Sunday, December 14, 2008

Mom's Corn Casserole

I've been hearing Birdie brag up her mom's corn casserole, so I thought I'd try it. Seemed sort of Southern to me, but I figured us Yankees are adventurous, so I'd go for it.

If you were making Birdie's recipe, you would have two cans each of creamed corn and regular corn (undrained), plus three eggs and a half cup of butter. You would have also included the chopped green pepper I forgot to buy, and 1/3 of a cup of chopped onion, rather than the smaller portion shown here. Finally, having hindsight, I would also use the whole box of corn muffin mix, rather than 1/2 (shown in the bowl on the right.) More on that later...
First, grease your pan. I just used a 2-qt casserole dish, since I cut the recipe in 1/2.
And BTW, isn't that apron adorable?! I got it from Kyle's kindergarten class back in the day (for helping out at school) . Down near the bottom of the apron are big pockets that look like gardening pots;, and the kids' handprints are the "blooms." Okay....After dumping the melted butter, onion (and green pepper) into a bowl, add the undrained cans of corn.
You know what's missing from the previous photo? Here's a hint:What do Mrs.4444 and a treefrog have in common? NO fingernails! So, I cropped out my hands that time. (I did it for both our sakes.) Next, mix up the eggs a bit and add them to the bowl.
Then add the grated cheddar (1/2 to 1 cup This is the one ingredient I did not cut back; as I've said, we are big cheese fans around here!)
And the cornmeal muffin mix.
Stir it all up and pour it into the casserole dish.
If you're Birdie, you might forget this step, but she's right; it's important! :) Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top before placing the dish (uncovered) in a 350-degree oven for 30 minutes.
Since you're going to be so busy doing all that while your husband/wife grills chicken breasts AND you simultaneously take photos of another dish for another post, make these as a side dish. I always thought box potatoes were terrible, but Molly turned me on to these Betty Crocker lovelies, and we have been hooked ever since.
After 40 minutes, I decided to get this baby on the table, and boy did it look good. Trouble was, it was a bit "soupy" in the middle. That's about the time I realized I could have used the whole box of cornmeal muffin mix, rather than cutting it in half. The photo I did not take here (hey--I was busy, for crying out loud, and the family was clanking their forks on the table!) would have been quite hilarious and very un-Martha-like...Me, pouring out the middle of the casserole into the sink and putting the dish back on the table. (Martha would not be proud, Ladies and Gentlemen.)

So, the delivery was a bit unorthodox, but BOY, was it DELICIOUS. Mark and I loved it; the mix of textures of the corn and the corn muffin mix was really wonderful. Even the kids ate some (their first time ever eating creamed corn in something, so I'm cutting them some slack.) It was really yummy.
Tune in next time for the rest of the photos from tonight; the krumkake I promised, or maybe a guest poster who I hope was sober enough to take some decent pics of Homemade Bailey's Irish Creme! (Dang, we eat well around here, don't we?!)

Hope this finds your belly, your pantry, and your heart full.
blog comments powered by Disqus