Intro
I’ve left this blog sit in silence for longer than I intended.
I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I sat on the couch with computer on my lap hoping for the words to float from my head to the screen. And they could very well have if there were any words in my head.
You see, my dear loyal readers, I am a very tired girl. Summer, as with many people, is a VERY busy time for us. My husband is a wedding photographer (a very fine one I might add) and seeing that in this beautifully green part of the world where I reside only has about 3 months of sunny weather – the wedding season is short – that is if you want the sun to be a guest at your wedding.
So he is gone a lot and I am left to be the other knight in my 3 year old son’s sword fights or the constant book reader to my adorably sweet 1 year old. We have fun but at the end of the day, when they’ve gone to bed, I plop on the couch, let out a sigh and only get up to crawl into bed – and sometimes not even then.
Oh yeah and then there is the other draining/exciting matter of house buying. We are mere days away from closing on a new home then the madness of the move begins. And I couldn’t be more excited to set up my home, unpack my dishes, roast a chicken in my oven, plan a new garden (a very small one) and eat pizza at Delancey which is just a hop, skip and a jump away.
My silence has nothing to do with lack of great recipes to share with you. In fact today I couldn’t be more excited to talk about Creamed Corn. But really I just need to get right to it because corn is fleeting and Fall is coming.
Creamed Corn was a delightful and welcomed addition to our dinner plates growing up. To this day my oldest brother drools at the mention of this sweet and creamy side dish. Our creamed corn, like many, always came from a can. We didn’t care. It was a vegetable that was as sweet as dessert.
I haven’t had creamed corn since the days when Ken and Barbie were my best friends but inspiration hit in the form of a New York Times article on a non-canned version of a childhood favorite.
Begin with six ears of fresh corn. Remove their hair and give them a shave using a corn zipper – a one purpose tool that I never thought I would have in my kitchen until it was given to me, but I have to say I a new found respect for this tool as it has come in handy on many occasions. If you don’t have a corn zipper you can use a vegetable peeler. You’ll have to make several passes to get all the kernels off but you’ll get more of the sweet “milk” of the corn this way as opposed to using a pairing knife.
Place your shaved corn in a pot with 1/2 cup heavy cream, 2 cloves sliced garlic and salt and pepper. Let this simmer until the corn is tender and the cream has reduced by about half – this will take about 10 minutes.
At this point I used an immersion blender to break up the kernels a bit to give it a similar texture to that of what I remember was served to me from the can.
Just before serving I added finely sliced fresh basil.
If this were a cooking show this would be the point where I would take a bite, close my eyes and make nearly pornographic noises to illustrate to you exactly how ridiculously good this dish is. Something to the affect of mmmmm, ohhhhh, mmhmmm. Yes.
I think you get my point.
Without any sugar this corn was as sweet as the canned version but the richness of the cream and the fresh taste of the basil matured this classic comfort dish.
Please try it. Quick before the corn is gone and squash takes its place.
Oh, I get your point, Ashley. Loud and creamy. Growing up, my Mum made a chicken corn soup that used canned cream corn – I think I skipped to the pantry whenever she told me to go get a can. It was the stuff of the gods, I tell you.
My five-year-old self would have sprinted for this.
I do not think I have ever heard of a “corn zipper”, but it sure looks like an awesome tool.
I have some ears left over, I shall have to give it a try! Thank you for the post!
Mmmm…no one in my family is a fan of creamed corn. I am. What about me? Why has no one made this for me? Oh well, loads of corn is popping up all over here. I think I may go to market sooner than I thought. Another delicious recipe to add to my To Do list. Thanks Ashley! Great photos as always.
creamed corn is a memory of my great aunt Nancy’s house. We always had creamed corn there. ahhhhh
This looks so beautiful and comforting. I secretly always thought that creamed corn from the can was good but never ate it because it was, well, from a can. But now I’ll definitely be trying it. Yum.
This looks so delicious – I love the addition of the basil. I can’t wait to try the ‘corn zipper’!
This post makes me want to go get a can of creamed corn RIGHT NOW. I *loved* that stuff growing up.
Oh my, this looks sooooo delicious! The problem for me is that I love corn on the cob so much, I never manage to make anything else with it….
PS- It’s so nice to meet other local bloggers!
Wow! your photography is absoloutely stunning!! Beautiful…
This looks amazing! I used to think I didn’t like creamed corn because my babysitter growing up would give us the stuff from a can, but after trying homemade stuff, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. This makes me want to make some this weekend! Thanks for sharing!
Looks yummy! Good luck with the house!
We never ate creamed corn when I was young, but I love corn, so this sounds tasty. Congratulations on the big purchase, what fun!
This sure doesn’t look like any creamed corn I’ve ever seen! Beautiful!
do you know – is a corn zipper an item that can be used interchangebly with a corn creamer?
I am not a fan of squash – other than butternut squash – please change my mind.
eM – I’d never heard of a corn creamer. But I just googled it and it looks like that would work fine. Let me know how it goes! Now I want a corn creamer too. 🙂
These photos are stunning. They’ve propelled my adoration of creamed corn to new heights.
That creamed corn looks good!
There is another way to get the most out of the corn without a unitasker like that (though it does look cool!) I was taught to cut the kernels off, and then use the back side of a heavy knife to drag down the cob. You do it at a slightly less than perpendicular angle. My cobs give up a ton of juice and flesh this way. It kills me to watch people cut the kernels off and then leave all the good stuff on the cob!
I too was a creamed-corn-from-a-can eatin’ kid. I can’t wait to make this.
Oh, I’ll try! Guess the “mmmmm, ohhhhh, mmhmmm” has convinced me!
Hi! This looks very similar to Francis Mallmann’s “humita”. It’s an Argentine version of corn pudding. So simple and pure, like yours. I posted about it the other day:
http://theportlandpickle.com/2009/09/10/mallmanns-corn-pudding/
Wow I had never heard of this dish before but it trully sounds lovely, sweet and comforting! I must try it 🙂
There is also a wooden corn zipper which you use more like you would a mandolin to get the corn off of the cob.
Chelsea – I haven’t seen a wooden one before. I’ll have to check it out. Thank you.
I found this recipe yesterday afternoon and made it last night….. delicious!! My mother came from Sicily and never made creamed corn for us while we were growing up. Man were we missing out! This will definitely go into the recipe box! Thank You for sharing!
Humm which was weird, my comment obtained eaten. Anyway I planned to say that it really is awesome to seek out the information right here. I’ve appeared almost everywhere. Many thanks yet again!
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