Cheesy Jalapeño Corn Casserole

If you are a fan of cheese and spice and corn, you are going to love this cheesy jalapeño corn casserole. The whole dish is great, but that golden top is the absolute best part.

I must confess that in my family we have a standard set of sides that must be made for Thanksgiving and Christmas and this cheesy jalapeño corn casserole isn't on that list. Not because it’s not perfectly spicy, cheesy and delicious. No, it's because that list was set in stone many years ago and no one is allowed to alter it. In fact. lest we forget, the list is kept at the front of my recipe binder, in a little pocket. Along with the turkey and stuffing, we must have rich creamed potatoes, sticky sweet potatoes, maque choux, green beans with baby new potatoes and, of course, my aunt's best pecan pie for dessert. Is it only my family that is so set in our ways?

If your family is not as persnickety about the holiday menu, you’ll want to add this casserole to your line up. Never mind, if they are. Just make it for a Sunday Supper.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
1 fresh jalapeño or part thereof- depending on your heat tolerance - minced
2 tablespoons onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese, about 12 oz or 340g
4 cups or 540g fresh or frozen corn kernels
2 eggs
1 cup or 240ml milk

Method
Use one tablespoon of the butter to sauté the onion, garlic and jalapeño in a small saucepan, over a very low heat, just until softened, about 5-7 minutes. The onion doesn’t need to color, just soften. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C and use the other tablespoon of butter to grease your casserole dish.

Toss together cheese, flour, mustard powder, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Add in the corn and mix well. Set aside.

Beat the eggs and whisk in the milk and the sautéed vegetables.

Pour milk/egg mixture in the corn/cheese mixture; stir well to blend evenly.

Pour the combined mixture into your buttered casserole dish. It looks a bit dry on the top but don't worry, the egg and cheese will rise up and created a beautiful almost soufflé like texture throughout.

Bake in your preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes or until puffy and golden on top. The middle should be ever so slightly jiggly when you take it out and will firm up as it cools.

Enjoy!

Check out all the other special tasty side dishes our Sunday Supper tastemakers are sharing today! Many thanks to this week's host, Caroline of Caroline's Cooking and our event manager, Renee of Renee's Kitchen Adventures for all of their hard word.

Fruity Side Dishes

• Cranberry Apple Relish by Recipes Food and Cooking
• Cranberry Fluff Salad by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Easy Cheesy Pineapple Bake by This is How I Cook
• Pecan Cranberry Jello Salad by Curious Cuisiniere
• Slow Cooker Butternut Squash and Apples by Dizzy Busy and Hungry

Other Side Dishes

• Chestnut Stuffing by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Easy Mushroom Rice Pilaf by Renee’s Kitchen Adventures
• One Pot Macaroni and Cheese by A Mind “Full” Mom
• Potato Dinner Rolls by The Redhead Baker
• Sausage, Apple, and Cranberry Stuffing by Life Tastes Good

Potato Side Dishes

• Gingered Sweet Potatoes by Simple and Savory
• Marmalade Glazed Sweet Potatoes by Sunday Supper Movement
• Sour Cream and Chive Mashed Potatoes by Cookin’ Mimi
• Sour Cream and Onion Smashed Red Potatoes by Food Done Light
• Southern Praline Sweet Potato Casserole by The Weekend Gourmet
• Southwestern Potato Bake by The Freshman Cook
• Stacked Sweet Potatoes by My Imperfect Kitchen
• Sweet Potatoes with Cumin Sage Butter by Cooking Chat
• Twice Baked Potato Casserole by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes by Mindy’s Cooking Obsession

Vegetable Side Dishes

• Acorn Squash and Brussel Sprout Side Dish by Caroline’s Cooking
• Bacon Balsamic-Roasted Brussels Sprouts by The Crumby Cupcake
• Braised Red Cabbage by Turnips 2 Tangerines
• Broccoli and Cauliflower Cheese Bake by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Candied Acorn Squash by Cricket’s Confections
• Cheesy Jalapeño Corn Casserole by Food Lust People Love
• German Green Bean Salad (Bohnensalat) by Cosmopolitan Cornbread
• Homemade Green Bean Casserole by Family Around The Table
• Loaded Mashed Cauliflower Casserole by My Life Cookbook
• Miso Glazed Corn by NinjaBaker.com
• Pan Roasted Carrots with Apple Molasses by Palatable Pastime
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pine Nuts and Cranberries by The Chef Next Door
• Roasted Carrots and Parsnips with Walnut Pesto by The Hungry Goddess
• Roasted Onions with Parsley Pesto by Monica’s Table
• Roasted Parsnips with Balsamic Vinegar and Rosemary by Wholistic Woman
• Roasted Pumpkin with Rosemary and Thyme by Feeding Big
• Spicy Balsamic Roasted Vegetables by Pies and Plots
• Sweet Corn Pudding by Brunch-n-Bites

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Orange and Plum Muffins #MuffinMonday

Shiny deep purple plums and bright oranges vie for my attention in my local grocery store these days. How could I resist baking them both into orange and plum muffins?

I briefly considered making sugar plums with orange zest and putting those into muffins. But, you know what, I am just too lazy for that. After all, once they are all cut up and mixed with muffin batter, who would know they had ever started life as sugar plums?

I brought these muffins round as a welcome for a new neighbor who moved in across the street while I was away last month. Shortly after, I got an iMessage: “Thank you so much for the muffins. My daughter doesn’t usually like muffins but she’s on her second one now!”  As you can imagine, that made my day! May they get as good a reception in your house.

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g flour
3/4 cup or 150g sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
zest 1 orange plus juice
4 small ripe, yet firm, plums (Mine weighed about 8 3/4 oz or 250g total, whole)
1 egg
Enough milk to orange juice to make 3/4 cup or 175ml
1/3 cup or 75g butter, melted then cooled

Optional: Pearl sugar for decoration

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. Put liners in a 12-cup muffin pan or grease it well with butter or non-stick spray.

Cut the pits out and chop the plums in small pieces.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Zest your orange into the dry ingredients and stir gently with a fork to combine and separate the zest strands from each other.

Add in your chopped plums and stir till they are well coated with the flour mixture.

In another smaller bowl, whisk together the egg, melted butter, and the 3/4 cup or 175ml orange juice/milk mixture.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just mixed.

Divide batter among the 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle on some pearl sugar, if desired.

Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.

Enjoy!


We are so glad that you’ve stopped by for Muffin Monday! We've got some beauties for you this month.

• Apple Crisp Muffins from Making Miracles
• Candied Ginger and Oatmeal Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Carrot Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Double Corn Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Golden Beet Muffins with Caramel and Chocolate from Farm Fresh Feasts
• Orange and Plum Muffins from Food Lust People Love

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board.

Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.

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Sangrita - Mexican Tomato Juice - The Chile Pepper Bible #Giveaway

My friends know that I am a chile head from way back. In fact, my "party trick" as a child was to eat jalapeños without flinching. I love those things, fresh or pickled. I feel the same about my new favorite libation, Sangrita or Mexican tomato juice. It's spicy, a little salty and perfectly refreshing on a warm day.

Each morning when I wake up lately, I poke my head outside and declare the air cooler than the day before. Am I kidding myself? Perhaps. But it's almost November and things HAVE to be cooling off soon, right? Even in Dubai.

Meanwhile, I'm flipping through my new favorite cookbook and reference guide to all things chile pepper, The Chile Pepper Bible: From Sweet & Mild to Fiery & Everything in Between by Judith Finlayson. With more than 250 recipes to choose from, it is super hard to decide what to make first but when I was asked if I wanted to participate in a cookbook blog tour to promote this book, we had a shorter list of recipes we could choose from to share with our readers. So that seemed like the best place to start.

You can see from the varied titles that this book has a worldwide reach of deliciousness. Having just tried the muharrama or spicy walnut dip recently, that one caught my eye first. But maybe I should try something new, right? Perhaps the Castilian Garlic Soup or the Cape Verde Sausage Stew? So hard to decide. Which would you make first?

• Muharrama or Middle Eastern Walnut Dip (Middle East)
• Castilian Garlic Soup (Spain)
• Chinese Hot and Sour Mushroom Soup  (China)
• Paella (Spain)
• Tagine of Chicken with Apricots (N. Africa)
• Cuban style hash (Cuba)
• Original San Antonio Chili (USA)
• Indonesian-Style Fried Rice (SE Asia)
• Cape Verde Sausage Stew (Africa)
• Spinach and Tomato Dal (India)
• Calabrese-Style Fried Potatoes with Peppers (Italy)
• Thai-Style Grilled Chile Salsa (Thailand/SE Asia)
• Kimchi (Korea)
• Sangrita or Mexican-Style Tomato Juice - (Mexico)
• Chile-Spiked Chocolate Pots - (France)

Finally, my warm weather combined with the availability of the most gorgeous red tomatoes in the local market won out.

As the head note says: Whip up this Mexican-inspired spicy tomato-citrus juice during the dog days of summer, when tomatoes are abundant and in season. It’s a delicious nonalcoholic refreshment, but if you want to liven up the experience, add a dash of vodka or (as they often do in Mexico) a splash of tequila. This recipe is both vegan and gluten-free friendly.

Tools you'll need:

• Large fine-mesh sieve
• Cheesecloth
• Blender

Ingredients - Makes about 6 cups (1.5 L)
3 lbs Roma or plum tomatoes (15 to 20), cut into chunks
1⁄2 to 1 jalapeño pepper (see Tips, below)
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice    
1⁄2 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves and stems
1⁄3 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1⁄3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice    
2 teaspoons fine sea salt, or to taste
Agave nectar (optional)

Method
Place sieve over a large bowl and line with 2 layers of dampened cheesecloth.
In blender, in batches, purée tomatoes, jalapeño pepper to taste, orange juice, cilantro, lime juice and lemon juice until smooth.


If necessary, add water, 1 tbsp (15 mL) at a time, to facilitate puréeing. Strain through sieve as completed and stir gently.

When most of the liquid has passed through, lift the 4 corners of the cheesecloth and twist around tomato mixture to form a tight ball. Using your hands, squeeze remaining liquid into bowl. Discard solids.

Transfer liquid to a large pitcher. Season to taste with salt. (I didn't add any more.)
Refrigerate until well chilled, about 3 hours.
Taste the mixture; if it is not sweet enough for you, add agave nectar (if using) to taste. Serve very cold, over ice if desired.

Enjoy!

Tips
Use a whole jalapeño pepper only if you are a true heat seeker. It creates a very spicy result.
You can substitute another fresh Mexican pepper, such as serrano or habanero, for the jalapeño. If you are using a habanero, use only about one-quarter of a pepper.

This recipe is been reprinted courtesy of The Chile Pepper Bible: From Sweet & Mild to Fiery & Everything in Between by Judith Finlayson © 2016 www.robertrose.ca Reprinted with publisher permission. Available where books are sold. I received one copy compliments of the publisher. No other compensation was received. Links to the book are affiliate links. 

When I suggest to my daughters that they might enjoy one cookbook or another, they explain that they can find anything they need to know on the internet. And, indeed, I am sure that is true. But the beauty of a comprehensive book like The Chile Pepper Bible, is that it's all right here, in one place. What Judith Finlayson has not written about chile peppers is not worth knowing. I can't imagine ever having to consult the internet on the subject of chile peppers ever again. Their history, the varieties, the health benefits, even the geography of chile growing and, of course, the scientific measurement of their spiciness are explored in depth.

Not only that, but the tasty recipes are written with easy to follow instructions by a best-selling cookbook author who knows what she's doing. You can trust that the recipes will turn out as promised. If you'd like to win a copy The Chile Pepper Bible of your own, make sure to enter the lucky draw below.

Many thanks to the publishers Robert Rose for providing one copy for the giveaway. US and Canadian residents alike are eligible to enter. Please read all of the terms and conditions before entering.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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