Late Harvest Rocky Mountain Dinner

My husband landed these rainbow trouts in Castle Creek. Fish doesn’t need much when it is fresh from the river. Season fish with a little salt and pepper and a touch of cornmeal.  Add some butter to a hot skillet, cook until golden then turn to finish cooking and you’ll have yourself a nice delicate protein.  After visiting the Aspen Farmers’ Market, I returned home with corn, peaches (!) and great tomatoes. My plan was to prepare a simple end of Rocky Mountain supper: corn pudding, tomato salad and something peachy for dessert.  The trout was a pleasant and delicious surprise.

Savory Corn-A-Plenty Pudding

This is a family favorite at our house during corn season; it is fine on its own for a vegetarian entree or lovely as a side for fish or fowl.

3 Cups corn, fresh or frozen, thawed
1 Cup whole Milk
1/3 Cup Cornmeal
1 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 Tbsp. Butter
4 eggs, separated
1 Cup cheese of you choice, I use a good quality cheddar
1/2 Cup green onions, thinly sliced
1 fire roasted anaheim chili, seeded and diced (optional, if not using chili use 1/2 tsp. paprika)

Preheat the oven to 425. Place milk, cornmeal, corn kernels in a heavy bottomed pan and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. If you have an immersion blender, use it for a few seconds on the corn milk mixture, just to puree it a little. If you have a blender, then puree half of the mixture. Place all of the corn mixture into a nice big bowl and allow to cool slightly.  Season with salt, pepper and if using paprika.

In a skillet, saute the onions in the buter until just soft. If using the roasted anaheim chili, dice it up and toss into the onions. Add this to the corn milk mixture and stir well.

Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add the egg yolks to the corn/milk mixture and stir well. Fold the whipped egg whites, green onions and cheese into the corn batter. Pour into a buttered 1 1/2 quart casserole and bake for 20 minutes. This will puff lightly but then deflate a bit.

Enjoy!