Kentucky Spoon Bread

This is another family favorite side dish at the holidays.  This is a cornbread that is completely prepared in one casserole dish and is so moist that it requires a spoon for serving.

I've had this recipe for about 30 years and my mother-in-law would call days before Thanksgiving to make sure I was bringing it with me when celebrating with her in the mountains.  A family friend, Bobbie Godsey, whom we attended church with and also was a neighbor, shared this recipe with me.  This dish gets 9's all around in my household and 10's from the rest of the family.  If you've ever had the cornbread at El Torito Restaurant, this dish is even better than that!

I begin by placing a stick of butter in my 2 qt. casserole dish and melting it in the microwave oven.

To the butter I add the canned corn, creamed corn and sour cream, mixing thoroughly to combine.

Then I add the slightly beaten eggs.  I add the eggs separately figuring the cold sour cream has cooled down the melted butter, so that the eggs won't begin to cook when I add them.

The last ingredient is the box of cornbread mix.  I stir this in until thoroughly combined.

It doesn't look very appetizing at this point, but the magic occurs in the oven where it gets baked at 350°F for 45 minutes.  If you are also making my Broccoli Supreme dish, it can be baked at the same time because they both cook for the same amount of time at the same temperature!

When it comes out of the oven, it should be piping hot and nicely browned on top.  It's ready to serve!

This tasty side dish is so easy to assemble and it brings a nice pop of color to the plate!  Enjoy!

Kentucky Spoon Bread

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

1 – 8 oz. container sour cream

1 – 8 oz. can whole kernel corn, drained

1 – 8 oz. can creamed corn

1 pkg. Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix

2 eggs, slightly beaten

Preheat oven to 350°F.  In a small casserole dish (about 1 ½ to 2 qt.), melt butter in a microwave oven.  Add all ingredients in order listed, mixing well.  Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes, or until golden brown on top.  Serve hot with a spoon.

Cheesy Corn Cakes with Avocado Salsa

This recipe just looked interesting and yummy, so I decided to give it a try.  I love corn and it was pretty simple to make, but I think the avocado salsa makes this dish.

I found this recipe on Pinterest but it originated at simply-delicious.co.za.  This isn't the healthiest side dish because it's fried, but if you like corn and avocados, this recipe is for you.  My family gave this dish 8s and 9s on the Melnarik rating scale.

In a large bowl, I combined the creamed corn, corn kernels, eggs, paprika, and salt.

To that mixture, I added the shredded cheddar cheese.  This recipe calls for sharp cheddar, but if you're like me and want the cheese flavor to come through more, use extra sharp cheddar.  I stirred everything together until well combined.

Then I added the flour and baking powder, mixing well.

I added the milk a little bit at a time until the batter was not too thick, yet not making it too thin.  It needed to drop off the spoon easily but not spread like a pancake in the frying pan.

To my frying pan, I added some oil and heated it over a medium-high flame.  Then I dropped in spoonfuls of the batter.  As you can see, the one in the front spread into a wonky shape, but most of them remained round.  Once I could see at the edges that the bottom was nicely browned, I flipped them and cooked the other side.

Once fully cooked, I placed the corn cakes on folded paper towels to let the towels absorb some of the fat.

In the meantime, I began to prepare the avocado salsa.  I'm sure there is an easier way, but I chose to dice the avocado in the skin, so the chunks were more uniform in size.

As I separated the flesh from the skin, using a spoon, it was already in small in cubes.

To the avocado, I added the chopped red onion, and the diced red chili pepper.

Then, I added the salt and pepper to taste plus the fresh lemon juice and tossed gently to combine.

As I said before, I think the salsa made this dish and I would make it again to accompany other meals.

The warm corn cakes are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside and when topped with the avocado salsa are a great side dish to serve with a Southwestern or Mexican style meal.  Enjoy!

Cheesy Corn Cakes with Avocado Salsa

2 cups corn

1 (8 oz.) can creamed corn

2 eggs

1 ½ cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

½ teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ cup milk

salsa:

2 avocados, chopped

1 small red onion, diced

1 red jalapeno, diced (remove seeds if you don’t want it really hot)

juice of ½ a lemon

salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, combine the corn kernels, creamed corn, eggs, cheddar cheese, paprika and salt; mix well.  Add the flour and baking powder; mix well.  Gradually stir in the milk until the batter is not too thick and drops off a spoon easily (it should also not be so thin that it spreads too much when you fry the cakes).  Heat a large frying pan and add some oil.  Fry spoonfuls of the batter until bubbles appear at the top; flip.  Allow to cook on the other side.  Remove from the pan once both sides are browned and cakes are fully cooked and place on paper towels to drain.  In the meantime, combine all the ingredients for the salsa and mix well.  Serve warm cakes with the avocado salsa.

Mexicorn Dip

This was a new recipe I tried for our annual beach trip this year and it was a huge hit.  As I was making it, I thought the amount was so great that I'd be bringing some home for sure, but every drop disappeared on the beach!

Everyone who tried this dip raved about it.  My youngest son brought a friend with him this year and I discovered that he is a vegetarian the first day of our trip.  I hadn't prepared anything specifically for him to eat, so I was glad I had made this dip, which he loved!  I found this recipe on Pinterest but it originated on tastykitchen.com.

In a large bowl, I combined the mexicorn, diced green chilies, diced bell pepper and diced jalapenos.  The recipe also calls for diced green onions, but I chose to bring them to the beach separately and add them just before serving, as I was afraid they may get wilted if I added them the day before serving this dip.

After shredding the cheese, I added it to the vegetable mixture.

Then I added the sour cream and mayonnaise.  I used a Tupperware bowl, because in addition to being airtight like all Tupperware is guaranteed to be, any container with a round seal is also guaranteed to liquid tight.  It's insurance that as the ice melts in my cooler, no water will get into my Tupperware bowl!  As the recipe suggested, I served this dip with Frito's Scoops.  Enjoy!

Mexicorn Dip

2 cans (11 oz. each) Mexicorn, drained

1 can (4 oz.) diced green chilies

1 whole bell pepper, diced

3 whole green onions, chopped

2 jalapenos, diced (remove seeds)

8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1 cup sour cream

1 cup mayonnaise

Mix all together; refrigerate until serving with Frito's Scoops.