Corn Souffle

And now, a short Thanksgiving break.

So, we had a great Thanksgiving over at our friends (thanks Jeff! thanks Kate!), who once again put on a terrific spread, with the main courses provided by our hosts and various guests bringing side dishes. Janice made not one but two apple pies, as well as appetizers, while my contribution was corn souffle. This seems to have gone down pretty well, since it got eaten up and I had requests for the recipe. Having just sent it off to my fellow guests from yesterday, I thought as long as it's written up and all I might as well post it here. Happy Thanksgiving, all.

--John R.
current reading: Hobbit OFFICIAL MOVIE GUIDE
current audiobook: Martin Shaw's THE HOBBIT



For folks who wanted to know about the corn souffle, it's actually an easy dish to make. Here's the recipe, and also how I make it, which are not exactly the same thing.

The Recipe

1 can corn

2 cans cream corn

2 beaten eggs

1/2 cup melted margarine

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 pkg Jiffy Corn Meal Mix.

Mix ingredients together, and pour into a greased 9"x13" baking dish. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

How I Make It

For the past few years, I've substituted frozen corn for the canned corn; the canned corn, esp. the canned cream corn, seemed to me to have an aftertaste I didn't want.

This time I used two 16-oz packages of yellow corn and 1 16-oz package of white corn, just for some contrast. But that turned out to be too much, so I had to take about a cup's worth of corn out. 

I also substitute butter for the margarine, since we don't use margarine anymore (Atkins diet).

Similarly, I 'greased' the pan with butter.

First, I thaw the frozen corn by putting it, a pack at a time, in the strainer and pouring hot water over it. There's no need to cook the corn ahead of time, but it's good to get the chill off; think it bakes more quickly that way.

I dropped the eggs because of Kate's allergies. This meant it needed more liquid to help bind it, so I increased the melted butter to between a cup and a half to two cups: just kept adding it in half-cup portions until there was enough liquid between the butter and the sour cream to moisten all the Jiffy mix. Increasing the amount of sour cream or shredded cheese might also do the trick, but I suspect these might change the taste a little, more than the butter does. Besides, I like butter.

Mix all the ingredients together in a big bowl and stir well. Once everything's mixed together nicely, pour into a baking pan. Really doesn't matter whether you use pyrex or corning ware; whatever you think'll be easiest to clean up afterwards. 

Bake at 350 degrees or a little higher until beginning to brown on the top (that was about forty/forty-five minutes with our oven). If you like it cruncher, bake it a little longer; if you don't, pull it out while the top's still mostly yellow.

It makes a lot, but you can freeze it if you like to parcel out your leftovers. 

Enjoy!