Creamed Corn Gratin with Fried Onion Rings and Bacon

When I got on a creamed corn kick a while back, I found this recipe on Epicurious.com and made it for supper club. It was a hit, especially for my friend Amy's husband Rob, who asked, "Who made this mac and cheese? It's delicious!"

So, since most people like both corn and mac and cheese, I figured it I couldn't go wrong with this for a Thanksgiving side dish. The exact measurements are on the website, but here's my little recap.

I doubled the recipe for a crowd. Start by cooking the bacon, and crumble it for the topping.

Saute chopped onion in melted butter and reserved bacon grease.

Add eight cups of frozen corn and saute for about five minutes.

Then add two cups of whole millk and one cup of whipping cream. (I guess you could use reduced-fat dairy products, but don't bring that low-fat stuff to my house on Thanksgiving!)

With so much liquid, you may worry it will be too soupy, but have faith and keep cooking and stirring. Add three tablespoons of quick-cook grits to help thicken it, cook a while longer, and then stir in the grated cheese and chopped green onions.

The topping is toasted bread crumbs, the crumbled bacon, more chopped green onions and fried onions. If you're into short cuts, you can use those canned fried onion rings, but I like to go whole hog.

The nice thing about making this for Thanksgiving is that you can refrigerate the corn and topping separately. So, if you make it on Wednesday, you can clean up the kitchen and just pop it into the oven on Thursday morning.

It was tasty, but next time I think I will use even fewer bread crumbs in the topping. I must also warn you this is pretty darn oniony, since it has three different kinds of them. Nevertheless, always fun to try something new for Turkey Day. And you've got to love a side dish you can make in advance.