A very old recipe from New Bedford.
Original recipe: Butter well 3 shallow pie plates. Grate – not cut – several ears, fresh, sweet corn – mix with 2 eggs well beaten, and thin if needed with cold, rich milk. Add pinch salt, and 1 tbsp. sugar. Pour into pie plates – dot with butter and cook in moderate oven. Cook until crisp on edges, brown on top, and so thick with the grated corn – that it is not like a custard. A shallow dish is important.
- 4 tablespoons butter, divided
- 3 cups grated sweet corn (from 5 ears)
- 2 eggs, well beaten
- cup whole milk
- pinch salt
- 4 tablespoons butter, divided (additional butter is optional; today’s corn is already super-sweet)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Use about half the butter to generously coat 2 10-inch or 3 7-inch pie plates.
Mix up the rest of the ingredients (except the remaining butter). If the corn is very juicy you may not even need to use milk; the mixture should be just thin enough that the corn is submerged when it is poured into the prepared pans.
Dot with the butter, then bake 50 – 60 minutes, or “until crisp on edges, brown on top”, as the lady says.
Serve hot or warm, with anything from a grilled steak to seared scallops to poached eggs to garlicky broiled tomatoes. Almost a dessert, too.
Serves 4-6
