Culinary Travel – Paraguay Cornbread Recipe

Paraguayan Cornbread (Sopa Paraguaya)

A common traditional dish, "Paraguayan soup" isn't quite what its name would suggest. Rather, it's cornbread flavored with cheese and onion, among other ingredients. 
Legend says it's odd moniker stems from a mistake by 19th-century dictator Carlos Antonio Lopez's cook, who accidentally added excessive corn flour to a more liquid lunchtime dish. Fortunately for the cook, Lopez liked the results.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons soft butter
1 tablespoon flour or 1 tablespoon freshly gratedparmesan cheese
1 1⁄2 cups fresh corn kernels from 3 ears of corn or 1 1⁄2 cups sub 1 1/2 cups thoroughly defrostedfrozen corn
1 1⁄2 cups yellow cornmeal
2⁄3 cup milk
1⁄4 cup plus 1 tbls olive oil
1 1⁄2 cups freshly grated muenster cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 cup coarsely chopped onion
3 egg whites
3 egg yolks

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400*. With a pastry brush coat the bottom and sides of an 81/2-or 9-inch square shallow baking dish with 1 Tbsp. of the soft butter, then scatter 1 Tbsp. of flour or grated parmesan over the bottom of the dish.

Tip the dish from side to side to spread the flour or cheese evenly on the buttered surfaces and set the dish aside.

Place the corn in the jar of an electric blender and blend at high speed until it becomes a smooth puree.

In a large bowl, combine the pureed corn, cornmeal, milk, 1/4 cup olive oil, grated muenster cheese and salt, and mix thoroughly.

In a heavy 8- to 10-inch skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil over moderate heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, for 4 or 5 minutes, or until they are soft and transparent but not brown.

With a rubber spatula, scrape the onions into the corn and cornmeal mixture. Beat the egg whites with a whisk or an electric mixer until they are firm enough to form unwavering peaks on the beater when it is lifted out of the bowl.

Beat the yolks in a separate bowl until they are thick and lemon colored, then fold them into the egg whites. Gently but thoroughly fold the combined eggs into the corn mixture, then pour it into the prepared baking dish.

Dot the top with the remaining 1 Tbsp. of the butter. Bake in the middle of the oven for 45 minutes.

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