Fresh corn is one of my favorite summer foods, and this corn pudding recipe, also from Denise Langevin, is such a delicious way to enjoy it. (Don’t fret if you fall in love and want it year-round—it can be made with 9 cups of frozen corn kernels.)
Ingredients
12 ears fresh corn, raw
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for the baking dish
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons of granulated sugar, divided use
2 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
Directions
Step 1
Using a sharp knife, cut the corn kernels off the cobs and add to a food processor (you may need to do this in batches). Process until the kernels form a paste, up to 5 minutes.
Step 2
Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. When hot, add the olive oil, butter, and the corn paste. Gradually add the milk and continue cooking until you get a very thick pudding. Stir in the salt, 2 tablespoons sugar, and the basil.
Step 3
Preheat your oven to 400°F. Lightly brush a baking dish with olive oil, then add the corn pudding. Sprinkle the top with the rest of the sugar and bake until the sugar forms a light crust, about 5 to 10 minutes.
While hash is often served with fried eggs, this flavorful combination of ingredients can also be used as a filling for omelets. It can be made ahead and rewarmed. Perfect for a festive brunch, lunch, or dinner.
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds red-skinned or Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and diced into 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more as needed if frying eggs
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup torn cilantro leaves
4 large eggs (optional)
Your favorite salsa, for serving
Directions
Step 1
In a saucepan, cover the potatoes with salted water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer. Cook until tender, up to 10 minutes (test halfway through). Drain well.
Step 2
Sauté the chorizo in a large skillet over medium heat until the fat has rendered, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the cumin toward the end of the cooking time. Transfer to a bowl with a slotted spoon.
Step 3
Drizzle the olive oil over the drained potatoes. Transfer to the hot skillet and cook over medium-high heat until nicely browned, turning with a spatula. Fold in the chorizo. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the cilantro. Divide the hash among four plates, topping each with an olive oil-fried egg, if desired. Serve with salsa
Called manjar in Chile, dulce de leche is a butterscotch-like sauce made from very slowly cooking milk and sugar. My speedy hack is using imported dulce de leche (Amazon offers many brands, most from Argentina). It’s used both in the custard and as its own layer in this dessert. Guests can assemble their own glasses, or you can create a showstopper trifle in a tall and wide glass bowl. Both the cake and custard can be made up to two days in advance.
Ingredients
For the cake layer:
4 large eggs
1 cup cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sugar, divided
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup water at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
For the dulce de leche custard:
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup granulated sugar
Pinch of sea salt
4 egg yolks
4 whole eggs
3 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dulce de leche
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
For the whipped cream:
2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar
For the assembly:
1 pint fresh raspberries
1 cup dulce de leche
Directions
Step 1
Make the cake: Separate the eggs when cold, then let the yolks and whites come to room temperature. Line a 17×12 rimmed sheet pan with a piece of parchment paper large enough to hang over the sides (do not grease it). Preheat your oven to 325°F.
Step 2
Whisk the flour and baking powder in a bowl; set aside. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and half the sugar until pale, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the olive oil, vanilla, and water, then fold in the flour mixture.
Step 3
In the large bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg whites on low until foamy, then add the cream of tartar, salt, and the rest of the sugar. Increase the speed to high and whip until the whites are stiff, 8 to 10 minutes.
Step 4
Gently fold the whites into the yolk-flour mixture in three or four batches; you should barely see any of the whites, but don’t overmix. Pour the batter into the sheet pan and use an offset spatula to smooth out the top.
Step 5
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until lightly browned and spongy. Let cool completely, then invert the cake onto a cutting board and peel off the parchment. Cut into 2-inch squares—save the scraps because they can be used, too.
Step 6
Make the dulce de leche custard: In a large bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, sugar, and salt, then whisk in the yolks followed by the whole eggs. Continue whisking until the mixture turns a lighter yellow; set aside.
Step 7
Place the milk in a saucepan and scald—you should see a light skin start to form, but don’t let the milk come to a boil. Vigorously whisk 1/4 cup milk into the egg mixture, then slowly whisk in the rest. Return the mixture to the saucepan and bring to a low boil over medium heat, whisking constantly for about 2 minutes (lower the heat as needed to prevent scorching the bottom). It should become quite thick.
Step 8
Remove from the heat. Whisk in the olive oil, dulce de leche, and vanilla, and transfer to a glass serving bowl. Let it cool to room temperature, then press a round of parchment paper over the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until cold, 4 hours up to overnight.
Step 9
When ready to assemble, whip the heavy cream and confectioner’s sugar. Rinse the raspberries and pat dry. In a tall serving bowl or individual glasses, build the trifle layers: cake squares, dulce de leche custard, raspberries, whipped cream, and dulce de leche; repeat the layers as needed.
Chicken Sausage Skillet Dinner Recipe, Spotlight on Fennel, Wok—A Stovetop Essential, Add Spice for Portion Control, and Mindfulness and Step-tracking Boost Motivation
I love a meal that comes together in one pot with ingredients that create a yummy sauce. I’m using chicken as a change from pork sausage and checking off all the boxes by combining it with fresh peas and new potatoes. There’s also a reason for the sprinkle of peperoncino—a study showed that chili peppers can help you eat less while still feeling satisfied. And if you’re looking for added motivation to get involved in warm-weather activities, there’s an app that can help.
Parboiling the potatoes cuts the cooking time of this flavorful dish. The recipe makes a delicious dinner, but it’s also great for a picnic since you can enjoy it at room temperature—for safety, remember to consume hot or cold foods within an hour of taking them off the stove or out of the fridge. Note: If you can only find chicken sausage links, simply squeeze them out of their casings and into the hot pan.
Ingredients
1 pound fingerling or new red potatoes
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 pound chicken sausage
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/4 teaspoon peperoncino (Italian red pepper flakes)
1 cup homemade or low-sodium store-bought chicken stock
1 cup freshly shelled green peas
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, divided use
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Directions
Step 1
Parboil the potatoes in salted water for 10 minutes; drain. When cool enough to handle, cut them in half.
Step 2
Heat a large flat-bottom wok over medium heat. When hot, add the olive oil and the chicken sausage, breaking it up with a wooden spoon and stirring until the meat is opaque and cooked through. Add the fennel seeds, peperoncino, and potatoes and sauté with the chicken until the potatoes crisp.
Step 3
Add the stock and use the spoon to release any bits of fond on the bottom of the pan. Raise the heat and cook down the stock until reduced by half. Add the peas and half the Parmigiano-Reggiano, stirring constantly (the sauce will thicken as the cheese melts).
Step 4
Off the heat, add black pepper to taste. Top each portion with more Parmigiano-Reggiano and a drizzle of olive oil.
Yields 4 servings
Healthy Ingredient Spotlight
Fennel Seed
Members of the Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club know that I’m a fresh fennel fan, but I also love fennel seeds, harvested from the plant’s flowers and then dried. While they’re ubiquitous in Italian pork sausages, they’re not always included in chicken sausages, so I’ll simply add them for their distinctive light licorice taste. Part of the same family as anise, fennel is more subtle.
Delicious in pork dishes, fennel seeds are also a great addition to summer potato, seafood, and pasta salads. When shopping, look for fennel seeds that are a pale green, not grey or brown, for freshness. If a recipe calls for ground fennel, simply pulverize them in a spice or coffee bean grinder.
Quick Kitchen Nugget
Wok: A Stovetop Essential
Did you know that a flat-bottomed wok can lead a double life as a frying pan? With higher sides and a wide surface area, a wok should be used for more than stir-fries—often it can sear, sauté, and even deep fry, not to mention cook stews and curries. Many companies now manufacture high-quality woks made of carbon steel that cost less than $70 and will last for decades with the proper care.
For Your Best Health
Add Spice for Portion Control
It’s a provocative—and potentially tasty—concept: Making meals slightly spicier can lead to eating fewer calories, according to Penn State University Sensory Evaluation Center researchers who examined how increasing “oral burn,” the spicy taste from ingredients like chili peppers, affects how much food people consume during a meal.
“We know from previous studies that when people slow down, they eat significantly less,” said Paige Cunningham, PhD. “We suspected that making a meal spicier might slow people down. We thought, let’s test, under controlled experimental conditions in the lab, if adding a small amount of spice, but not so much that the meal is inedible, will make people eat slower and therefore eat less.”
The researchers found that increasing spiciness slightly with dried chili pepper did indeed slow down eating and reduce the amount of food and energy consumed at a meal, all without negatively affecting the palatability of the dish.
The team conducted three related experiments with a total of 130 adults who were served one of two lunch meals—beef chili or chicken tikka masala—in one of two versions: mild or spicy. The spiciness level was controlled by carefully varying the ratio of hot versus sweet paprika added to the dishes while keeping chili flavor constant.
The researchers recorded participants on high-definition video while they ate their meals to monitor their eating behaviors. From the videos, the team measured the amount of food and water consumed, meal duration, eating speed of grams per minute, bite rate, and bite size and collected ratings on appetite, liking, and spiciness before and after the meal.
The study suggests that the reduction in intake is driven by changes in what are called oral processing behaviors. Specifically, participants ate the spicier meals more slowly. Dr. Cunningham explained that a slower eating rate often means food is in the mouth longer, which can help signal fullness and lead to eating less. Other studies that slow eating rate by manipulating texture have shown similar effects, she said.
“What’s critical here is that the reduction in intake occurred without negatively impacting how much participants liked the food,” said John Hayes, PhD, Penn State professor of food science, director of the Sensory Evaluation Center, and corresponding author on the paper.
He added that water intake didn’t differ significantly between spicy and mild meals, suggesting that one seemingly obvious explanation, that people drank more water and filled up faster, was not the primary reason people ate less. “This is why we need to do empirical studies of behavior, because what you might intuitively expect is often not the case,” Dr. Hayes said.
He also noted that appetite ratings made before and after the meals were similar, suggesting participants still felt full after the spicy meal, despite eating less of it. “This points to added chilies as a potential strategy for reducing the risk of energy overconsumption,” he said. “While portion control wasn’t the explicit goal of this study, our results suggest this might work. Next time you’re looking to eat a little less, try adding a blast of chilies, as it may slow you down and help you eat less.”
The team is now focused on understanding how oral burn can impact other eating behaviors, like snacking.
Fitness Flash
Mindfulness and Step-tracking Boost Motivation
A study from the Centre for Motivation and Behaviour Change at the University of Bath in the UK and published in the journal Mental Health and Physical Activity shows that combining step-tracking with mindfulness training delivered via a mobile app can significantly boost the desire to exercise.
While step-tracking alone versus step-tracking alongside a daily mindfulness training course had similar impacts on short-term physical activity, with all study participants exercising more than before the study, those in the mindfulness group did increase their intentions to stay active, a key psychological driver of lasting behavior change.
Lead researcher Masha Remskar, PhD, from the department of psychology at Bath, said, “Our findings show that even short-term mindfulness training combined with step-tracking can make people want to move more, which could have lasting benefits. Helping people build that internal drive towards behavior is essential, especially at a time when many people are struggling to stay active.”
The trial involved 109 adults in England who weren’t meeting recommended activity levels. Over 30 days, all participants were asked to aim for 8,000 steps a day using a basic tracker. Half also followed a daily mindfulness program via a mobile app, with short practice sessions focused on body awareness, movement, and exercise. The sessions that participants used were created by the research team, in collaboration with the Medito Foundation, and are available through the free app Medito.
By the end of the month, both groups had become more active. On average, participants in the mindfulness group increased their activity by approximately 373 minutes of moderate exercise per week, while those in the steps-only group averaged 297 minutes per week. Those who used the mindfulness app also reported a significantly stronger intention to keep exercising, which may suggest that a gradual longer-term change was beginning (the current study did not include a longer follow-up period to explore this trend further).
“Intentions are one of the strongest predictors of future behavior,” Dr. Remskar added. “What’s exciting is that adding a mindfulness component to step-tracking seems to help people mentally commit to being more active. We are particularly excited to have worked with a non-profit collaborator, Medito, which means that the mindfulness program is freely available to anyone who wishes to try it for themselves.”
“This is an exciting first study that combines mindfulness training with strategies designed to help people move more and internalize their motivation for physical activity,” said Max Western, PhD, study co-author and senior lecturer in the department of health at Bath. “There is a lot of potential here and we are keen to refine these tools to make them more engaging and effective, especially for people balancing competing demands.”
Future studies will test whether the motivational benefits seen here translate into real-world behavior over time.
