Martha Stewart Living (November 2014)
As a general rule, we're not huge advocates of Thanksgiving dishes that need to be made at the very last minute.
We are plan-ahead, make-ahead, stash-ahead, heat-up-at-the-least-minute-or-maybe-actually-just-serve-at-room-temperature Thanksgiving hosts, especially when it comes to feeding a crowd.
But rules are made to be broken.
And this Cornmeal-Crème Fraîche Spoon Bread is worth breaking all the rules.
Following closely on the heels of the Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes, this Cornmeal-Crème Fraîche Spoon Bread was the second favorite dish among our Fakesgving with friends.
There's so, SO much to love here. The spoon bread itself is light and airy, nicely balanced with bits of corn and herbs, and just downright delicious. If we were going to make this again, we'd add slightly more corn (1/2 cup of frozen kernels isn't really very much), but we'd leave the rest as it is. It's perfection.
The only downside here is that it can't really be made ahead. Or rather, we think it could be made ahead, but it just wouldn't be as good. This is a dish that needs to be served fresh out of the oven, piping hot.
Take your turkey out to let it rest, have this spoon bread ready to go, and pop it in the oven. It needs 40 minutes.
But that may just be the best 40 minutes you invest this Thanksgiving.
>> Read the full Thanksgiving 2014 recipe index
>> Read about this year's biggest Thanksgiving trends
Cornmeal-Crème Fraîche Spoon Bread
Martha Stewart Living (November 2014)
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(This photo: Martha Stewart Living/Chris Court)
Prep: 20 mins | Total: 1 hr
Servings: 8
INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1 stick unsalted butter, plus more, room temperature, for cake pan
2 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
1 cup fine stone-ground yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup creme fraiche
3 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup chopped fresh chives
1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan, combine milk, butter, and salt. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to maintain simmer. Gradually whisk in cornmeal until mixture is thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat; whisk in creme fraiche.
In a large heatproof bowl, whisk together egg yolks and chives. Gradually whisk in cornmeal mixture; fold in corn.
Butter a 9-inch round cake pan. Whisk egg whites on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, about 1 minute. Stir one-quarter of beaten whites into cornmeal mixture to loosen. Gently fold in remaining whites until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until puffed and lightly browned on top, about 40 minutes. Serve immediately.