Fried Corn (Country Style Creamed Corn)

Submitted by lindieb

"My family called this recipe fried corn, but it’s really sort of a cross between creamed corn and fried, but to clear, it’s not soupy creamy like canned creamed corn and has tons more flavor. It used to be hard to find truly sweet corn, but with all the hybrids out there these days it’s fairly easy. I personally try to use “brentwood” sweet corn, and preferably white. But any sweet corn will work fine. My Granny taught me this recipe, she was one of those fabulous cooks, who never measure anything. If you need a larger quantity than what I’ve provided for in the recipe, no problem. Just add more corn. And adjust the seasons and fats accordingly. This is an easy recipe, even for novice cooks. If you have questions I didn’t cover in the directions, please email me, I’ll try to respond in a timely fashion. Now it’s prime corn time at most farmers market, so get out there and get some corn!! Oh, btw, I make this for bbq’s (at my daughter in laws request, she actually pouts if I don’t make this), but I love it with simple family meals, especially meatloaf."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 15mins
• Ingredients: 6
• Yields: 6 cups or so
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 6 ears sweet corn
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons bacon drippings
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 cup water

directions

1. Husk corn, making sure to remove all silks. Do not cut off the stem end of the ear.
2. Holding the stem of the corn, using a sharp straight blade type knife - you don’t need a huge knife, just something sharp. From experience I can tell you that a small paring knife won’t work. Something about the length of a boning knife is best. Hold corn over a large skillet (best to prop the ear of corn against the bottom of the pan, and begin cutting the kernels, so that they fall into the pan. Once all kernels are removed, take the back of a butter knife, and scrape it against all sides of the corn, you’ll notice pulp and a milky liquid, keep scraping until nothing is coming out, then turn the corn so you are holding the tip, with the stem end in the pan, and repeat this process. Don’t worry it’s impossible to scrap the ear too much. Repeat with the remaining corn.
3. Add the butter and bacon drippings to the pan, and add the cup of water. If one cup doesn’t cover the corn, just add a little more, til the corn is just barely cover with water. Add a few dashes of salt and a dash of pepper.
4. Turn heat to medium low, cover the pan, and cook until it comes to a boil (if you want to rush this process, just turn the heat up a little. But keep and eye on it, you don’t want it to boil dry at this point.
5. Let it boil about 10 to 15 minutes, then reduce heat to the lowest setting your stove has. Remove the lid and continue to cook, until all water is absorbed and/or evaporated. I recommend tasting the corn, just before you start to cook down the water, and decide if it needs more butter or salt, and if necessary add a bit more to taste. Personally I’ve never measured the amount. My granny taught me this recipe and she never measured anything. This final cooking stage is very important, you want to cook it slow, to help the natural sugar in the corn start to caramelize a bit. Once the water gets pretty low, you want to keep a close eye on it, and stir often. You’ll notice when it’s close to done, you’ll be scraping sort of a thick juice from the bottom of the pan. (my best quess is this is the caramelized fluid, but also the stuff that you scraped from the ears).