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Fresh Creamed Corn | ![]() |
Fresh & Seasonal. Weight Watchers Friendly. Nothing Like Canned Creamed Corn.
Family Talk at the Table
Families sometimes give special names to special foods and even not-so-special but favorite dishes.
- Alphabet Names: Ask for HMO when you’d like my friend Elise to cook up hamburger with macaroni and onions.
- Toddler Names: Ask for a poo-bah fafa in my family and you’ll get a peanut butter sandwich in my then-baby sister’s lingo.
As a kid, my personal Deluxe was mashed potatoes topped by creamed corn poured from a can, my mother’s attempt to extend leftovers with an incongruous air of haute. I loved that comfort-food combination of mashed potatoes 'n' creamed corn then. Truth be told, I still do!
Re-Discovering the Fresh Versions
As an adult, a cook and a foodie, however, I revel in re-discovering the fresh versions of vegetables today known in their less-than-fresh forms.
FRESH CREAMED CORN is n-o-t-h-i-n-g like the toothless stuff from a can. The kernels are plump and full of corn flavor. All on its own, no mashed potatoes required, Fresh Creamed Corn is a luxurious side vegetable, deluxe indeed.
Calling All Sweet Corn Lovers!

Who loves fresh sweet corn the most? Midwesterners? Southerners? I'm not sure but put me on the list and hey, I hope you'll add your name too. At A Veggie Venture, I collect all the corn recipes from both there and Kitchen Parade, check out all the Corn Recipes!
For quick meals, I just throw fresh corn kernels into salads and vegetable hashes and really, just about anything that emerges from my kitchen during July and August.
For easy weekday dinners, it's super-easy to just throw an ear or two into the microwave, Quick Microwave Sweet Corn or if the grill's hot, then this works too, Grilled Sweet Corn. There's even a microwave version of Fresh Creamed Corn, it's Microwave Summer Cream Corn.
But here are a few more ideas for corn lovers, recipes I won't let the season pass without making at least once!
FRESH CREAMED CORN
Time to table: 30 minutes
Makes about 4 cups (easy to halve or double or otherwise scale)
- 8 ears fresh corn
- 1 tablespoon bacon fat or butter
- 1/2 an onion, diced small
- Kosher salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (or curry powder, for color only so optional)
- 2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal (not stone-ground)
- Sprig of fresh rosemary or fresh lavender, optional
- 1 cup whole milk (see TIPS)
- Salt & especially pepper to taste
PREP THE CORN Leaving the stems on for handles, husk the corn (see TIPS). Then cut the kernels off the ears. (How? With one hand, hold an ear tip-down in center of a large bowl. With a knife, slice off swaths of corn kernels top to bottom.) When the kernels are off, "milk" the ear. (How? Use the knife’s dull edge to scrape the cob top to bottom on all sides, collecting remaining pulp and milk in the bowl (see RESOURCES).
COOK THE CORN In a large skillet, melt the bacon fat on medium til shimmery. Add the onion and cook gently til translucent (see TIPS). Add the corn and salt, cook for 2 – 3 minutes, stirring often, just until the liquid begins to cook off. Stir in the sugar, turmeric, cornmeal and rosemary or lavender. Add the milk and cook until the corn is soft, 2 – 3 minutes. Remove rosemary or lavender, then season to taste.
Serve and savor, immediately or if you like, make in advance and gently rewarm.



















For Local Print Readers
This is the last Kitchen Parade column to appear in print in my local papers, as the owners tighten their belts to face a weak economy. It’s been a thrill to write for you, to hear from readers touched by the stories or inspired by the recipes, to carry on the column my mom started nearly 50 years ago.
I thank you. And I thank Dwight and Don and all the staff at the papers.
But good news – new Kitchen Parade recipes will continue to be published here online at KitchenParade.com.
- First, I've already written nearly a year's worth of new columns.
- Second, I also publish online only recipes, family favorites like my Mom's Blueberry Coffeecake and Homemade Frozen Yogurt with Blackberry Sauce.
- Plus e-mail subscriptions are free, just sign up to receive recipes via e-mail. There’s no distinctive red bag but home delivery is free, just like the local newspapers.
Once you're subscribed, watch your InBox for more recipes with that special Kitchen Parade style: fresh and seasonal ingredients; classic recipes, though often with a twist and often simplified; real ingredients, especially pantry ingredients; an emphasis on getting supper on the table; recipes for family gatherings and special occasions.
Plus there are occasional extras, right now I'm thinking about How to Save Money on Groceries.
More Recipes for Summer's Best Sweet Corn
(hover with a mouse for a description; otherwise click a photo to view the recipe)~ more corn recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade
Quick Corn in the Microwave
Grilled Corn with Chipotle Lime Browned Butter
Warm Tomato, Corn & Okra Salad
~ more corn recipes ~
from A Veggie Venture, my food blog about vegetables
More Easy Summer Vegetable Recipes
(hover with a mouse for a description; otherwise click a photo to view the recipe)~ more vegetable recipes ~
~ more salad recipes ~
~ more summer recipes ~
Recent Favorites from A Veggie Venture
~ Seared Radicchio, deliciousness in 10 minutes flat ~~ Weight Watchers Zero Point Italian Soup ~
~ Rhubarb Pizza, better than it sounds! ~
If you like Kitchen Parade's recipes, you'll love A Veggie Venture, my food blog about vegetables with more from-scratch recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, home to the famous Alphabet of Vegetables and vegetables in every course, seasonal to staples, savory to sweet, salads to sides, soups to supper, simple to special.
Shop Your Pantry First
(helping home cooks save money on groceries)~ corn recipes ~
~ cornmeal ~
~ All Recipes, By Ingredient ~
~ How to Save Money on Groceries ~
© Copyright Kitchen Parade 2008, 2010 & 2019
Once again, Alanna, you amaze me. I would never ever think to make creamed corn. The canned corn is just too awful. This looks beautiful, the color especially.
ReplyDeleteThe corn looks just great. Our farmers market will have corn tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteOh, Alanna! I'm so sorry about the papers cancelling your wonderful column. I hope their readers complain loudly and profusely and they re-up your contract.
ReplyDeleteIn re the corn: cornmeal?!? Seriously?? I've never seen that ingredient in any creamed corn recipe I've had. Wouldn't it be "grainy"? Interesting...veeery interesting.
Cara ~ isn't the color just so pretty?!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous ~ timing is everything!
Sally ~ thank you, friend. I'm broken-hearted about it, for sure. But it's also helped me think through how to expand Kitchen Parade online and of course, there's irony that so much content is moving online (not just recipes but everything) and that is one of the very pressures the papers are experiencing.
As for the cornmeal, it acts as a slight thickener (think polenta) which further separates the consistency from canned cream corn. That said, I did test with my favorite stone-ground cornmeal and yes, it IS too grainy. So just the plain yellow cornmeal is the trick, although optional.
I love creamed corn too, but definitely not the stuff in a can. :P HAS to be homemade! Great recipe!
ReplyDeleteThanks again for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteI boiled up the remaining ears of our Delaware farmer's market corn before it got too old, then noticed I had all the ingredients for my mom's corn casserole. Voila-scrape the kernels off the cobs, mix with Jiffy cornmeal muffin mix, eggs, butter, a can of creamed corn, substitute Greek yogurt for sour cream and bake. Presto! Fresh tasting, used up pantry ingredients, and got side dishes for a few nights.
I even made it this morning when it was cooler, and will nuke to reheat for dinner.
(Yes, I realize I am commenting about a recipe I didn't even bother to make, but you INSPIRED me to update an old favorite, so thanks!)
I think it's terrible that your column will only be online, but I'm glad you're still online!
Each week, the item in the Webster-Kirkwood Times that I looked forward to the most was your "Kitchen Parade" column. Just reading the columns was enjoyable, and I usually clipped them with the intention of preparing the recipes. And I was a little surprised when your creamed corn column started out with praise of local newspapers. I was much disappointed when I read that it was to be your last column. From this reader's point of view, management at the Times made an error in judgment.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, website technology means that I won't have to stop being your reader altogether. And it's ironic, too, in that the very same application of technology is contributing to the cost squeeze that you (so generously) mention as forcing newspaper management to make tough choices.
Your recipe calls for 2 T yellow cornmeal - NOT STONE-GROUND. Why *not* stone-ground? Please enlighten me here...
ReplyDeleteHi Heidi ~ I don't remember specifically but when I state something so strongly, it's because it didn't work. My suspicion is that there's just not enough time for the cornmeal to cook (same thing with grits, some times) and that the texture is too coarse. I didn't used to make the distinction but once I started using stone-ground so much (and have it more usually on hand) so I've learned the hard way!
ReplyDelete