Corn and Cheddar Spoon Bread

I arrived home from work today and found my hubby installing a new shower in the basement bathroom. 'This is great,' I thought. 'I love coming home to a man hard at work.'


After a kiss hello, I informed him that 1) the bathroom looked great (despite the fact that it looked like a hardware store threw up in there) and 2) I was starving.

He 1) thanked me and 2) informed me that he just ate a massive calzone 45 mins ago.

'This is great,' I thought. 'I get to make whatever I want for dinner.' And what I wanted was comfort food. Fat-and-carbs food. Something warm and soft, like eating my favorite blanket but much more flavorful. What I wanted was corn & cheddar spoon bread.


This is my favorite winter meal. Yes, I realize it is nearly June. For a seasonal cook, I should feel a touch of embarrassment making a dish that is more appropriate in the middle of January. But I quickly got over that silly sentiment and got cookin'.

Much like my 4-year old niece trying to decide between her favorite pink shirt and her favorite purple shirt, I also have a tough time focusing on one aspect of this spoon bread to sing about. Would it be the savory flavor, balancing the sweet corn and the salty cheddar? Perhaps the souffle-like texture? Or better yet, the dairy trifecta of milk, butter, and cheese that creates such a light-yet-filling morsel? In the end, I think it comes down to one essential element: the crust.


I love crust. I was that weird kid in school who would eat the grilled cheese sandwich crusts at lunch and leave the middle. I always grab the bread heel. I get disappointed when cheesecake doesn't have graham cracker crumbs on the bottom. Yup, I'm crusty and proud of it. So it's no surprise that I always dig into the corners of this stuff first, scraping along the bottom to get every last crunchy crumb.


The recipe is from Savoring the Seasons by Lucia Watson. Lucia has a famously good restaurant in Minneapolis called, well, Lucia's, and it's all midwestern, all the time. Although I highly recommend the cookbook, here is a quick and dirty version of the recipe, adapted from the original. Note that it's a pantry meal; you probably don't have to make a special trip to the grocery store for ingredients.

Corn and Cheddar Spoon Bread

2 and 1/4 cups water
1 t. salt
1 cup cornmeal
A few cracks of pepper
2 T. butter
1 cup milk
3 eggs, beaten
1 and 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup corn kernels
A few chopped green onions or chives

In large pot, boil water; add salt. Lower heat and slowly stir in cornmeal, trying to avoid lumps. Cook a couple mins until thick and remove from heat. Add pepper and butter; stir. Add milk; stir. Add eggs; stir. Add cheese, corn, and onions; stir once more until smooth.

Pour mixture into buttered casserole dish (I use 13x9, since I like to spread it out for crust factor). Bake at 400 degrees for 40 mins. Let cool for 10 mins before serving.