[Sca-cooks] Indian Pudding

[Saint Phlip]

On 10/31/06, grizly <grizly at mindspring.com> wrote

Actually, Niccolo, the thread started because I asked about Indian
Pudding, and someone else started asking about a savory rather than a
sweet corn pudding.
:
 My
> impression of Indian Pudding is that it is a boiled/simmered, sweetened
> cornmeal dish.  the recipe I use is from Jeff Smith's "Frugal Gourmet", page
> 288, and is thusly prepared:
>
> 1 cup cornmeal
> .5 cup black molasses
> .25 cup sugar
> .25 cup butter
> .25 teaspoon salt
> .25 teaspoon baking soda
> 2 eggs
> 6 cups hot milk
>
> He mixes all together except 3 cups of the hot milk, bake in covered bean
> pot at 400F until boiling (I started mine on stovetop until simmering, then
> into oven, with good success).  Add 3 more cups hot milk, and bake covered
> at 275F for 4 to 6 hours until all obsorbed, and thickened.  Stir every half
> hour.  I suspect consistency is a matter of personal taste.  He claims this
> was also the "Hasty Pudding" of legend and lore.  Quick, simple and no fuss.

This is exactly the recipe I was going to type in. It came from a
flyer from Durgin-Park in Boston. Interestingly enough, Johnna posted
me privately with a 'Net recipe, from the exact same source which is
as follows:

*Durgin Park Indian Pudding*

Vegetable shortening
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup dark molasses
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
6 cups whole milk

Set oven at 275°F. Have on hand a shallow 2 1/2 quart baking dish. Use
shortening to grease it. Set aside

In a large saucepan, combine the cornmeal, molasses, sugar, butter,
baking soda, and salt. Add the eggs and stir in 3 cups of milk.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until
the mixture thickens but does not come to a boil. Remove from the heat
and whisk in the remaining 3 cups of milk. Pour the batter into the
baking dish and transfer it to the oven. Bake the pudding for 2 to 2 1/2
hours or until a crust forms on top.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Serves 8 to 10.

Obviously, since the one I had available was the first one, I used
that, with a pinch of cinnamon added (Margali's request) and was
trying to get it put together so it could cook all day, and be ready
for her when she came home from work. Looks pretty good ;-) And, the
first recipe makes it basicly a one dish meal, considering I used a
glass measuring cup to nuke the milk (after measuring out the
molasses) so that everything I measured wound up in the baking pan.

>
> Hope this is helpful.
>
> niccolo difrancesco

Yes, quite so- saved me some typing, and leads me on an interesting
speculation about generating recipes. And, thanks, Adele, for your
input on the temps.

So, folks, which is likely to be most authentic? I didn't know Jeff
Smith DID authenticity?

-- 
Saint Phlip

Heat it up
Hit it hard
Repent as necessary.

Has anyone seen my temper?
I seem to have misplaced it at Stalag XXXV....