I don’t post recipes very often, but this one is so good, I wanted to share it. My oldest is doing an oral report for school on Paraguay, and for a little extra credit, most students usually distribute a snack that is related to the country of the report. Calvin told me that he read about sopa, a type of cornbread when he was researching the report. So I did a web search for a recipe, and I found this great one at cookinglight.com.
The steps are a little complicated, but the end product is worth it. This bread is hearty and savory, and just plain yummy:
Paraguayan Corn Bread (Sopa Paraguaya)
Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 wedge)
Ingredients
* Cooking spray
* 2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese
* 1 tablespoon butter
* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
* 1 cup chopped onion
* 1/3 cup chopped green bell pepper
* 2 cups fresh corn kernels (about 4 ears), divided
* 1/2 cup 1% low-fat cottage cheese
* 1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
* 3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded Muenster or sharp cheddar cheese
* 1/2 cup fat-free milk
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* 4 large egg whites
* 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Preparation: Preheat oven to 400°.
Coat a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, and set aside.
Heat butter and oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper; cook 5 minutes or until soft. Place onion mixture in a food processor. Add 1 1/2 cups corn and cottage cheese; process until almost smooth, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Place pureed mixture in a large bowl. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup corn, cornmeal, Muenster cheese, milk, salt, and black pepper.
Place egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently stir one-fourth of egg white mixture into batter; gently fold in remaining egg white mixture. Spoon into prepared pan.
Bake at 400° for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean (cover loosely with foil if it becomes too brown). Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack. Place a plate upside down on top of bread; invert onto plate. Cut into wedges.
In the cold weather when we eat a lot of soups and stews, this bread is a great compliment to make those meals more hearty. Enjoy.
Dad/John asked if I had seen the recipe on your blog. Ya think that might be a hint?!!
Mom,
If you check out the website (http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=2349570), you’ll see the nutritional information. It is actually pretty healthy, and it is large enough that cutting it into 16 instead of 8 is a real possibility that makes a pretty substantial serving. The only leavening agent in it are the egg whites.
Let me know if you make it and like it.
Mom,
One more thing, I used frozen corn, and it turned out fine.
Glad you mentioned the frozen corn, since that’s what I was going to use anyway.