Fancy Corn is an old family recipe, handed down from my grandmother Mabel, to my dad, to me. My dad’s birthday was March 8. I decided to honor his memory by making several of his favorite recipes in March.

My dad was a great cook. While my mom made most of our weekday meals, my dad took great pleasure in preparing meals on the weekends and special occasions. Fancy corn is a dish that brings back fond memories of family dinners in Kentucky decades ago. It’s sort of like a mushy cornbread made with creamed corn and some other colorful, tasty tidbits thrown in.

When I served it recently to friends, Kurt said it was the best corn dish he’s ever had. He had seconds and agreed to take home half the leftovers, so I think he really did like it.

Serves: 8

Active time:  15 minutes                 Total time:  1 hour

Specialized One-Butt Kitchen Utensils

• This 1.5 quart casserole dish doesn’t come with a lid.  You don’t need a lid for this recipe, but if you want to have one with a lid for other recipes, check out this 1.5-quart casserole dish with lid instead.
• Since my favorite cheeses come in a block instead of shredded in a package, I use a box grater to shred the cheese. If you don’t have room for a box grater in your one-butt kitchen, this flat coarse grater works well too.  Of course, you can save time and money if you buy pre-shredded cheese.
• I used a small 3-inch strainer to drain the pimentos.
• This whisk comes in handy whenever I’m cooking with eggs.
• If you are cooking in an RV, consider the next two items. An Oven Thermometer is necessary for two reasons.  First, it indicates when the oven is preheated to the specified temperature.  Second, it shows the actual temperature, which seldom matches what’s on the dial. My oven takes at least 10 minutes to preheat, and it’s usually about 10 degrees hotter than the dial.
• A Pizza Stone on the rack helps distribute the heat of the oven.  Without it, food is likely to burn above the heating element and be undercooked on the sides.

Ingredients

• 4 eggs, beaten
• 14.75-ounce can sweet corn cream style
• ½ cup oil (I used avocado oil)
• ½ tsp garlic salt
• 4-ounce jar diced pimentos, drained
• 4-ounce can diced green chilies
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Use butter to grease the baking dish.

Break the eggs into a bowl, then beat them with a whisk or fork. Add the remaining ingredients except for the cheese.  Mix well with a spoon. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.

Bake for 30 minutes, then remove from oven to sprinkle the cheese on top. Return dish to oven and bake for another 15 minutes, or until the center is set.