A Love Affair With Creamed Corn and A Bygone Era

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My parent’s home is a hop, skip, and a jump away from me which has always been convenient when I was hungry. My dad loved it when I stopped in and I loved it when they had leftovers. Lest you think I am a total mooch, I didn’t always forage for food when I visited their home. But I loved it when I found some creamed corn!

Leftovers Rock, Especially The Creamed Corn!

Once following a workout at the gym, I stopped in and scored a delicious, complete meal, ready and waiting in the fridge for a quick microwave warm up:  Swiss steak, mashed potatoes, green peas, apple and celery salad, and creamed corn.

It was all wonderful, but, oh, the creamed corn!

It was the kind that was lovingly cut from the cob, joined with a bit of butter and half & half; with a natural sweetness and light crunch from the whole kernels.

Be assured that this creamed corn bears no resemblance to the stuff slopped out of a tin can. Truly it’s a crime if this has been your only experience with creamed corn.

Memories of A Time Long Past

Enjoying this dish at my parent’s kitchen table brought back fond memories of the creamed corn my father’s Aunt Inez, or simply Ine – as we called her, used to make.

Except she plucked her corn cobs straight from the stalks growing in the expansive garden she tended behind her house that sat just off of a gravel road in rural Mississippi.

Ine never used a written recipe and she cooked three meals a day for more years than I’ve been cooking.

She served homemade biscuits with each meal that she rolled out with an old wine bottle and cut from the dough using an empty vienna sausage can.

After she died all we had were our memories of the wonderful tastes she produced with her homegrown produce in a small country kitchen using simple tools day after day, year after year.

Food Connects Us To Memories and People

At times I wish I could revisit those days. I would more deeply appreciate the art and the effort.

In the meantime, I enjoy creamed corn and I feel connected to a time and a place long ago.

Creamed Corn

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5 from 1 review

This recipe connects me to a place and a time of long ago. My Aunt Inez was an amazing country cook and this dish makes me think of her. It’s a crime if you’ve only experienced creamed corn out of can. It takes very little effort to transform an ear of corn into something that can make memories.

• Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients

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• 8 cups fresh corn kernels cut from the cob
• 1 cup onions, small dice
• 1 teaspoon fresh garlic
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 1/2 cups cream
• kosher salt
• olive oil

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Instructions

1. Using a sharp knife, cut the kernels from the cob.
2. Once the kernels are removed from each cob, run the back of your knife blade up and down the cob to capture additional small bits of corn and moisture in the cob.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Once heated add just enough olive oil to coat the bottom.
4. Add the onions. Sprinkle lightly with kosher salt.
5. Sauté over low heat until onions are translucent.
6. Add the garlic and sauté with the onions just until fragrant.
7. Add 6 tablespoons of butter.
8. Once melted, add the corn.
9. Stir to combine with the butter. Sprinkle lightly with kosher salt.
10. Add 2 tablespoons of water.
11. Cover and cook on low heat for 20 minutes.
12. If the corn dries out as it cooks, add a tablespoon of water at a time just to provide enough moisture so that pan doesn’t dry out.
13. Once the corn is cooked, add 1 1/2 cups heavy cream.
14. Stir to combine.
15. Cook for an additional 5-6 minutes until cream begins to thicken.
16. Taste and season with additional kosher salt as needed.

Notes

Give up on the fact that your creamed corn will be totally free of corn silk. A strand or two inevitably makes it way into my creamed corn. To free your ear of corn from as much silk as possible, use a vegetable brush (or a new toothbrush!) to remove the hangers-on.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 bowl
• Calories: 424
• Sugar: 20.3 g
• Sodium: 49.2 mg
• Fat: 21.6 g
• Saturated Fat: 12 g
• Trans Fat: 0 g
• Carbohydrates: 58.6 g
• Fiber: 6.5 g
• Protein: 10.2 g
• Cholesterol: 46 mg

See Also: Cheesy Cornbread with Jalapeños