Cheesy Corn, Are You Ready for Some Football Food?
I love the fall season. Aside from all things pumpkin and apples, I start thinking about foods that go hand in hand with watching football. My dad was a sport’s junkie and he definitely passed the sports-watching gene to my brother and me. He also liked to cook. Every Sunday he would have a big pot of Rice Soup or Congee simmering just for the 49er game. I’m not sure what I looked forward to more, the Rice Soup (Instant Pot) filled with bits of chicken, potatoes, tiny pork meatballs, topped with green onions and cilantro, or the football game.
Football Food
In addition to the soup, football watching requires yummy totally bad for you snack food and I just discovered one that would fit in perfectly with a sport-watching spread. One of my favorite cookbooks this year, A Common Table, has a popular Korean snack that must have been created to go with beer and fried chicken and therefore football. Korean Cheesy Corn. Yep, the best thing since sliced bread. Okay, I’m kidding but it is good and stupid easy.
Start with fresh corn from the Farmer’s Market. It is so good right now. Frozen corn or canned corn (lots of Korean recipes start with canned corn) would work, but, come on, go fresh and support your local farms.
And now a public service announcement, a video on how to take corn off the cob from Saveur using a bundt pan! It works like a charm!
From here on in it’s a downhill slide. Stir-fry corn in oil or butter until it is soft. Combine corn with mayonnaise and place in an ovenproof dish. I use Kewpie Mayo which is slightly sweet but use whatever mayo (better be Best Foods) you have in the fridge. Sprinkle a crap ton of Mozarella cheese on the corn and bake at 500 until the cheese is browned, gooey and melty. So delicious. Versions of Korean Cheesy Corn add sugar. If your corn is sweet you won’t need to, but if you like it sweeter add 1-2 teaspoons of sugar. If you use Best Foods or Hellman’s add 1 tsp of sugar.
The corn, mozzarella, mayo, green onions, and cilantro are the basic ingredients for this yummy super easy dish. Of course, you can go CRAZY and add extra fixings to bring it to a whole new level. A bucket list of add-ons includes bell pepper, red onion, jalapeno peppers, or crumble in bacon (cuz everything is better with bacon). You can also add cut-up rice cakes cause what’s a few more calories in a totally not-on-your diet dish.
Ready set, dig in!
Korean Cheesy Corn
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 cups fresh corn about 2 ears, canned or frozen can be used
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise, preferably Kewpie add 1-2 teaspoons sugar if using regular mayo
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter or vegetable oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella or more if you are a cheese freak. Additional 1/4 cup stirred into corn with mayo.
- 1/4 cup sliced green onions
- 1/4 cup cilantro coarsely chopped
- 1/8-1/4 cup additions ie. bell pepper, diced red onions, bacon, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees
- In a large non-stick skillet, heat butter or oil. Over medium heat, add corn and if using bell peppers, jalapeno or onions. Cook, stirring frequently until soft about 4-5 minutes. Season with the salt and pepper.
- Transfer corn to an ovenproof dish, stir in mayo and sugar if using.
- Sprinkle cheese evenly over the surface and bake for 5-7 minutes until cheese is melted, bubbling and starts to brown. Like a pizza!
- Garnish with green onions and cilantro and serve immediately.
2 Replies to “Cheesy Corn, Are You Ready for Some Football Food?”
Seriously, this would be so good in little corn tortilla shells, or part of a taco bar! yum!~
What a great idea!