CONDLEY: Corn pudding recipe makes for surprisingly good dip

Published 7:07 pm Friday, April 3, 2020

Before the coronavirus and social distancing, our church was having a fellowship dinner (aka potluck) one Sunday night, and I needed to come up with something to take.

You can never have too many vegetable dishes at a potluck.

After looking through my thin folder of vegetable dishes I’d like to make some day, I decided to prepare Sweet Corn Potluck Pudding.

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The recipe came from www.pillsbury.com.

Sweet Corn Potluck Pudding

INGREDIENTS

— 1 bag (12 ounce) Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers Niblets frozen corn

— 2 (11 ounce) cans Green Giant Mexicorn Whole Kernel Corn, Red and Green Peppers

— 1 (14.75 ounce) can Green Giant Cream Style Sweet Corn

— 1 (6.5) ounce package corn muffin and bread mix

— 3/4 cup water

— 1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

— 1 teaspoon salt

INSTRUCTIONS

In a three- to four-quart slow cooker, combine all ingredients, mixing well.

Cover, and cook on low setting for three hours.

Stir mixture. Cover and cook an additional two to three hours or until pudding is slightly puffed in center.

I didn’t have any of the main ingredients at home, so on a trip to the grocery as I was scanning the canned vegetable aisle for the Mexicorn Whole Kernel Corn, I could not find it. I assume Green Giant quit making the flavor of corn called for, so I figured I should just give up on this recipe and make my standard mashed potatoes instead.

I decided I could just try adding some green and red bell pepper to the dish, and hopefully, it would be OK. Another indication the recipe was old was that the sizes of canned vegetables has changed, and apparently, they don’t make the exact content size I needed.

At this point, I was determined I was making this dish, and I would just compromise on the can sizes I used.

I headed to the baking aisle to look for a package of corn muffin and bread mix. I’ve never heard of the two-in-one package, and again, since I couldn’t find exactly what the recipe was calling for (size wise either), I opted for a small box of Jiffy cornbread mix.

By the time I got to the frozen food aisle, I was just about tired of looking for the specific brand and size of items for this dish.

I gave the case a quick glance but ended up just buying enough frozen corn called for.

Before heading to the check-out, I remembered I needed a red and a green bell pepper.

After church on Sunday morning, I pulled out my slow cooker and poured all the ingredients in.

I stirred everything well, turned it on low and walked away.

After three hours, I took the lid off the pot and gave the mixture a good stir. It was a little soupy, and I began to worry this dish was going to be a flop.

After a couple more hours, it was time to head back to church and the mixture still appeared a little runny.

Oh well, I’d just plug the slow cooker back up when we got to church and hope for the best.

I’m on the fellowship committee so I let my dish cook as long as it could before it was time to eat, but finally, I had to unplug the cooker and put it on the serving table.

Someone brought tortilla chips to the dinner, and we could not find any kind of dip that went with them so they ended up next to my slow cooker.

When everyone arrived to eat and fellowship, people started scooping out the corn and asking if the chips went with it. I just shrugged my shoulders and said not really, but it might be good with them.

Once everyone had served themselves, I went through the line. There was corn left and some chips too, so I decided to try my dish as a dip.

When I sat down, I took a bite of the corn and thought it was pretty good (and it had set up with the additional cooking time), then I scooped some onto a chip and took a bite. Wow, to my surprise, it was just as good as a dip.

Sandra was sitting with us, and she’d tried the dish and said she liked it. Our pastor came by while the committee was cleaning up and said he thought the corn dip was excellent. There were other people there who gave me positive feedback on this dish.

We didn’t have a huge crowd attend the potluck so there was some the Sweet Corn Potluck Pudding leftover, and we took it home. It was good reheated the next night, and I’ll have to admit I ate a few chips with it.

This potluck pudding dish is a winner and falls into the nailed it category. It will make it into my self- made cookbook.

Of course, I can never go to a potluck without making a dessert, and I’ll highlight that next week.

In the meantime, take care and stay safe.

Sarah Condley is an amateur baker and chef who is compiling a cookbook of her favorite recipes.