My brother not only made dinner for me after I had Adrienne, but he also wrote a guest post for my blog about it. And to top it all off, he reads my blog and knows me well enough to say this with his email: “I took lots of pictures and took out all my extra spaces after periods.” Is he good, or is he good?
Welcome, James – and thank you for both a meal that included bacon-y goodness AND a blog post about it!
A few weeks back, my sister had a baby, and although her 6-year-old daughter is quite brilliant, she’s not quite the chef of the family yet. As a good brother, I volunteered to make dinner for one of our weekly, Thursday night family dinners. I thought I’d do something impressive (read: a deliciously lit and photographed recipe for double-dipped, buttermilk fried chicken I found on Pinterest).
Unfortunately, that didn’t turn out, which ended in a very grumpy, unplanned trip to KFC. Luckily, I had made all the sides from scratch: mashed potatoes, homemade biscuits, and creamed corn with bacon. I had made the mashed potatoes before. I had made the biscuits. But I had never made this creamed corn (with bacon).
Bacon. I knew my audience. I knew how to hook ‘em. More importantly, the creamed bacon with corn (I mean…creamed corn with bacon) was a huge hit! I made enough so there was plenty for another meal, and my sister texted later that she would have to arm wrestle my brother-in-law for the leftovers. So, here we are, much later and with my own Pinterest-worthy pictures, learning how to jazz up corn with everything good in the world.
CREAMED CORN WITH BACON
Preheat your oven to 400F. While the oven preheats, line a large, rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Then (are you ready?) lay a pound…yes, the whole pound…of bacon in a single layer onto the foil. Bake the bacon for 18 to 20 minutes, or until it’s quite brown and crispy.
As the bacon bakes, get out a big Dutch oven and start to melt a quarter pound of butter (that’s a whole stick for those of you who are counting). You’ll need half of a medium onion, diced finely. Don’t shed too many tears. You’ll want to save those for when you break down crying, asking yourself why you haven’t made this before.
Add the diced onion to the butter and sauté just until the onion is translucent. I like my onions brown and sweet, which means I probably go a bit further than “translucent,” but to each their own.
Once the onion is just how you like it, add the cream cheese a little at a time. Use the 1/3 less fat kind if you’d like, but why waste everyone’s time?
After cutting the cream cheese into 1-inch cubes, add it to the pan, stirring after each addition. The cream cheese melts and mixes with the butter and onion. If you’re faint of heart, have someone else do this step. The onion/cream cheese/butter combination is not the prettiest sight to behold.
Cue the stabbing, shower scene music from “Psycho.” It’s pretty dreadful, but never fear, the bacon is probably finished in the oven by now. Deep breaths. Oh…bacon. Sweet, sweet bacon. Bacon always saves the day. You’ll need to take it out of the oven so it has time to cool a bit.
If you didn’t have a Homer Simpson moment and immediately start drooling, then you may want to check your pulse. Mmmm….bacon….
Let’s see more of that bacon.
If you aren’t sitting down already, feel free to get a little weak in the knees and take a seat…but not really, because there’s work to do! While the bacon is cooling, and the cream cheese is melting in the pot, open up 4 cans of low- or no-sodium, whole-kernel corn.
{Full disclosure: I cut myself on one of these lids. Safety first!}
Four cans seems like a lot of corn, and this is coming from someone who lived in Iowa for 11 years! But you’re planning on feeding a small army, right? After opening the corn, toss it in a colander for quick draining. Or be brave and use the lid to drain off all the liquid. I’m not that talented, and usually lose half the corn down the drain.
After draining the corn, return to the pan and give the cream cheese and onion mixture a stir. Add some parmesan cheese to the pot, and sprinkle in some pepper. Then in goes the corn. No need to work out today, your arms will be pumped up after stirring this big pot of goodness.
Does it seem like we might have forgotten something? Of course not! Now is the time to chop up your cooled bacon. All of it (minus the little piece you pulled off to try…just to make sure it was crispy enough, of course).
After chopping up the bacon (and trying another piece) add it to the pot with the corn, cream cheese, and onions. Stir it all together, then put the mixture into a 9×9 inch pan. Add a little more parmesan cheese to the top, and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Because really, what could make cheese and bacon more appealing than some melted butter?
Put the casserole in the already preheated oven and cook 15-20 minutes, or until bubbly and brown around the edges. You will need to let it cool for a bit, but good luck with that. This stuff is tasty, and has now been added to my recipe box as a “complete success,” which will be made over and over and over. Enjoy!
CREAMED CORN WITH BACON
Ingredients:
– 1/4 cup butter
– 1/2 medium white onion, diced
– 1 pound bacon, cooked and chopped
– 2 – 8 ounce packages cream cheese
– 1/2 cup parmesan cheese + more for the top
– 1/2 tsp black pepper
– 4 cans no- or low-sodium whole-kernel corn, drained
– 2 tbsp melted butter
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400F. On a foil-lined, rimmed sheet pan, bake 1 pound of bacon for 18-20 minutes, or until crispy. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
2. In a Dutch oven, cook onion in 1/4 pound (4 tbsp) of butter until translucent.
3. Add the cream cheese to the pan a little at a time, stirring continuously, until the cream cheese is smooth.
4. Add the parmesan cheese and black pepper.
5. Stir in the drained corn.
6. Chop the cooled bacon, and add it to the pan.
7. Pour the corn mixture into a 9×9 oven-safe dish. Sprinkle the top of the casserole with additional parmesan cheese, and drizzle with 2 tablespoons melted butter.
8. Bake the casserole for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges are bubbling and browned. Let cool for at least 10 minutes and serve.
You guys, I can’t even tell you how good this corn was – and I’m not just saying that because it was a meal I didn’t have to cook myself. It was DELISH, and I have demanded requested it become an official staple at all of our family gatherings. (Not the weekly ones. That would be overkill. We’re not animals.)
So, the moral of this story? Make this corn. You’re welcome.
This post may be linked to these amazing carnivals and link parties.
Um…. YUM!?! How could you go wrong with adding three kinds of fat to corn? :) Looks and sounds delish!
Woweeeee that sounds good. I’ve been making my Jalapeno Creamed Corn more lately because my husband loves it so much. But bacon … yeah, I need some of this. Now.
Oh that does sound good! and James is just as funny as you are! What a kick! thanks for that recipe and maybe he should guest post more often as you are up to your arms in babies at the moment. =)
Have a great weekend! I also love the weekly dinner with siblings idea – perhaps I should tell my own funny brother that we need to do it too. We could start slow with once a month since he has little ones too.
Best, Lina
oh my goodness… yum! my mouth is watering. :) what a sweet, sweet brother you are!
James – we are forever friends. Bacon, cream cheese and butter? Say no more!! This looks amazing!
My mouth is seriously watering. I’m not kidding. You had me at bacon, James, but you completely hooked me with the pictures.I pinned this recipe and cannot wait to try it. And in addition to admiring your mad culinary skills, I adore your writing style. It’s engaging … a lot like your sister’s!
Well done, James! (Disclaimer: I didn’t read the entire post, but I looked at the pics, which seemed pretty self-explanatoy. So good job. Good job taking out those extra spaces as well.)
(And the part I did read sounded like you guys are related. ;) )
Your brother is too funny and thoughtful!!!
He made it all look so easy and the humor makes it even more fun!
He’ll make a good blogger
:) Love this. And corn and bacon? Hello, my husband would flip!
Mary, your brother James is a keeper, for sure. Like you said, he’s good. And has the same sense of humor you do!
Hilarious. And also? YUM.
Hold on a sec; I think the heart attack is starting ….
Seriously, this looks amazing. I love that the bacon is baked, which is much better than standing at the stove while I cook five slices at a time in the frying pan. And I would guess that the whole place smells like bacon for the next day or so!
YESSSSSSSSS – baking bacon was a life-changer for my family!
Oh my goodness this was amazing! Super easy to make, and saved me last minute for a family gathering I had to go to. Everyone absolutely raved about it (even as a side it was the hit of the night!)
All in all really great recipe :)
Yay!! So glad you and your family liked it, Marta!!
For the corn is it the regular size cans? Not the real small ones correct.
Yes, regular size cans!
Are my kids phenomenal, or what? Oh, not because of their many talents, which I claim absolutely no credit for. I love the way they love on and support each other. If they were ugly, stupid, and/or poor, which they are not, I would still love them for loving!
do I use salted or unsalted butter??? This sounds amazing!!
I always use unsalted, and I’m sure in this dish that would be fine (since the bacon will provide plenty of salt).
This recipe sounds perfect for my family but now I need to know
how many people does this recipe serve? I am in charge of making
corn this year and I have to feed 20 ppl and I have no idea how much
more to increase your yummy recipe. PLEASE HELP with any info you
can give me. Thank you for sharing.
I’d say it would easily yield 12-16 servings. Depending on the rest of your menu, it might be enough for your crowd – or you could add another can of corn!
Can’t wait to make this for our family Easter gathering. I’ve been making the same cheesy corn casserole for years. Everyone likes it but I’m sure they’ll love this exciting new recipe. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Yay! I hope your family loves it, Kathee!
This looks and sounds AMAZING!! I’m making it tomorrow for easter…… But do you think I could add jalapeños without messing it up, or just leave it with the bacon?
I’m sorry I didn’t see this sooner, Amber – did you add the jalapenos? I would think that would be amazing, although my wimpy palate might prefer green chiles instead. I hope you’ll let me know how it turned out for you!
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!! I did add the jalapenos!! I took all the seeds out and diced it. I cooked it along with the onions so the spice wasnt as big! IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everyone, including my 3 year old and 1 year old ate it! They all said it was FULL of flavor and that I need to put it on my list of dishes to make for holidays! YUM-O!
Yay!! I’m so glad it turned out so great! This spicy version sounds delicious!!
It is Easter Sunday and I decided the make this for my guests. Here’s my take on it. It was time consuming adding the cream cheese and getting it to melt. Kind of a mess. I thought that the stick of butter was a lot and would probably take it down to a half of stick and the cream cheese was a bit overwhelming for me. I would only use 8 oz next time and not 16. The bacon seems to give it a wonderful taste but if I were cutting back on the butter and creamed cheese I would cut back on that too. This recipe is very rich. I haven’t served it to my guests yet so we will see how,they feel about it. This recipe could be a younger persons recipe because as we grow older (I am 55) our stomachs don’t tolerate such rich food. I probably won’t make it again.
Thanks for sharing your experience with the recipe, Kathy. I hope your guests enjoyed it. My brother made it for our lunch today, and we all fought over who got to keep the leftovers! My parents are older than you and love the casserole, so I guess it’s just a matter of preference. Hope you had a wonderful Easter!
Now that my guests have eaten this casserole, the feedback was favorable! Everyone liked it, e en my husband! I will make this again but on a smaller scale.
So glad, Kathy! That’s great news! :)
Have you ever tried making this in a crockpot? I am making thanksgiving dinner and do not know if I have the room to bake this. I made this last year and was told this is a must this year.
I haven’t tried that, but I think I will this year! I think it’s a MUST, too, and my brother isn’t making it. So it’s up to me! ;)