I first tasted Choclo in Santiago Chile where it seems to be the national dish and I loved it. –It’s is sort of like a shepherd’s pie, but it’s made with corn instead of potatoes and has a salty-sweet taste.
I made some from memory last night and it turned out well, but everything was done with the amounts I had on hand and seasoned by taste. –Which is this is more a set of guidelines than an actual recipe.
The basic ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef
4 large white or yellow onions
6 hard boiled eggs -sliced
1.5 pounds chicken breasts -cut into large bite sized pieces
2 cups or so frozen whole kernel corn -thawed
8 or 9 fresh basil leaves -lots
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup of sliced black olives
1 cup of golden raisins
sugar -some people use confectioner’s sugar but I usually use granulated.
salt, pepper and cumin to taste
The topping is made by putting the corn in a blender with the basil, cream and a little salt. Start slowly and blend until it’s well mixed but still kind of chunky. Put this in a heavy sauce pan and bring it to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook until it develops the consistency of mashed potatoes, take it off the heat and set it aside.
With a little oil in a heavy frying pan cook the onions until they just start to become translucent then add the ground beef, brown it well and season with lots of cumin, salt and pepper. Transfer this to the bottom of an oven proof pan.
Coat the chicken with a combination of salt, pepper and cumin and brown it all over in the same pan you used for the beef.
While the chicken browns, cover the beef with a layer of hard boiled eggs. Then, if you are using them, layer the black olives followed by the raisins.
Finally, add the layer of chicken, top it with your corn mixture, and cover the whole mess with a generous sprinkling of sugar. Bake it at 400°F until the sugar has caramelized.