Cheddar-Bacon Spoon Bread

I've been on a big corn kick lately.  I think it's all because of my fetish with Bacon-Corn Relish.  Once I have ears of corn in the house I go crazy.  To my supreme delight, BHG came out with a series of corn recipes last month.  Are they psychic?  I think so.  This awesome pan of deliciousness is like the ultimate bread pudding-ish.  Flavorful, bacon (hello!), cheese, fresh corn, and a wonderfully moist inside.  You need to make this ASAP.  For reals.

Cheddar-Bacon Spoon Bread
From Recipes.com


Ingredients:
Nonstick cooking spray
1 3/4 cups 2% milk
1 cup Jiffy corn muffin mix
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 eggs, separated
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 slices bacon
3 ears of corn
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese


Directions:

Cut bacon slices in half to fit easily into pan.

Fry bacon until crispy over medium heat, flipping once.

Remove bacon to paper towels to drain.

Cut/crumble bacon into small pieces.

Shuck corn.  Peel back husk and remove silk as best you can.

Place a smaller bowl upside down in the middle of a large bowl.

Hold corn on end on top of smaller bowl and run knife down ear of corn to remove kernels.

The large bowl will catch the corn. 

{This is one of my favorite kitchen tricks}

Don't cut the cob itself, just remove the kernels.

Repeat for all 3 ears of corn.

Ingredients!

Separate eggs into two bowls.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Coat a 2 quart casserole dish (or spring form pan) with cooking spray and set aside.

Place a large saucepan over medium-high heat.

In the saucepan, whisk together milk, corn muffin mix, sugar, salt and pepper until smooth.

Stir until mixture thickens and is bubbly, about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat.

  

Whisk in egg yolks, flour, and vegetable oil.

Stir in bacon, corn kernels, and 3/4 cup cheese.

Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form.

{Stiff Peaks}

Fold whites into the cornmeal in two batches, until just combined.

Batch 1, just combined.

Batch 2, just combined.

Pour batter into prepared dish.

Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese.

Baked until cooked through, puffed and golden brown on top, 35 to 38 minutes.

A knife inserted into the center will come out clean with moist crumbs attached.

Let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Happiness on a plate.

Seriously so good!

I know I usually do limited shots for the recipes or even just a final product photo.  Do you like the step by step pictures or the usual "as needed" process pictures?  I guest posted for Maggie last month and she wanted in depth pictures, so I brought that all to you today.  I personally hate the recipe directions being split and not easy to copy and paste, but what do you think?