Follow our easy, step-by-step, photo illustrated recipe to make this old Southern Classic recipe. You’ll love the taste of this corn dish, made with fresh shucked corn. It’s called creamed corn, but we don’t use any cream to make ours. Creamed Corn is a super easy side dish that all the family will enjoy. Printable recipe included.
Southern Creamed Corn recipe.
It’s a little late in the season here in my part of the world for a fresh corn recipe. Locally fresh corn, is generally available mid-June through mid-August here in North Carolina, and it’s almost the end of September already. I’m still seeing corn in some of the Farmers Markets though, so hopefully you’ll have the opportunity to try out our recipe with some great locally grown fresh corn.
Mama always loved the Silver Queen corn, a very sweet, white corn that has remained popular throughout our state. Whether or not we’re actually getting Silver Queen corn, is another subject and one for debate. All signs that say Silver Queen, apparently aren’t the real thing any longer.
Folks just came to love the old Silver Queen corn because of it’s sweetness, and they always look and call for it when shopping for fresh corn. And, let’s not even start with the GMO (genetically modified organism) discussion, or we could be here all day. Although, in my humble opinion, it certainly needs to be discussed. It’s frightening what is happening to our fruits, vegetables and meats these days.
But, back to the recipe.
Growing up Gordon, we planted corn a foot or so apart, in long rows. At harvest time, each stalk of corn would produce several ears of delicious corn. Most of the time, when you’d pull back the shucks at the top, you’d probably find a worm or two. It was just “common” it seems. That’s why they spray corn so much these days, to keep the bugs and worms from eating it all up.
My older brother and I have traveled through North and South Carolina quite a bit these past couple of years. We love to watch the trees start to turn green, and see the big tractors out in the field preparing for a new growing season. Later on, we’ll see corn growing so close together, so thick, that no one could possibly go down the rows and pick the corn. It’s not done the way we remember it any longer.
One farmer we talked with, told us he could get a couple hundred bushels of corn from each acre. He also said that all they really hoped for was ONE ear of corn per stalk. My how times have changed… and tastes. Another point of discussion for us, is how food no longer tastes like it did when we were younger. It’s almost sad to think that my younger niece and nephews have never known the old tastes of food that we grew up with. Wait, I’m off subject again. Sorry.
Sunday dinners around Mama’s big oval table almost always included a bowl of sweet corn. She worked hard through the summer, shucking and freezing corn so we could enjoy it throughout the winter. I probably just liked it because it was sweet and wasn’t “green.” (See my Collards recipe for more explanation.)
After daddy passed away, and we no longer kept a garden or two, Mama would have me drive her over to a local farm or garden, to get a load of corn. We’d fill up the boot of the car with corn. Boot being trunk of the car of course. The old timers called it a boot.
I wasn’t any help once we got back home. Mama would shuck the corn pretty much by herself, unless my older sister was visiting. Then, she’d work the rest of the day, preparing all that corn for the freezer. If only I could just hug her neck and tell her Thank You for all she did for us, it makes my eyes water to just type this and think about it again.
Older brother never really liked Creamed Corn he said. It was too sweet for his personal tastes. I liked it though.
My late wife always loved Roasted Corn-on-the-Cob. Every time we visited the North Carolina State Fair, she would make a bee line for the place that sold it. We would often just boil corn on the cob at home, and slather it with butter.
So, I guess this really isn’t all that much about Creamed Corn… is it? I can’t seem to stay on subject tonight for some reason. But, I did enjoy this old Southern Classic when I brought home some ears of corn recently. I might even have a bit in my own freezer.
I purchased this at the Farmers Market over at the Piedmont Triad Farmers Market, in the Greensboro area a couple of weeks back. It had rained hard almost all day as I recall. Only a handful of local farmers had showed up with fresh vegetables. The lady that I bought this corn from had a sign on it that said “3 ears for $1.00, no charge for the worms.” I knew I had to try it. Without those worms of course.
So, now that I’ve enticed you with this recipe, (sorry about the mention of worms) are you ready to give it a try? Alright then, let’s get shucking, and Let’s Get Cooking!
Creamed Corn: You’ll need these ingredients.
Remove the tip end from the corn.
You’ll need a really sharp knife for this part. Be VERY CAREFUL when cutting off the tip. The cobs in fresh corn can be very hard and difficult to cut through sometimes, so be careful as you do this part. One wrong slip of the knife, and you’ll be in a mess. Just saying.
Remove the shucks.
Grab the shucks from the tip end, and strip them back and away from the ear of corn. Most of the silks will come away with the shuck, leaving just a few to pick away. Once you shuck the corn back, you can usually just snap the shucks away from the ear of corn with a quick flick of the wrist.
Pick away any remaining silks from the corn. You could also use a vegetable brush to help remove them if needed. Rinse the ears of corn under cool running water and let drain.
If you’ll look closely at the photo above, you’ll see where I had to cut off a section of corn from one of the ears on the right side of the photo. This corn was grown without being sprayed with insecticides and contained a couple of bad spots that needed to be cut away. I did find one worm in one one of the ears, but nothing more than that.
I wish I had snapped a photo of the sign on the table where I purchased this corn from. It stated that the corn was “3 ears for $1.00, No charge for the worms.”
Growing up, it was fairly common to find worms in an ear of corn when you shucked it. Now days, they spray corn with insecticides to keep them away. The lady that sold me this, said they would have to spray the corn almost daily to prevent them, and she just was going to do that. Something I was glad to hear for sure.
This part can be a bit tricky at first. You need to stand the corn up on one end in a plate or shallow bowl. Using a sharp knife, slide the knife down the ear, slicing half way through each kernel of corn. You don’t want to cut the kernel completely away from the cob, just half of it.
Using the BACK side of the knife, scrape down the cut kernels to remove the remaining part of the kernels of corn. This will get the juice out of the other half of the kernel of corn and makes the “creamy” portion of the recipe.
It gets a bit slippery, and a bit messy.
I wanted to use the plate so I could give you a good photo of what I was doing here, but the ear of corn just kept slipping all over the plate. I added a Styrofoam plate to try to keep it from moving around so much. Wouldn’t want that knife to slip and cut a finger, now would we?
Did I mention it can get a bit messy as well? And all the ladies just said, “typical male in the kitchen.” (Smile)
I admit, I get a bit messy sometimes, but I’m just having fun. Repeat the process with each ear of corn, until you’ve got it all cut and scraped clean. Place all the cut corn and juices in a bowl and clean up the mess you just made.
I wanted to save those corn cobs and make some Corn Cob Jelly out of them. I did place them in the refrigerator for a day or two, but realized I wasn’t going to be able to make the Jelly, so I had to toss them. Wait, you’ve never heard of Corn Cob Jelly? Southerners don’t waste anything. The cobs were often used to make jelly, which was very similar to honey and quite tasty. Maybe we can make it at another time for you.
Here’s my corn, all ready for the skillet. It’s good enough to eat with a spoon as it is.
To cook the corn: Place a skillet over medium heat on your stove top. Add the Butter and let it melt, being careful that the skillet doesn’t get too hot and start to burn the butter.
Once the butter is about all melted, add the corn.
Add a little Sugar.
Yes, it’s sweet corn, but as I’ve mentioned before, Mama always added a little sugar to just about everything she cooked. It just makes everything taste better.
Add the Salt.
Add the Black Pepper.
Now, stir everything together and let the corn cook for a few minutes, or until it tastes done. It’s not going to take long for it to cook and for the flavors to meld together. Just keep an eye on it and stir it often so it doesn’t stick to the skillet and burn. Cook it until it reaches a taste that you like, adding more seasoning if needed. Make it your own.
Once the corn tastes “done,” we’ll thicken it up a bit with our slurry of flour and water.
In a small cup or bowl, mix the 2 Tablespoons of Flour with 2 Tablespoons of COLD water. Stir it together until it makes a watery paste, adding a bit more water if needed. Then, pour this into the skillet and stir it in with the cooked corn. The flour works just like corn starch, to help thicken the corn. You can use Self-Rising, or All-Purpose Flour to do this, shouldn’t matter either way.
Continue to stir the corn, and let this cook for a couple of more minutes.
You’ll need to let it cook enough for the flour taste to cook out of it. It will only take a couple of minutes to do this. Just keep an eye on it while it cooks. If it’s just really dry, and not creamy, you could add a bit more water to it for a more creamy texture. You could also add a bit of heavy cream if desired, but I prefer the more natural taste of the corn as it is… without adding the milk.
Serve warm and Enjoy!
