"Killer" Corn Casserole

This is my grandmother's recipe, although I've altered it somewhat. My changes basically involved tinkering with the thickening and seasoning. I didn't add any fat--that's all original. Ce Ce changed it to frozen corn after the advent of convenience foods. It used to be cut off the cob.

It is a no-frills, pure comfort food, 1930's dish that is guaranteed to cure what ails you unless you have a heart-related, fat-related, salt-related, or dairy-related problem. In that case, it'll prolly kill you, but I promise you'll die happy. I would WAY rather have a big dish of this than of ice cream any day.

MEDICAL WARNING and DISCLAIMER: If you already have high cholesterol, do not eat more than 1/4 cup per year of this stuff. It completely blocks arteries upon swallowing. The blogger washes her hands of any and all responsibility for any ingestion-induced health anomalies readers might experience.

(And, Lord, it hurts so GOOD! Thank you, Grandma Ce Ce, you were one of the world's greatest old-fashioned homestyle cooks! Thanks for giving me your old recipe box!)

Ce Ce's original recipe is for four small servings. That's what she and Grandpa would eat at one sitting. Our family of four never eats that. We are pigs. We eat, like, 12 or 18 servings and then sneak into the fridge and nibble on the leftovers. So you might try it once but you will find the yield is measly and you'll want more. So depending upon the number of diners at your table, double, triple, or quadruple your ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pkg. frozen whole kernel corn (I think hers were 10-ounce boxes or bags; I just get the huge bags of frozen corn)
• 2 Tbs. butter (hah! I use a whole stick and sometimes more)
• 2 Tbs. flour (just make sure you have roughly equal amounts butter and flour, maybe a little more flour than butter; you'll see when you keep putting flour into the roux. It is right only when it gets really, really thick)
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• salt (to taste)
  
• black and/or white pepper (to taste) I like the white pepper, but the kids think it's too hot
  
• 1/2 pint whipping cream or heavy cream (I just buy a bunch of pints and keep putting them in one by one until it looks right)
• Small tub grated Parmesan, Romano, or Asiago cheese

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a small saucepan, make a roux using butter and flour.
3. Bring corn, salt, pepper, and whipping cream to a boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes. (Do not add water to the corn; its own water and the cream are sufficient liquid.)
4. Thicken corn mixture with the roux. Good and thick. It should be gluey together. You'll know.
5. Place in a casserole(whatever size you need, or multiple casseroles) and bake in oven for at least 30 minutes, or until bubbling and a little golden around the edges and top.
6. Remove from oven. Top with a layer of Parmesan cheese and put under the broiler until the entire top is a toasty light brown.

Done! Enjoy your decadence. You can put any extra in little Pyrex dishes and freeze for later, and it reheats as well in a pot as in the microwave or conventional oven.

Hooo-eeee. Suddenly I'm hungry.