Bacon Corn Hash

 Smitten Kitchen never disappoints!

Makes 4 to 5 cups

1/2 pound thick-cut bacon, cut into small dice
1 pound red potatoes, scrubbed clean and diced into 1/4- to 1/2-inch cubes (about 3 to 3 1/4 cups)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 medium-large ears corn, kernels cut from the cob (2 1/2 to 3 cups)
1 bundle scallions, thinly sliced

Toss bacon into a large skillet over medium heat, no need to heat the pan first. Let rest for a few minutes until it starts sizzling, then move the bits around so that they begin to brown evenly. Again, wait a couple minutes before shuffling the pieces around; you’re looking for them to get evenly golden and crisp. This should take about 10 minutes. Remove the bacon bits with a slotted spoon, leaving the drippings in the pan and transferring the bacon to paper towels to drain.

If your bacon is like mine, you’ll be left with a spectacular amount of fat behind. You’ll be tempted to drain it off. May I ask you not to? The potatoes that cook in this will be gorgeous and you will have a chance to remove this extra in a bit. It will mostly stay in the pan.

Heat the pan to medium/medium-high, making sure the bacon fat is nicely sizzly, then add your potatoes all at once in a single layer. Sprinkle them with 1/2 teaspoon table salt and several grinds of black pepper. Let them cook for a few minutes in one place and get a bit golden underneath before turning them over and moving them around. Repeat this process until the potatoes are browned on all sides; this takes about 20 minutes.

At this point, you can push aside the potatoes and pour or spoon off all but a small amount of the fat. I won’t tell you how much I was able to remove but it rhymes with shmoo to shmee shmablespoons. If you save it, you can use it to fry an egg in a bit.

Bump up the heat a little and add the corn to the skillet. Saute the potatoes and corn together until the corn gets a bit brown but stays fairly crisp, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the drained bacon, and stir the mixture together until it’s evenly warm, about 1 more minute. Remove the skillet from the burner and sprinkle the scallions (reserving a couple spoonfuls if you’d like to use them as fried egg garnish) over the hash. In two minutes, they should be warm and mellowed. Season with more salt or pepper to taste, if needed.

Add a fried egg to it: Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat and swirl in one to two teaspoons bacon fat or butter. Crack one egg into the skillet and reduce heat to medium. I like to cover the skillet with a small lid at this point, as it seems to help the egg cook faster and more evenly. In one minute, you should have a perfect sunny-side-up egg. Season with salt and pepper, serve on top of a pile of bacon corn hash.

NOTE TO SELF:

This fit well in the larger cast iron pan.

Prep all the ingredients before Mass and it comes together in a reasonable amount of time when we get home.

Baked Cheese Grits

4 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 cup quick-cooking grits (not instant)
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese shredded
2/3 cup milk half and half or heavy cream
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
4 large eggs lightly beaten
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated
pinch paprika

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Add water and salt to a large saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil. Add the grits and mix well, bring back to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer covered for five minutes. Stir occasionally.
• Remove from the heat and add the cheddar cheese, milk, butter, Worcestershire sauce, ground red pepper, and garlic powder. Mix well to combine. When the butter and cheese have melted, add the eggs and make sure they are thoroughly mixed in with the other ingredients.
• Spray a 2-quart baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and pour in the mixture. Sprinkle with paprika and the Parmesan cheese.
• Bake uncovered for one hour. Let the casserole stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.

NOTES:
I used Old-Fashioned grits (Quaker)
The recipe says you can add up to two more cups of cheese, fwiw.

Corn Salsa

(Found in my search for a Trader Joe's copycat recipe)

4 ears of sweet corn (kernels removed and reserved, husks discarded)
1 red pepper, finely chopped
1 cup distilled white vinegar
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup water
1 and ½ tsp mustard seeds
¼ tsp. cumin seeds
1 red onion, minced
1 and ½ tsp. ground red pepper (add an extra tsp. ground red pepper if you like your salsa more spicy)

1. Toss the sweet corn kernels and chopped red pepper together in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
2. In a large saucepan, combine the vinegar, sugar, water, mustard seeds, and cumin seeds. Pace the pan over medium-high heat until it begins to boil. Reduce the liquid to a simmer. Add the chopped onion and ground red pepper. Simmer until the onion becomes translucent, about 10 minutes. To the simmering liquid, add the sweet corn and chopped red pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the corn salsa to a non-reactive container, pressing down lightly to pack the corn. Gently pour the remaining cooking liquid from the saucepan over the packed salsa just until it is covered. Refrigerate for a day before serving (to allow the flavors to develop).
4. Serve with chips for dipping.

Mexican Biscuit Casserole

1 1/2 lb. hamburger
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
3/4 c water
1 16 ounce can kidney beans, undrained
1 11 ounce can corn w/ sweet peppers, drained

3 1/4 cups bisquick
1 c milk

3 c shredded cheese

• Brown the hamburger, add water, seasoning mix, beans and corn.  Bring to boil.
• Meanwhile, mix milk and bisquick and form biscuits.
• Put meat mixture into a sprayed 9 x 13 dish.
• top with at least half of the cheese and then place the biscuits on top of the hot meat mixture.
• Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until the biscuits are lightly browned.  
• Take out of the oven, top with remaining cheese and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

NOTES:

• Very easy and we all liked it.
• Next time, change the meat to 1 pound, put it in a 9x9 baking dish and use half a batch of biscuits.  (We thought the meat to biscuit ratio was pretty low.)
• Regarding the biscuits - this recipe could be made easier with a can of refrigerator biscuits.  It could be made tastier with a home made biscuit recipe.  Really, any would work.
• This could be a freezer meal.  Just package the cooked meat mixture in a ziploc and package it with the right amount of cheese and a pack of frozen biscuits.  Assemble before serving, but it's probably worth noting that the meat would need to be reheated before assembly.  (Not sure if that's important or not, but the original recipe specifically says "hot."
• Source.

Grandpa's Buttery Corn

• 3 c water
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 stick of butter
• 10 cups corn kernels, blanched

Combine all ingredients in a large pot and boil for 3 minutes. Cool and divide into ziplocs before freezing.

Southwestern Egg Rolls

2 cups frozen corn, thawed
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chiles, drained
4 green onions, chopped
1 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
1 package egg roll wrappers (about 24 total)

In a large bowl, combine everything but the egg roll wrappers. Mix well to blend. Lay an egg roll wrapper out on a work surface so that one of the corners is pointing toward you and place ¼ cup of the filling in the center. Fold the tip closest to you up over the filling, roll a bit, then take the points pointing outward and fold them in toward the center. Continue rolling into an egg roll shape until a small part of the remaining point is still free. Dip a finger in water or beaten egg and lightly brush on the edges of the free corner. Finish rolling and press to seal closed. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.

Preheat the oven to 425˚ F. Lightly oil a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place the sealed egg rolls on the baking sheet seam side down and spray the tops of the egg rolls with cooking spray. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly brown, turning halfway through baking. Serve warm with salsa.

NOTES: 

• These were easy to make and neat to eat.  
• The baked egg roll wrappers were a little tough and would be worse if we'd forgotten to spray them, but are much healthier than deep fried.
• Em and I both thought they need more seasoning.  She thought a few dashes of hot sauce, I think another can of chilies and more salt.
• Egg roll wrappers come in 15 packs at Cub and since we used a scant 1/4 cup filling in each, it made 30.
• More cheese would also be good, imo.
• Source

Broccoli-Corn Casserole

1 (16 ounce) can creamed corn
10 ounces broccoli, cooked and drained
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup saltine cracker crumbs (12)
1 tbls. instant onion (or equivalent)
2 tbls. melted butter
pepper

Topping:
1 tbls. melted butter, mixed with
1/4 c cracker crumbs

Mix, add topping, bake in 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes.

Source: Pine to Prairie Cookbook

Grilled Corn Salad

6 ears corn, shucked
2 avocados, cut into cubes
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

3 green onions

1/2 of a small can of diced chili peppers, or 1 teaspoon of diced jalapenos

Dressing:

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons lime juice

salt and pepper to taste

Grill corn and green onions over low heat until it starts to brown in spots; allow to cool slightly and the cut the kernels off the cob, finely chop the white portions of the onion. Stir together the dressing ingredients, stir in the avocado chunks first followed by the remaining ingredients. Chill to allow the flavors to meld.

Note: The only reason I stir the avocados in first is so that they get coated with lime juice to slow the browning.

Yield: about 1-1/2 quarts(mind you they were kinda smallish ears of corn)

Fresh Corn Casserole

8 ears Of Corn (or 1 1/2 bags of frozen)
⅔ cups Heavy Cream
3 Tablespoons Butter (salted)
½ teaspoons Salt To Taste
Ground Pepper To Taste

Remove the corn from the husks. In a large, deep bowl, slice off the kernels of corn. With the dull side of the knife (or a regular dinner knife), press and scrape the cob all the way down to remove all the bits of kernel and creamy milk inside.

Add heavy cream, salt to taste, a generous amount of ground pepper and butter; mix well. Pour mixture into a baking dish. Bake at 350º for 30 to 45 minutes or until thoroughly warmed through(or whatever temperature anything else is cooking at).