Steak with Cream Corn plus chopped chive garnish
Cream corn is something you grew up with if you lived in the south or midwest, but it’s available in most U.S. grocery stores. It’s cooked corn niblets in an umami milky base, produced by squeezing the liquid out of more corn and possibly adding a bit of sugar or dairy or even a dash of MSG. And it pairs beautifully with a nice steak to produce a dish that looks and tastes much more complex than it actually is: Steak with Cream Corn. Serves 3.
Ingredients:
3 4-oz filet mignon medallions, or a thick-cut New York strip steak cut into thirds after cooking
14-oz can cream corn or equivalent amount of fresh corn off the cob with a bit of cream or butter
Fresh herbs for garnish
Method: cook cream corn over very low heat (it tends to stick because of the high natural sugar content) until liquid is almost gone. Set aside. Grill steak or fry in a cast iron skillet to desired degree of doneness, but no more than medium rare, then rest 10 minutes. To serve, pool the reduced cream corn in a dish and place the steak on top so its juices can blend with the corn. Garnish with fresh herbs. (We used chopped chives.) Serve immediately.
Have I told you about a recipe I developed for fresh ears of corn? I call it Corn Souffle. I use fresh corn on the cob. I shuck the corn and remove the silk. I cut the tops off the kernels dropping them into a 12 inch skillet. When I have removed the tops of all the kernels I place the blade of my chef’s knife onto the cob and scrap the remaining kernels into the skillet. I usually use 10 to 12 ears of corn depending on the size of the ears.
I add some butter and corn oil to the skillet then cook it on medium heat stirring constantly so that nothing sticks to the skillet. When I see that the corn is beginning to form a sticky substance, I add seven or egg whole eggs that I have already beaten together as if for an omelet. I lower the heat and stir the eggs in slowly. I continue to stir the skillet so that nothing sticks to the bottom.
If the corn is fresh, really fresh, that is all I do. If I suspect the corn, though still in the husks, are more than one day old, then I will add a few tablespoons of sugar, not so much that the dish is overly sweet, but to replace the sugar that was lost due to age.
This has been a favorite side dish wherever I bring it for a potluck. It tastes as if there were cream in it. I use some butter for flavor but for 10 corn ears maybe less than one quarter pound of butter. I am making this, on request, for a dinner party this Sunday to celebrate the Jewish New Year.
That sounds terrific! Very much in the spirit of cream corn. Have you ever tried beating the egg whites separately to make an actual souffle?
There is a backstory to this recipe and it starts with a fellow I worked with at Mattel Toy Company, a man raised in Texas. I was having dinner at his home in 1967; his wife prepared a wonderful meal. One dish was a stuffed tomato.
The tomato was hollowed out leaving a thick layer of skin and pulp. At the bottom of the tomato a dollop of spicy mustard and some broken pieces of cooked bacon. The majority of the tomato was filled with corn soufflé (she used Stouffers frozen corn soufflé that she cooked first). The top of the tomato was filled with grated Parmesan cheese.
The tomato was placed in the oven and baked. I don’t recall the temperature or length of time, but I have improvised. I use a cool oven, about 325 degrees for about 20 minutes or so depending on the size and quality of the tomatoes.
After about 20 years cooking this dish that way, I decided that I should make my own corn filling instead of using the frozen item. I experimented with various methods until I came up with the recipe I use today. I have like what this tastes like and it is relatively easy to make. I have never just used egg whites.
I believe I have purchased that very same box of Stouffer’s corn souffle as well as their French Bread Pizza. A search of my local grocer’s website says the “pizza” is still being made though the corn souffle sleeps with the fishes.