Maque Choux - Cajun Corn & Bacon

Maque Choux is a delicious Cajun side dish. It went very well with a shrimp dish I served.

There are a number of Maque Choux recipes on line. This one is a combination of several recipes. I intended it for our group of six, but it could easily have served 10. It was so good that we easily finished it off.

Ingredients

- 8 strips of bacon, fried and crumbled
- 4 cups of sweet corn. I used canned, but many recipes call for fresh corn taken off the cob with the milk from the cob. I'm sure that would have improved the taste.
- 3 tablespoons of butter or two tablespoons of butter and two tablespoons of bacon fat.
- 1 chopped onion
- 1 chopped bell pepper
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon of hot sauce (or more)
- 3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream
- 1 finely chopped green onion
- 2 tablespoons of chopped, fresh Italian parsley.

Directions

1. Cook the bacon in a large skillet until crispy. Remove bacon from pan and crumble.

2. Reserve two tablespoons of bacon fat in the skillet, and drain the remainder. (I substituted an extra tablespoon of butter for the two tablespoons of bacon fat, because the way I cook bacon in water leaves no fat.)

3. Add butter to skillet and and melt over medium heat.

4. Add onion and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. 

5. Add bell pepper and sauté until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes.

6. Add corn and sauté about 2 minutes.

7. Add cream and hot sauce. Simmer until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.

8. Mix in green onion and parsley.

9. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and more hot sauce, if desired.