Baked Corn Casserole

Summertime in the South comes with a huge variety of fresh produce. Okra, peas of all varieties, butter beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and maybe best of all corn. I’ve had a passion for fresh corn since I was a child. So much so that I can remember stuffing myself with it at the dinner table until my Daddy felt compelled to point out that it is the choice of farmers for fattening pigs.

I did know that but I thanked him for reminding me.

Corn will be ready very soon here in north Georgia. It’s already time for corn down in the southern part of the state. I know because my sister, Miss P, was putting some in the freezer just last week. She and Uncle J went to the corn field after dinner one night to get “a few ears” and by the time they left she had more than she knew what to do with. She worked on it until late into the night and still had a crisper drawer full to process the next day. Lucky girl!

There are loads of recipes for using fresh corn and this casserole  is one of our favorites. I would actually call this a savory custard because of the texture it gets from the milk and eggs. You can also vary this recipe by adding some well drained canned chilies and some cheddar cheese. Those are very good additions and give a quite different taste to the dish.

4 cups (6-8 ears) corn, shucked, cut from cob
1 cup milk
4 tblsp. melted butter
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 egg, plus 1 egg white, lightly beaten 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Start by shucking and removing the silks from the corn. Over a large bowl or pan, cut off the top half of the corn kernels. Then go back over the cob with the flat side of a knife and scrape all the milky liquid into the bowl with the kernels. Or you can save yourself the agony pleasure of this step and purchase some of the very fine pre-prepared corn in your grocery’s freezer case.

Combine the corn, milk, melted butter, eggs, salt and pepper. Stir everything together until well mixed. 

Pour the mixture into a greased 8×8 pan. Cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Download a printable copy of Baked Corn Casserole.

Tagged as: casserole, cooking, corn, corn casserole, corn custard, corn pudding, Food, recipes, Side Dishes, southern, southern cooking, southern cuisine, southern food, Vegetables