the sweetness of the corn.