Day 336 - Corn Pudding

I think this Corn Pudding is a seasonal TJ’s product.  We found it in the refrigerated section.  It looked interesting so we gave it a go.  The box says that this dish is, “Yellow and white corn baked in a creamy corn puree with mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.”  It is 2 servings.  Here is what we thought:

Sort of an odd name, eh?  It was displayed by the turkeys.  

David:  “This dish has a pleasant texture and mouth feel.  It is quite “comfort food-ish” – it is like a cross between scrambled eggs and mac and cheese.  It is a little bland for my taste.  I would put a little bit more of a spicy cheese in it or something to up the taste level.  But because we are eating it with spicy shrimp, it is a nice compliment.  It is like creamed corn with a bit of breading-ness in it.  I guess I would give it a 3.75.”

As for me, I also would call this COMFORT FOOD.  It tastes like something your grandma would have made.  However, in my case, it is something GRANDMA THOMPSON would have made, not GRANDMA LEE (may they both rest in peace…).  Not to dis Grandma Thompson, but she wasn’t known for her cooking.  Grandma LEE however, that girl could COOK!  She was from the south and she made a mean okra!  And a stuffing that no one can replicate (not that some relatives have not tried, mind you…).  But to give props where they are due, Grandma Thompson could make Swedish pancakes in the shapes of stuff you requested, but she totally took advantage of our lack of geography knowledge by calling shape failures state names.  I mean seriously, even as an adult I could not tell you if my Swedish pancake is the shape of Maine…

Here is Grandma Thompson (on the right) holding my cousin Kristine.  Aunt Edie is holding me on the left.
Doesn't it look like I am laying on a torture board of some sort??  Circa 1966.
I was too young at this point to know that the grandma on the OTHER side was the amazing cook.  :)
But Grandma Thompson let us ring her front door bell for hours and come in and play "Avon Lady", which was super fun.

Here is Grandma Lee with my mom, fixing her wedding veil.  Looks like Grandma was wearing a hankie on her head...

I can imagine this TJ’s corn pudding being served at Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner as an accompaniment to mashed potatoes, turkey, green veg…  It has that sort of feel to it – a “down home” feel.  It tastes a little bit southern (but not as southern as Grandma Lee).  It is creamy but there is not a lot of taste to it.  I spiced it up by adding some hot oil from my Margaritaville Jammin’ Jerk shrimp to it. 

I think this would be a better side dish if it was not the only side dish.  It needs broccoli or kale or something else beside it to help it succeed.  It is the sort of dish that kind of blends in with whatever you are pairing it with.

It even LOOKS a bit bland, doesn't it?  

It is not a stand out dish where I cheer “you muuuust go get this and try it!” but it is definitely not bad.  It is just a little bit boring.  It is sort of like old fashioned home cooked food, but the bland kind of home cooked food.  Perhaps if they added little bits of BACON on top of it, it would be more exciting.  As is, “exciting” is not a proper adjective for this dish. 

This is not a bad dish, it is just not thrilling.  J

Price – $4.49

Rating – 3.75

P.S. – one night we took our empty Margaritaville Jammin’ Jerk shrimp box to TJ’s with us to show it to them and ask if they have anything like it.  They said they do not.  Drat.  Corporate – if you are reading this, that is something to explore!  I think you would sell a lot of it!  It is delicious!  We buy it whenever we see it on sale at Safeway and keep it in the freezer.  Here is a link to it (again, it is not a Trader Joe’s product):  Jammin' Jerk Shrimp can be seen here :)