Cheesy Creamed Corn Frittata with Bacon Sandwich

Posted by hisweetsweet on February 7, 2013 in Food, Recipes | 2 Comments

The inspiration for this recipe comes from my boyfriend’s mom, Joyce, whose family has been putting the “Holy s!” in holidays with their creamed corn/Velveeta/bacon/egg noodle casserole for decades. I crave it year-round, however, so here’s the sandwich version minus the noodles.

For the rolls, I used the leftover Pan De Sal dough which I’ve been storing in a Pyrex bowl covered tightly in plastic wrap in my fridge, per the book Artisanal Bread in Five Minutes a Day. The longer the pre-risen, pre-cooked dough stays in the fridge, the more it begins to pick up sourdough notes and flavor complexity. I never had a faintly sourdough-y Pan De Sal until last night’s test batch. It’s not traditional Pan De Sal, but it’s definitely yum. Kind of like a Portuguese Roll or Hawaiian bread.

Anyway, if you’re making fresh bread, bake the rolls first. If you’re not baking, I suggest using hard rolls or baguettes for this sammy. Either way, preheat the oven to 450˚.

CHEESY CREAMED CORN FRITTATA

1 lb. Velveeta
1 stick organic unsalted butter
1 can organic corn, drained
1 can sweet corn cream style, NOT drained
1/2 lb. organic bacon
9 organic eggs
1/3 c. milk
Slices of sharp cheddar cheese

Cost: Less than $25 for 7 servings, but I already had the dough for the bread made.

(Btw, I didn’t realize until after grocery shopping that frittata can include pasta. “I think noodles might be too much with the bread,” said Jodi, one of today’s Sandwich Surprisees. “Too many carbs.”)

Begin to melt butter in 2-quart sauce pan on medium heat. Add 1 lb. Velveeta (cut into smaller chunks for easier melting) the can of creamed corn and the drained corn, and stir constantly to avoid burning or browning the bottom of the mixture. You’re done when all the cheese chunks are melted. Let the cheese mixture cool to a lukewarm temp, stirring occasionally to prevent a skin from forming over the sauce. If you don’t cool down the sauce, it might cook the eggs when you mix them together.

Meanwhile, crisp the bacon in an oven-safe sauté pan. Once it’s done to your level of crispiness, remove the bacon, but keep the drippings in the pan.

Whisk the eggs and milk in a bowl. Pour the cheese sauce into the bowl and continue whisking until the sauce is fully incorporated. Then pour all that into the bacon-y sauté pan.

Cook on medium heat without stirring until the bottom of the eggs is set, but the top is still runny. Then place pan under the broiler for 3-4 minutes, until the top is golden brown. I was in a rush to deliver the sandwiches as freshly as possible, so I forgot to snap a pic of it looking fluffy and finished in the pan, but here’s a single serving in a mini springform pan:

I transferred circular single-size portions in springforms covered in foil so that the frittata would maintain its shape for Sandwich Surprise’s first road trip. I also transported the fresh bread pretty much straight out of the oven in a paper bag, and I put the bacon between two sheets of paper towel and wrapped that in foil.

Jodi and Samantha (Sammy? 🙂 ) were ready for their samples in the Flatiron district. Once I got to their office, I put thin slices of extra sharp cheddar on top of each frittata circle, then nuked each for 1 minute to melt the cheese. I also nuked the bacon for 20 seconds. As usual, I scooped out the middle of the bread to adjust for flavor proportions.

“This is killer,” said Jodi (left), after her first couple bites.

“I love the sweetness of the corn with the saltiness of the bacon,” said Samantha. “The fresh bread is a great touch. And it’s filling without being greasy.”

Later, Jodi added: “That sandwich surprise rocked! Sam and I agreed that we’d never have thought to mix corn in with egg, but I love corn in everything and it was perfect. Sometimes egg can be a little too mushy, but the corn really held it together and, along with the bacon, gave me something to chew on. I’m going to stock up on this sandwich’s ingredients in case we get that blizzard this weekend.”

Of course, I had to have some too …

Yum!