Thanksgiving Side Dish: Scalloped Corn

We eat Scalloped Corn for Thanksgiving every year at my house. It is a recipe from my grandmother and it just wouldn't be the holidays without it! You can make it ahead of time, which is an added bonus for those hectic Thanksgiving mornings!

What you will need: 2 cans of whole kernel corn, drained, 1/2 cup chopped onion, 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper, 4 Tablespoons butter or margarine, 4 T. flour, 2 tsp. salt 1 tsp. paprika, 1/2 tsp. dry mustard, dash pepper, 1-1/2 c. milk, 2 eggs, slightly beaten, 1 sleeve of butter crackers (Ritz) and 2 T. melted butter. Got it? Let's go!

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Then, chop up the onion and green bell pepper. Cook the onion and bell pepper in the 4 Tablespoons of butter until the vegetables are soft. Remove from the heat.

Add the flour and seasonings. You will need the 4 T. flour, 2 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. paprika, 1/2 tsp. dry mustard and pepper.

Excuse the steamy picture, ha ha! Cook the vegetables, flour and seasonings over low heat until bubbly. Remove from the heat.

Gradually stir in the 1-1/2 cups of milk. You will need to have a whisk or spoon on hand, because it will clump.

Just go slowly and stir as you go, you will be fine. Heat until boiling over med-low heat while stirring constantly.

Once it starts to boil it will thicken. Yet another steamy picture. Once it starts to boil, continue stirring and cook for 1 minute.

Stir in the 2 cans of drained corn and the 2 slightly beaten eggs. I would suggest strongly that you temper the eggs before you add them in. Put the eggs in a bowl, beat them with a fork. Then add a few spoons of the hot mixture from the pan so that you warm up the egg mixture. You don't want the eggs to scramble when you add them.

Mix all of the ingredients together. There is no need to cook it any further because you are going to bake it. Pour the corn mixture into a 2 quart casserole dish.

Crush one sleeve of Ritz crackers and dump them into a bowl. Add the 2-3 Tablespoons of melted butter. Mix together. Top the corn mixture (that is already in the casserole dish) with the cracker topping.

Bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees. I don't have a picture because Brad took this casserole to his mother's for a birthday dinner and baked it at her house. This is one of the great Thanksgiving side dishes that you can make the night before (without adding the cracker crust) and then bake it on Thanksgiving. You can also cut the recipe in half or double it, depending on how many people you need to feed. My family loves this recipe, I hope that yours will too!

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