Recipe: Southern Creamed Corn

Southern Creamed Corn is a staple in most southern homes…. a very basic dish ….but with a few little additions that make it an outstanding side dish…

I have always loved creamed corn… but what I was used to pales in comparison to what I’ve had here in the south. Southern cooks have always made the most of spices and ingredients. Recently I had a creamed corn that I really liked so I fiddled with a few things trying to duplicate it but something was missing… I made it my mission to find a recipe that would come close to what I had or even better yet… and even better recipe.

I found what sounded like a terrific recipe, and a close duplication of what I had eaten, in my Down Home With The Neely’s cookbook…. and decided to give it a try…

I made two minor changes… since fresh corn really isn’t in season yet… I used frozen corn…. and while their recipe uses bacon grease it doesn’t use the actual bacon and the one I was trying to duplicate had… so I chopped the bacon I made for the bacon grease… and added it in.

TIPS

Their recipe calls for 8 ears of corn, husked then using a butter knife they trim the kernels off the cob. I figured 4 cups of frozen corn was an adequate substitute… and it was… I wouldn’t recommend you substitute canned corn … use frozen corn if you can’t use fresh.

I did not thaw the corn… I mixed it in frozen… it thawed in cooking relatively quickly.

Their recipe called for Kosher salt… I used regular salt.

I used smoked bacon because of its robust flavor.

This is one terrific recipe and I hope you try it.







Recipe: Southern Creamed Corn

All you need:

4 cups frozen corn
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon flour
Salt to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup cold water
2 strips smoked bacon
1 tablespoon butter

All you need to do:

In a large skillet cook the bacon over medium high heat until fairly crispy. Remove the bacon and drain on paper towels. Chop bacon. Set aside.

You should have about 2 tablespoons of bacon fat in your pan.. if you have more… remove the excess… if you have less.. add more bacon grease (if you don’t store bacon grease …make more bacon or add butter to make up the difference).

In a small bowl whisk together the sugar, flour and cayenne.

Place the frozen corn in a large bowl. Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the corn and toss to coat evenly.

Add the heavy cream and water to the corn mixture and stir until well combined.

Add the corn mixture to the hot skillet with the bacon grease in it.

Heat until mixture bubbles, stirring occasionally.

Reduce heat to medium low and cook until the mixture is thick and creamy (about 30 minutes).

Stir in butter and chopped bacon.

Add salt and pepper to taste and any additional cayenne you feel necessary.