ISO name & recipe for sweet corn mush thingy

[sk8grl]

My husband and I were at Casa Gallardo last night, and they have a side dish that seems really easy and that DH and I both just LOVED. It looks like it's served out of an ice cream scoop, and it tastes kind of like a sweet corn bread. The menu called it simply "corn cake" but searches on that only bring up corn bread recipes, and this is something a little different. I would love to make it if I can only find a recipe... can any of you knowledgeable BB'ers help me out?

TIA! -Libby

[tovie]

Chichi's Mexican restaurant had it and they just called it corn cake too. It is really good. You can find supposedly copycat recipes for it if you look on one of those sites (maybe topsecretrecipes.com) but I've tried several and just didn't think it was the same. It's sort of a cross between baked (custard?) corn, cornbread and spoonbread. Try SOAR too, and look for both corncake and corn cake (cause one way will get you way more recipes than the other and I forget which <g> )

While there's not a Chichi's restaurant anywhere near me anymore, the grocery store here carries their brand name salsa, tortillas, etc stuff and there is a mix to make corn cake. I still don't think it's quite the same as the restaurant's, but it's the closest I've come.

[sk8grl]

Wow, I just got back from lunch and found all these wonderful responses. Thank you for your input and advice! (And compliments--Emilycat! )

I think you guys are right that it's not exactly a pudding or spoon bread. I will check out some of the web sites you've recommended and will certainly post anything good I find...

Thanks again!
Libby

[sk8grl]

Found it! Thanks to heidibowman for identifying a searchable name for this yummy side dish. I have to admit, it sounds quite a bit more complicated to make than I thought it would be. But I'm going to give it a try, and I'll post the results for anyone who's interested. Here it is:

Sweet Corn Tomalito

Ingredients:

5 Tbsp. margarine, softened
1/4 cup masa (corn flour)
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 cups corn kernels, fresh or frozen & thawed; divided
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. milk

In a small mixing bowl, mix the margarine, masa, and sugar using an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. In a blender, blend half of the corn kernels with the water until smooth. Combine this mixture with the margarine mixture, stirring well. Add the remaining corn kernels, corn meal, baking powder, salt, and milk and mix well. Pour the corn mixture into an 8-inch square baking pan. Tightly cover with foil, and steam by setting atop a medium sauce pan of water on top of the stove. Bring water to a boil and steam corn mixture for 50 minutes to one hour (remember to check to see whether you might need to add more water) until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Tomalito should have a smooth, moist texture.

Note: The pan must be tightly wrapped at all times.

Sk8grl again... after reading the directions, I'm not exactly sure how I'll get an 8" pan safely atop a pot of boiling water. This sounds like X-treme Cooking to me! Guess it's my weekend to live dangerously!

[ewatkins]

Do you think you could bake it in a pan of hot water? Like a steamed pudding technique? I'd have to use a roasting pan on 2 burners to get anything that could hold boiling water with an 8 in. pan in it.

[mb]

maybe you're looking for a spoon-bread? i'm not sure i've ever even had anything like that! i think in july/august 99 there was a recipe for a corn spoon bread? maybe someone else will have more input. it just made me think of that though. good luck!

[Peggy]

Libby,

Chevy's Restaurant serves a similar side dish and it is like soft, sweet corn bread. I recently made the Easy Corn Pudding recipe in the CL Complete Cookbook and it was very similar to the one from the mexican restaurant. Do you have access to that recipe? If not I can post it for you...

Peggy

[ewatkins]

I know what you're talking about, but don't have a recipe. It is definitely not corn pudding or spoon bread --it is dryer. More like a very moist cornbread only very sweet. I forget what our Mexican restaurant calls it.

[emilycat]

I just wanted to compliment you on the title of your thread, sk8grl

[heidibowman]

I have the Chevy's Fresh Mex cookbook at home. I'll try to remember to post the "sweet corn tomalito" recipe this weekend.