Corn-Pancetta Puddings in Corn Husk Baskets

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon double-acting baking powder 
• 1 pinch cayenne 
• 2  ears of corn 
• 4 large eggs 
• 0.5 cup flour all-purpose
• 0.8 cup heavy cream 
• 0.8 teaspoon kosher salt 
• 0.8 cup milk 
• 3 ounces pancetta diced
• 1 pinch pepper freshly ground
• 0.5 cup polenta 
• 0.3 cup a mixture of butter and rendered pancetta fat unsalted cooled melted
• 1 tablespoon sugar 
• 0.5 cup tomatoes diced seeded

Equipment

• bowl
• frying pan
• paper towels
• sauce pan
• oven
• knife
• pot
• muffin tray
• cutting board
• baking spatula

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin plus 6 cups of an additional tin.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Trim the leafy tops of the husks from each ear of corn and slice through the bottom of the cob to more easily remove the husks. Discarding the tougher outer husks, trim off any extra curved part of the more tender inner husks, and tear the husks in half lengthwise until you have 36 strips about the width of your muffin tins. Blanch in the water until softened, 5 minutes.
3. Drain and let cool.
4. Holding the cobs upright on a cutting board, cut the kernels off the cobs, then measure out 1 cup; reserve any extra kernels for another use.
5. Place the cream and milk in a small saucepan, and use the back of a knife to scrape any remaining corn and juices from the cobs into the pan.
6. Place the cobs in the pan (break them in half to fit), bring to a simmer, and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan.
7. Place the pancetta in a small sauté pan over medium heat and brown until crisp, about 6 minutes.
8. Drain on paper towels (save the remaining fat to replace of some of the butter, if you like).
9. Before mixing the batter, press a strip of corn husk into a muffin tin, and top with a thinner strip to make a cross pattern with the ends sticking up. Repeat to use the remaining husks (if the husks pop out of place, just poke them down again) until you have lined 18 cups.
10. Remove the cobs from the cooled cream mixture and place the mixture in a large bowl with the eggs, butter, flour, polenta, sugar, baking powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Fold in the 1 cup corn kernels, tomatoes, and half of the pancetta, then pour into the prepared baskets. Top with the remaining pancetta and bake until firm, about 20 minutes. Use a narrow silicone spatula or dinner knife to remove the puddings from the pan and serve immediately, or slightly warm.
11. Reprinted with permission from Root to Stalk Cooking by Tara Duggan, © 2013 Ten Speed PressTARA DUGGAN is a staff writer for The San Francisco Chronicle's Food & Wine section and the author of three previous cookbooks, including The Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee and The Working Cook. A graduate of the California Culinary Academy, she is the recipient of a James Beard Foundation Journalism Award. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Denver Post, The Chicago Tribune, and The Toronto Star. Tara, her husband, and their two daughters live in San Francisco and enjoy spending time on her family's off-the-grid farm in Northern California, where she gets her ideas for what to do with all kinds of kitchen scraps.