corn cheese
Corn cheese: A late night favorite, definitely. For this recipe, I used a 10.25” diameter skillet.
Corn cheese. A perfect fusion dish that you get to eat at 1 in the morning (at least I did pre-pandemic) … along with some chicken wings or some type of meat served on a scalding hot plate. It’s a perfect combination of creamy, salty, buttery and sweet. My favorite part is that in manhattan, to get corn cheese you would have to go up to the third floor in a tiny elevator in midtown … no work, no reward :)
I still eat this late at night, but lately, in pajamas, which just adds to the comfort factor of this dish.
Ingredients:
1 can (15.25 oz) of UNSALTED corn
1 tablespoon of butter
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1/8 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
2 tablespoons of mascarpone cheese
1/4 teaspoon of onion powder
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
Ingredients for corn cheese, left to right: onion powder sugar, mayonnaise, mascarpone, shredded mozzarella, salt, butter, and unsalted corn in the center
My (secret) but not-so-secret-anymore, go-to ingredient for a non-greasy, creamy corn cheese: MASCARPONE. You were this many years/days old when you saw it here folks…
Directions:
Drain the corn in a colander. With a gloved hand, gently squeeze handfuls/portions of the corn to release any excess water. Do this 4-5 times until you’ve gotten all the kernels squeezed.
In a separate bowl, mix the mayonnaise, mascarpone and onion powder together.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Heat your pan (I used a 10.25” diameter cast iron skillet) on medium high heat.
Melt the butter and make sure the entire pan is coated. Next, add the corn, sugar and salt. Cook and stir for 2 minutes.
Once the corn has been cooking for two minutes, turn off the heat.
When you mix the corn, butter, sugar and salt together it’ll give off a really great aroma … think kettle corn.
Next, add the mayonnaise/mascarpone mixture to the corn. Mix well. Then flatten the mixture evenly in the pan.
Mixing the mayonnaise and mascarpone mixture with the corn
Top your corn with the mozzarella cheese.
Next place the pan in the oven. After about 2 minutes of cooking time, crank the heat up to broil. Broil for 3 minutes to get some nice, brown color on the cheese. Total oven time should be around 5 minutes (however, if you want your cheese more golden, keep it in the oven a little longer, but be mindful not to forget about it—I always need a timer because I’m usually doing 3 or 4 things at the same time. )
You can eat this as a standalone dish, or with tortilla chips. I personally like eating this as a side dish to a meal, one that involves ribs or chicken wings. Enjoy :)
