Lovin’ the Slow Cooker Creamed Corn

I have asked several amateur cooks that I know to contribute some of their favorite recipes. The first one is from a long time friend (and former boss) Maggie. I have watched Maggie’s Facebook cooking posts for years and I’m really excited to have her blog for us. Welcome Maggie!

True confession: I have a Love-Hate relationship with my Crock Pot.

The LOVE part:  I completely adore the idea of placing a variety of ingredients into this appliance, leaving the house for hours, and coming home to a tasty, complete meal and a house that smells like your grandmother has been there all day. (And I do mean YOUR grandmother – mine is a terrible cook! But she’s 101 years old so I’ve forgiven her. And for the record, she was a bad cook at 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80…)

The HATE part: Most crock pot recipes stink. For years I have been trying different ones, always with the expectation that it will look like the photo with the recipe and taste as amazing as all the reviews indicate. People lie in those reviews. Most crock pot recipes produce a clumpy mash of whatever you plopped in there. Sometimes it tastes OK, but the presentation is almost always near the point of disgusting-looking. All those professional crock pot bloggers must be way better cooks than me. I also take issue with the crock pot recipes that require you to cook food only to cook it again in the slow cooker. This defeats the entire purpose! God would not have inspired someone to invent the crock pot if s/he intended them to braise, brown, fry, or prepare the food before you “slow” cook it. OK. Rant has ended.

That said, I have found a few treasured slow cooker recipes (Most of them courtesy of Stephanie O’Dea and her A Year of Slow Cooking Blog that are worth repeating. My favorite is Creamed Corn. Yes, Creamed Corn. This is SOOOOOO much better than the image of the canned, gloppy, corn starchy glutinous mess you have in your mind right now.

This one has lovely, crunchy corn and light cream sauce. This is decadent and easy. Give it a try. You’ll never want any corn side other than this one or fresh On-the-Cob again. Thanks to Stephanie O’Dea for creating this yummy dish!

Slow Cooker Creamed Corn

Stuff you need:

• 1 bag of frozen white corn
• 1 can of golden corn – do not drain
• 1T butter
• 1T cream cheese
• 2T flour or baking mix (I used Bisquick baking mix)
• 3T milk
• ¼ t freshly ground black pepper (I use more – I love black pepper in corn)

What you do:

Melt butter and cream cheese over low heat on the stove top.(The irony that I completely whined about pre-cooking stuff for the crock pot above is not lost on me. This time it is worth it!) Slowly add the flour or baking mix to make a rue, whisking until it is smooth. The consistency will be like a thick paste. Add the milk and the liquid from the can of corn and continue whisking until nice and smooth. Stir in the black pepper. Empty the frozen and canned corn into a 2 or 3 quart slow cooker. Cover with the sauce and stir. Cook on low for 4-6 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.

This is my new go-to side dish, and it graced our Thanksgiving table this year. And it didn’t take up a burner or oven space during the holiday cooking frenzy!