El Torito's Sweet Corn Cake

10 servings

2/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup masa harina
4 tablespoons cold water
10 ounces frozen corn kernels, or corn from 2 large fresh cobs
3 tablespoons cornmeal
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Place butter in mixer bowl and whip until soft. Continue whipping until very fluffy and creamy. Add masa harina gradually, mixing, and add water gradually, mixing thoroughly. Place corn in blender or food processor and coarsely chop. Stir into masa mixture.

Place cornmeal, sugar, whipping cream, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. Mix quickly. Add butter-masa mixture. Mix lightly, until just blended.

Pour into an 8-inch greased baking pan and cover with foil. Place pan in a larger pan and pour in boiling water halfway up pan containing corn cake. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 40 to 50 minutes, checking on water level; add more boiling water if necessary. When corn cake is cooked through, remove from oven and allow to stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before cutting. Cut into squares or use a small ice cream scoop to serve.

(From El Torito)

Artichoke/GoatCheese Strata

 Another Cooking Light recipe. I wanted some breakfast ideas and stratas seem like they would freeze well (they do!). Plus, I can get loaves of french bread for free, so...

Here's a link to the original recipe

And here's what I did... (added mushrooms, swapped out herbs, used a different bread, used skim milk)

• 1/2 cup finely chopped shallots (about 1 large)
• 1.5 tsp of butter
• 5 oz of baby portabello mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
• 1.5 cubes of frozen basil
• 1/2 tsp of dry mustard
• 1 3/4 cups skim milk
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs
• 1/3 cup (about 1 1/2 ounces) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 10 oz extra sourdough bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 5 cups)
• Cooking spray
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) crumbled goat cheese, divided

Preparation
1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cooking spray, add shallots, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove shallots. Sautee mushrooms in butter, until wilted. Stir in artichoke hearts; cook for 8 minutes or until artichoke hearts begin to brown, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, and stir in shallots. Cool 10 minutes.

2. Combine milk, black pepper, salt, and eggs in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add basil and mustard. Add Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and bread; toss gently to combine. Stir in artichoke mixture, and let stand for 20 minutes. (Mine sat for 4 hours.)

3. Preheat oven to 375°.

4. Spoon half of bread mixture into an 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with half of goat cheese, and top with remaining bread mixture. Sprinkle remaining half of goat cheese over top. Bake at 375° for 50 minutes or until browned and bubbly.

This made six pretty sizable portions. I used the nutrition info off my products and calculated this at 255cal per serving.

Corny Potato Salad

JT:  Made a potato salad to take to Father's Day dinner. Really wanted to avoid the mayo -- I'd hate it even if it wasn't chock full of calories. The texture and taste have always been bad to me. So, I needed a no mayo potato salad. However, my dad doesn't like vinegar-y things... so, that made finding a good potato salad difficult! I stumbled across this one on foodgawker (fun site to browse, btw). The original recipe can be found here. I made some changes...

CORNY POTATO SALAD
serves 8 side servings

*27oz red new potatoes, cooked till fork tender (I boiled them) And the 27oz was just what I used... Orig recipe called for 2lb.
*2 Tbsp. dijon mustard (or to taste)
*2/3 of a 14oz can of creamed corn
*1 Tbsp. capers (forgot these)
*1 celery stalk, diced
*1 small red bell pepper, diced
*3 radishes sliced
*2 tsp. fresh dill
*1.5 cups of frozen green beans, thawed and dried
*3.5 slices of bacon, cooked super crispy in the oven and chopped

I cooked potatoes ahead of time and cooled. Mix mustard into creamed corn. use more or less, to taste. Could need more creamed corn too, depending on potato volume. Add potatoes and other veggies and mix gently. I garnished with chopped crispy bacon. Would also be good with different veggies -- especially cherry tomatoes! And it could have used a bit of onion.

Nutrition: Calculated the quantities/products I used... Each serving came out to about 130cal. I thought this salad was great. It has a creamy/dressed quality with out added any extra calories.