Here’s something that we bet you haven’t noticed before. If you go to the store to buy creamed corn, you really can’t buy any. Sure, you can buy cans of cream style corn, but not creamed corn. Why, you may ask? We’re here to tell you: because that would require cream, which is more expensive than starch and water. Fortunately, making creamed corn is nearly as easy as cooking plain corn, and the following recipe makes fantastic creamed corn. Far, far better than cream style corn that comes in a can.
This recipe is from the Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook, by Matt Lee and Ted Lee, and, while we don’t think of creamed corn as a dish confined mainly to the South, we are so glad that they included it. We did scale it back a bit, but, like most really good recipes, we didn’t have to change this one at all (although we didn’t add the optional 1/2 tsp of sugar).
Creamed Corn
Ingredients
- 4 ears fresh corn
- 3 Tbs unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup milk
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Cut corn from ears.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add butter. When foamy, add corn and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
- Add remaining ingredients, turn heat to low, and cook until liquid has thickened, about 12 to 14 minutes.
- Remove from heat, cover, and let steam for 2 to 5 minutes.
Ingredient discussion:
Yes, use fresh corn. It will taste far better and flavor is what we’re all about at scratchin’ central. For the dairy, we found equal amounts of heavy cream and milk were perfect, but you can change the ratio any way you see fit. Use only milk, or only cream, or light cream, or half-and-half; whatever, it’ll be good.
Procedure in detail:
Cut corn from ears. Sure, you might find tricks for this on the Internet, but just hold the ear up on end, use a knife, and cut. Cutting corn from ears is not rocket science; people have done it for ears and ears.
Melt butter. Heat a large skillet over medium-high with the butter in, and swirl it around to let it get a bit foamy.
Add corn. Now, stir in the corn. You’ll hear it sizzle just a bit. Perfect. Stir, still on medium-high, for about a minute, or until the corn is heated through.
Add everything else. Now’s the time to add the dairy, the pepper, and the salt. To make it easier, we just measure the cream and milk into the same measuring cup, and grind the pepper right on top. The salt we toss in on top of the corn. We didn’t want a clump of partly- dissolved salt stuck on the bottom of the measuring cup.
Cook. Reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring, until the cream thickens up, about 12 to 14 minutes. Adjust the heat so that the corn simmers nicely.
Steam. Now for the easiest part. Remove from heat, cover, and let the corn steam for 2 to 5 minutes.
Serve. With creamed corn, even though it was thicker than the canned variety, we found bowls were appropriate to hold in all the creamy goodness. We also made sure to have fresh bread handy to sop up the leftover cream.
This corn rocked! This creamed corn makes the canned style taste like glue, and you’ll never, ever, want styled corn again. In their book, the Lee brothers remark that freshly-made creamed corn garners them the most accolades for the least amount of work, and, after having some, we’re sure that’s true. Next time you want to impress with a simple side, try making this, then sit back; the only complaint you might get is that you didn’t make enough. Five stars for knocking it out of the park!
Since our first trial, we did try this with frozen corn; learn from our mistake, and do not use anything but fresh corn.