Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Creamed Corn



I've always liked corn, a lot. When I was a kid, we always had frozen corn at home, and when I wanted a snack I'd boil some and eat with butter. Real healthy, yeah. Or not. Anyway, when I lived in the US, I discovered the wonders of creamed corn. Ah, perfection in a can. And sadly, it was in a can. Meaning, no chance in hell that it would be find-able in Sweden. And it's not. So, I don't usually have creamed corn, even though it's something I really like.

Per and I ate dinner with Lena and Nico the other night, at a pub called Saddle & Sabre. It had a western theme, served huge pieces of steak and.. what do you know, amazing creamed corn! I was too shy to ask the cook for a recipe (next time though!) but I did think about that hey, maybe it was possible to.. make the stuff yourself. Maybe.

I went home and leafed through my American cookbooks. Last one, I found a recipe that sounded promising. It's from Sheila Lukins USA cookbook, which is actually a very nice read. I haven't cooked all that much from it though. Her creamed corn was good. Not great, like the restaurant's, but very good. (The restaurant's was really deep in flavor and tasted.. roasted, somehow.) I halved it, and it made three large servings. Now, please, if you happen to have a good recipe for creamed corn - I'm all ears. (Ha ha ha)

Sheila Lukins Creamed Corn

8 ears of corn
1500 ml (6 cups) chicken stock
3 tbsp sugar
125 ml (1/2 cup) light cream (half and half?)
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Start by removing the corn from the cobs. Don't discard the cobs just yet! Bring the stock to a boil, and add the cobs. Let them simmer and infuse the stock for 20 minutes. Remove, and discard the cobs.

Add the corn and the sugar to the stock. Let it simmer until the corn is very soft, at least 20 minutes. Remove a cup of the kernels and set aside. Purée the rest of the corn and the stock until very smooth. Add the reserved kernels, salt, pepper and the cream.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm sure I've seen it in cans at Gray's American foods in Malmö .. maybe they have a store near you too?

I've never tried it, but it sounds delicious.

When I was a teenager I used to whack a can of corn in a microoven safe dish, top it with toast cut in small peices, season it with some generic spice mix then top it all off with loads of grated cheese and heat it in the micro wave until the cheese had melted.
Perfect afternoon snack, not unhealthy at all .. oh no *shakes head vigorusly*

Anonymous said...

Creamed Corn with Bacon and Blue Cheese
5 medium ears fresh corn, husks and silk removed
4 ounces (about 4 slices) bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces
1 medium shallot, minced
1 medium garlic clove, minced
1½ cups heavy whipping cream (see note)
½ teaspoon dried thyme
Pinch of cayenne
2 ounces blue cheese, crumbled (about ½ cup)
Salt and ground black pepper


Cut kernels from 3 ears of corn and transfer them to medium bowl. Firmly scrape cobs with back of butter knife to collect pulp and milk in same bowl.

Grate remaining 2 ears of corn on coarse side of box grater set into bowl with previously cut kernels. Firmly scrape remaining two cobs with back of butter knife to collect pulp and milk in same bowl.

Cook bacon pieces in large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until crisp and brown, about 5 minutes.

Transfer bacon to paper towel-lined plate to drain; set aside.

Remove and discard all but 2 tablespoons rendered bacon fat from pan. Add shallot and cook until softened but not browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Stir in corn kernels and pulp as well as cream, thyme and cayenne.

Bring mixture to simmer and cook, adjusting heat as necessary and stirring occasionally, until corn is tender and mixture has thickened, 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove pan from heat and stir in cheese and bacon. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Note: Substitute low-fat milk for cream and cut calories to 267 and fat grams to 13. It may take longer for mixture to thicken.

Per serving (figuring 6): 446 calories, 31g carbohydrates, 10g protein, 34g total fat (18g saturated), 2g fiber, 325mg sodium. Calories from fat: 68.6%.

Source: "Best American Side Dishes" by the editors of Cook's Illustrated magazine

Nic said...

Hi Lena. Try Alton Brown's recipe for creamed corn, found here. It's excellent. He also (on the same page) has a link to a recipe for cornbread using the creamed corn.

Joe said...

Lena,

I second Nic's suggestion for AB's recipe - it is quite good.

Lena said...

nic, joe,
The credit for this creamed corn is all Anne's she is the one who made it I'm just the "postman".. or rather "postgirl".
But Altons recipe looks good mabey I will try it.

Mona said...

That creamed corn looks so good! I've never eaten it like that before (I've only seen it canned, but the homemade version must be a zillion times better). Can't wait to try!

Anne said...

Woohoo, thanks for all the great corn recipes! I'll try them all out in order, corn truly is my fave. :)

Anonymous said...

I've got one great cream corn recipe from my grandma. It doesn't taste like cream corn in a can, its the real deal (cream + corn )

20 oz. fresh or frozen whole kernel corn
8 oz. whipping cream
1 tsp. salt
6 tsp. sugar
2 Tbl. melted butter
pinch of white peppter
2 Tlb. flour

Combine all ingredients except flour and butter into a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer 5 minutes. Blend butter with flour, add to the corn, mix well and remove from heat.

I absolutely love this cream corn recipe. haven't got a chance to post about it yet, but its on my list!

Anonymous said...

I think butter and cream are the key ingredients for this recipe. I think I would pass on the chxn stock.