Maque Choux
Maque Choux, pronounced Mock-Shoe, is smothered corn or stewed corn. New Orleans and south Louisiana families used a cooking method called Smothering, where onions, peppers, celery and a liquid (water or broth) are used to braise vegetables and meat (beef, poultry, seafood) to ultimate tenderness. Beef Daube , Smothered Chicken, and Crawfish Etouffee are examples of this method.
My recollection of this dish brings me to visits to my paternal grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins in rural Louisiana, about 120 miles west of New Orleans. As we drove to their home, and before we reached my grandparent’s home, relatives waved from their yards or from their cars, to welcome us.
This dish starts with fresh vegetables that were grown in the area, which adds to the distinct taste of this dish. Being city girls, out mother did not prepare corn this way, thus my sister and I called this “Country Corn”.
INGREDIENTS
- 4 ears fresh corn, shucked
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup finely diced onion
- ½ cup finely diced green bell pepper
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ cup diced tomatoes
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon sugar (optional)
- ¾ cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons minced green onions
PREPARATION
Shuck the ears of corn and wash it removing the corn silk.
Cut the kernels off the corn and scrape the cob to extract the milk from the cob.
Heat the butter in a deep heavy gauge pan, such as a skillet, and add the onion and bell pepper. Sauté it until soft then add the garlic, and simmer until it is fragrant.
Add the corn, milk from the corn, thyme, red pepper flakes, black pepper and salt to the vegetables.
Simmer for a few minutes until the corn is cooked and soft. Add the diced tomatoes.
Add the heavy cream and simmer allowing it to thicken slightly. Add the parsley and green onions.
Enjoy Keeping It Creole!
Maque Choux
Ingredients
- 4 ears fresh corn, shucked
- 2 tbsp butter
- ½ cup diced onion
- ¼ cup chopped green onions
- ½ cup diced bell pepper
- ½ tsp minced fresh garlic
- ¼ tsp dried thyme
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp salt to taste
- ½ tsp sugar optional-the corn may have enough sweetness on its own
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tbsp minced fresh parsley
Instructions
- Shuck the ears of corn and wash it removing the corn silk.
- Cut the kernels off the corn and scrape the cob with the back of the knife to extract the milk from the cob.
- Heat the butter in a deep heavy gauge pan, such as a skillet, and add the onion, green onion and bell pepper.
- Sauté it until soft then add the garlic, and simmer until it is fragrant.
- Add the corn, milk from the corn, thyme, cayenne pepper, black pepper and salt to the vegetables
- Simmer for a few minutes until the corn is cooked and soft. Add the diced tomatoes.
- Add the heavy cream and simmer allowing it to thicken slightly. Then stir in the parsley.