Let's take a healthy, fresh, delicious summer crop and make it as unhealthy as possible, shall we? Unhealthy in the best way possible. I mean, this is really good. Obviously, considering the recipe came from Paula Deen. She puts a pound of butter into every food she makes. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It has certainly never stopped me from eating her recipes.
My mom used to make a corn casserole but we called it "corn mush" and I think that it was essentially the same thing as this but in a smaller, deeper baking dish so you had to scoop it out. I remember one time when I was little I asked my mom what was in corn mush and she looked at me with an apologetic expression and said, "Oh Lindsay, you don't want to know. You would never eat it again." Of course she was implying that it was just a lot of unhealthy foods that I guess she was ashamed to be giving her family, but in my mind I thought she meant that there was something gross ground up in there. Why I thought that my mom would put worms or maggots or worse into something that she was eating too is beyond me. But, either way, it was never the same again.
Now, Paula makes this casserole with canned corn. I have no idea why. Do they not grow corn in Georgia? Maybe she was just trying to make the recipe easier for people. Either way, I used fresh corn instead. I didn't add any extra cream or anything (one of her cans was creamed corn) and it still ended up great. I actually had leftover corn, so I shucked it and froze it wrapped in aluminum foil for about a week like so:
And it ended up great! Why buy corn and freeze it during corn season? It was on sale, but only if you bought 12 ears of it. And 12 ears of corn is a little ridiculous for a household of 2. So that's my story, but really fresh corn would probably be even better. Just boil it and saw it off and you're good as gold!
Corn Casserole (adapted from Paula Deen):
6 ears of fresh corn 1 (8-ounce) package corn muffin mix (like Jiffy) 1 cup sour cream 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted 1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a pot of water to a boil and put the shucked corn cobs in. Let the water come back to a boil and turn it off and let it sit, covered, for about 12 minutes. Let it cool a little bit and then cut the corn off the cob. Put the cob on a plate or in a bowl. Using the back of the knife, run it down the cob to get the "milk" out of it.
In a large bowl, stir together the corn, "milk," corn muffin mix, sour cream, and melted butter. Pour into a 9 by 13-inch casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and top with cheddar. Return to oven for 5 to 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Let stand for at least 5 minutes and then serve warm.
