Week 21 (ahem... cough cough): Crispy grilled bacon with creamed corn on sourdough

So far behind the cooking schedule and even more behind the blog schedule, but back on the bus, I hope, with a dozen recipes to write up and still more to cook. So, I thought let's not delay things by not writing up the ones I've meant to do and just try and get what I can in. Today it's crispy grilled bacon with creamed corn on sourdough (from: The Guardian’s ‘Cook’, Saturday 11^th October 2014).

Now everyone loves corn on the cob, don’t they? Imagine a country fete, a friend’s summer barbecue or maybe a festival in a foreign country, with the cob drizzled in miso or butter, peppered in the extreme or charcoaled beyond yellow. I mean, the fresh, juicy, tasty bits of corn, succulent and tasty, popping in the mouth.  All good, except for the bits of corn stuck between the teeth, stubbornly refusing to go without a mighty effort with toothpick. Tasty, either way but also not without its problems…

And so, the taste of corn on the cob without the bits stuck in the teeth? Well creamed corn it has to be; and what a recipe this is. I always know when something tastes good because, when I taste it near the end for seasoning, etc., I can’t stop going back to ‘check’ if it needs more seasoning. And this is the case with this one.  Add the bacon on some crunchy bread and ‘Hoopla!’ You’ve got yourself a meal. Ideal for lunch, a treat to spoil yourself at breakfast with or, with a drop of decent white (a Cotes du Rhone for me), some sprightly evening repast. This one’s a keeper. If you want to experience it in the same way as I’ve done, cook and eat while listening to Iggy Pop’s excellent John Peel Lecture from BBC6 Music (broadcast 13^th October 2014). Great food and a surprisingly articulate speaker. Joie de vivre and a ‘lust for life’? Without a doubt.

Ingredients:

1 white onion	A good glug of cream (single or double if you like)
2 knobs of butter	Freshly grated nutmeg
2 or 3 corn cobs	Slices of sourdough (or other decent bread)
180-250ml water	Salt and pepper
6-8 rashers bacon

1. Set the grill to medium high. Sweat the onion in a pan over a low heat in a knob of butter. Cut away the kernels from the corn cobs then add them to the onions, stir, and add the water. Add a knob of butter and bring to a simmer under a lid for 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, grill the bacon on a high shelf until crisp, turning halfway through.

3. When the corn is tender, add the cream and nutmeg – don’t overdo it on the nutmeg else it taste something a little like rice pudding (!). Season and then blitz until smooth.

4. Keep warm while you toast or grill the bread. Butter it, then top with corn and bacon.

Easy to make and oh, so tasty. Definite seconds (and thirds?), just be sure to make plenty - I went on the higher side of the listed ingredients. This recipe would do two nicely. make more; you'll wish you had if you didn't!

Today's learning: Creamed corn is delicious. Why haven't I cooked it before? Fresh corn, cream and butter? It's a no-brainer, as they say.