The Inspired Cook
A blunder becomes a success
I admit that I am a recipe and cookbook collector—fanatic may be more accurate. My daughters Ashley and Tracie know that they can never go wrong by giving me a cookbook for any occasion whether it’s my birthday, Mother’s Day, or Christmas.
In fact, I’ve told them numerous times that the cost of the book is insignificant to me. I will love and appreciate a garage sale find just as much as a pricey bookstore purchase. To be quite honest, a church cookbook compiled by its members is my very favorite type.
For my birthday about 12 years ago, my older daughter Ashley gave me a cookbook titled Food Network Favorites: Recipes from Our All-Star Chefs. Many of the chefs featured happened to be the ones I watch most often on TV. At that time, Paula Deen’s show was my very favorite.
In this book, Paula shared 10 of her favorite recipes. I prepared several and really loved them. One of them called corn casserole stood out as one that I believed my family would really enjoy, so I decided to make it for dinner one night.
In the middle of adding and mixing ingredients, I made a big boo-boo!
Instead of sprinkling the cheese on top of the casserole once it had been placed into the baking dish, I mistakenly added it into the mixture and stirred it before I had realized just what I had done. Since there was no way to remove that cup and a half of shredded cheddar cheese, my only option was to bake it and hope for the best.
Let me tell you that my family didn’t gag while eating my botched dish, which was a relief in itself because I feared the worst. But, never in a million years would I have believed that they totally would have gone gaga over it, which is just what they did!
Not long afterward, I decided to make the dish again following the directions as written. Guess what? While the original recipe is quite tasty, my family preferred my recipe. Therefore, it has become a staple dish in my repertoire. Go figure!
Recently while searching online, I discovered that the original recipe has been around for many years. Often called corn pudding, other names include five-ingredient corn casserole and spoonbread. I did notice that not all of these recipes add cheese as Paula and I do.
To test my substitute corn-muffin mix, which I shared in my column last week, I was inspired to prepare my version called cheesy corn casserole. I’m sharing it with you today and hope you enjoy it as much as my family does.
In case you missed seeing my corn-muffin mix substitute last week and would like my recipe, email me at hattiekirkwoodkemp@yahoo.com, and I will send it to you as soon as I can.
Cheesy Corn Casserole
Ingredients:
In a Jiffy Substitute for Corn-Muffin Mix or 1 (8.5-oz.) box of corn-muffin mix
2 T. organic grapeseed oil or preferred oil
1 (14.75-oz.) can cream-style corn
1 (15.25-oz.) can whole kernel corn, drained
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 c. sour cream, any type
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9- by 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.
Into a large mixing bowl, mix together both types of corn, oil, sour cream, and melted butter. Stir in the substitute for the corn muffin mix or the commercial brand. Add the cheese, stirring well to evenly distribute it.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes or until golden brown and done in the center when tested with a toothpick.
Yield: 6-8 servings
