Rick Bayless Inspired

This week was a busy week, but we managed to make it out to the Publican on Saturday night with our monthly dinner club. The Publican is a near west-side tribute to the most delicious animal on the planet, the pig (sorry cows). We decided to indulge in ham three ways, pork belly, country ribs, and even spicy pork rinds, among others. They also have a great beer selection, which is designed to match their menu.

Now normally, there is no way we would let such a daunting challenge pass us by. But this week is special because in the grand scheme of culinary adventures, we (well I [Michele]) had a bigger one this week than even the Publican. So a bit of a twist;  I took a cooking class at the local Williams-Sonoma this week with recipes from Rick Bayless' new cookbook, Fiesta at Rick's.

One of the recipes that was featured was Fresh corn cake, Veracruz style (page 304). This is a dessert but was completely different than anything I had ever had. It was a combination of a sweet cornbread but with a bit of a flan texture. Knowing how much Matt loves corn, I had to make this for him.

I followed the recipe pretty closely (minus the fact I used frozen sweet corn). To make it a bit special, I made a home made caramel sauce (bag of caramels melted in some heavy cream) and then got some queso fresco to add a bit of a savory touch and to cut the sweetness.

Well Matt had 2 pieces at his first tasting so it was definitely a hit!