Parmesan Corn Pudding

 A few years ago, I was looking for corn recipes to make for a 4th of July BBQ. I happened upon a version of this one, and I thought "This is clearly more Thanksgiving than 4th of July..", so I saved the recipe and planned to revisit it at a later date. The following year, it occurred to me that I still hadn't tried it, so I gave it a whirl. Honestly, it was not at all what I was hoping it would be. Hmm.. set it aside.. let me think on it,  I'll revisit it again at a later date....
 Cut to this year... and I thought, "ok, let's figure out what's going on with this recipe."
 My main problem was that the recipe is called Parmesan Corn Pudding, only you could barely taste any Parmesan! Seems to me that if an ingredient is in the TITLE of the recipe, then you should at least be able to taste it, dontcha think?? So I switched a few things around, added a couple other things and here we are!! THIS is what I was hoping for all along! It just goes to show that recipes are not engraved in stone. I know I always say it, but seriously, you can always tweak a recipe to fit your personal tastes. Read your ingredients. Taste as you go. I'm sure the person who originally wrote this recipe was quite thrilled with it, but it just needed a few adjustments to work for me! Do what works for YOUR family! If you want to add a little kick, add some diced jalapenos. Would you like it to have a little more onion flavor? Add a few more chives, or even some chopped scallions. Make it however you like it! I'm sure the love you put into it will be greatly appreciated!!
Enjoy!


2 (12-oz.) packages frozen corn, thawed and divided
1 1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup sugar 
1/4 cup all-purpose flour 
2 tablespoons plain yellow cornmeal 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
6 tablespoons butter, melted 
4 large eggs 
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives 
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus a couple tbs more
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Garnish: chopped fresh chives


 Preheat oven to 350°F.
 Place 1 package of corn and the milk in a large food processor. Process until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides. Transfer mixture to a large bowl. Add the other package of corn along with remaining ingredients, stirring until completely combined. Pour mixture into a lightly greased 2-qt. baking dish; sprinkle with more grated Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350° for 40 to 45 minutes or until set. Garnish with fresh chives, if desired.

Tips:
Even though I love to play around with recipes and switch this and that, I still make sure to try it once as it was originally written. How can you switch things up if you're not sure what you don't like about it in the first place? In this case, I wanted more Parmesan flavor, and I also wanted the cheese to be grated instead of shredded (as the original recipe had suggested). I also found it was easier to stir most of the ingredients together instead of doing the whole thing in the food processor! Boom.
Oh, one other thing.. this recipe only makes a 2 qt casserole. If you're cooking for a crowd, or if you're making it for a huge holiday dinner, you'll probably want to make it in a 9x13 pan, right? In order to fill a 9x13 pan, don't double everything.... but instead, increase the recipe by HALF. You'll wind up with just enough to fill your casserole pan!