Cajun Corn Maque Choux Recipe

corn maque chouxThere are different variations of corn maque choux on the internet; while no doubt they are probably good, many are not the true authentic corn maque choux our Grand Mothers made.  Some recipes have adapted putting bacon in it, but again, this was not the original recipe.

Making corn maque choux was always a yearly event in my family; in fact the entire family contributed.  You see my Grand Mother Cottin was having children at the same time my Mother was having children!

Dad and Grandpa Edias were responsible to actually picking the corn in the fields (or purchasing the corn from local farmers) while the rest of us shucked, cleaned, cut and cooked the end product.  My Mother, Grand Mother Cottin, my little aunt Sharlette and I prepared the corn for cooking while my little brother (Blaine) and little uncle (Bryan) were responsible for bagging up the shucks and hauling it away.

It was always a battle with Sharlette and I; we didn’t want to remove the corn hairs from the ears of corn; instead we always wanted to cut the corn off the cobs.  But each and every year, we were still not old enough to cut and milk the corn!  SMILE!

We normally cleaned many sacks of corn at a time for packing the fresh PRIZED CORN MAQUE CHOUX in the freezer.  Eating real corn maque choux was always a real treat and it doesn’t taste at all the same if you choose to use corn from a can.  Sure many of us take cans of whole kernel corn and mix cans of cream style corn when using the recipe below, but it still does not taste the same.  There is nothing to replace home-made corn maque choux made the ole fashion Cajun way.

How to Cut Fresh Corn

  1. The first step is to shuck the corn and then stack the corn for the next person in the assembly line.
  2. The next person lightly brushes the corn hair off the corn cob.  Any hairs left on the corn cob will need to be removed by using a rounded butter knife.  Insert the knife between the kernels (careful not to damage the kernels) and remove the hairs.  Then you stack those cleaned corn cobs for the next person.
  3. The next person is responsible to actually cut and milk the corn in a clean pan.  You’ll need a very sharp knife, small brush, large pan
    1. You’ll end up cutting the corn basically twice.  The first time to cut off the top layer of the kernels and the second time to MILK the corn off the cob.
      1. Cut corn off the cobs by “thinly” slicing across the tops of the kernels and let the cut corn kernels fall into a medium pan.
      2. Cut across the kernels again to release milk from the corn
      3. Then to make sure you have all the milk you can from the cob, run your knife down the cob and allow the milk to run into your pan.

Ingredients:

Directions for Cooking Corn Maque Choux:

Heat the oil in a large heavy roasting pot using medium-high heat. Add onion, green pepper and celery (Holy Trinity Recipe); then lower your heat to medium to low heat.   Cook until vegetables are transparent, about 30 to 45 minutes.

Combine corn, milk, tomatoes, and milk with the vegetable mixture. Keep heat to medium-low, and cook 30 minutes longer, stirring frequently to prevent sticking.

Do not boil or cook on high heat or you will burn the corn mixture.. Season with salt and Benoits Seasoning.  Lower heat to a simmer, cover skillet, and cook 10 to 15 minutes longer.

Remove from heat and serve or let cool for packing in your freezer.

Cooking Tips

When cooking most Cajun dishes, it’s all about the flavors; it begins usually with our Cajun Holy trinity medley of SAUTEED onions, bell pepper and celery.  The trick to making this medley perfect is to saute it in either butter or olive oil (depending on the dish) on a low heat.  You want to end up with your vegetables transparent and not crunchy.  Your dish will not taste the way it should if your vegetables are crunchy.

The next tip is to use a Cajun seasoning that does not have salt in it.  This allows you to add as much of the spices and herbs from the seasoning you want while having full control over the salt content.  I use Benoits Cajun Seasoning and Redmond Real Salt (Sea Salt) for that reason.

More Recipes

More recipes from the Louisiana Cajun Mansion Bed & Breakfast.