Chevy's Sweet Corn Tomalito Recipe

I LOVE Chevy's Restaurant! I mean really love it! Their food is so fresh and their flautas.....(excuse me while I drool a bit) are absolutely divine.

Unfortunately, the closest one to me is 2 hours away. Not exactly somewhere I can go for dinner when I'm in the mood for Mexican.

But, my parents have one in Sioux Falls so anytime I go and visit and my dad asks, "What do you want to do while you're here?" The first thing I say is "Eat at Chevy's!"

Ok, so you're probably wondering why I love it so much and I'll tell you. Aside from their flautas (more drool) the best thing they have on their menu is this....

Sweet Corn Tomalito (which is a corn pudding of sorts)

It is wonderful and the perfect side dish for a Mexican entree.

But alas, since I only eat it once a year when I go to South Dakota, I decided to try my hand and making it myself.

It's a simple recipe but I found that there is a certain art to getting it just right. I'll tell you about that at the end.

Ingredients

• 5 Tbsp. butter
• 1/4 cup masa (corn flour)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups corn kernals
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. milk

Let's Get Started

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the butter, masa, and sugar for about one minute.

3. In a blender, blend one cup of the corn with the water.

4. Combine the corn mixture with the butter mixture in the mixing bowl. Mix well.

5. Add the other cup of corn kernels, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and milk. Mix well.

6. Once all your ingredients are mixed well, pour them into a greased baking dish and cover tightly with foil.

7. Place your baking dish into a larger dish and fill the larger dish a little more than halfway with water. In this step you basically want your dish to be soaking in a bath as it bakes.

8. Bake for 60-70 minutes.

Baking Variations

Although my Sweet Corn Tomalito was delicious, it was a little grainier than it was supposed to be. Here are two options I may try in the future to get the consistency just right.

 Option 1:

• Pour the corn mixture into an 8 inch square baking pan. tightly cover with foil. 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. Keep an eye on the water, you may need to add more.
• It is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Tomalito should be smooth and moist.
• Note: the pan must be tightly wrapped at all times.

Option 2:

• Preheat oven 250 degree F. Place covered dish in a larger roasting pan filled with so water is 3/4 of inch up side of baking dish. Bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours