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Canned Corn with Green Peppers
Remove seeds from green pepper, chop half of it fine and add to the can of corn. Simmer slowly till peppers are tender. Season well.
A three-line side dish from a menu book, written for cooks who already knew what a can of corn behaved like on the stove. The gaps are worth filling before you start.
- Can sizeA modern can of corn runs about 15-16 oz; period can sizes varied and were often larger, so adjust the pepper accordingly. Whole kernel is closer to what the method assumes; cream style will scorch faster and needs stirring.
- Add fat and a little liquidNo butter or moisture is specified, and drained corn alone will stick. A tablespoon of butter plus two or three tablespoons of the canning liquid, milk or cream gives the peppers something to soften in.
- Pepper timingRaw chopped pepper needs roughly 8-10 minutes of gentle simmering to lose its crunch. If you want it fully sweet rather than merely tender, soften the pepper in the butter first for five minutes, then add the corn and heat through for another five.
- Half a pepperHalf a medium bell pepper gives roughly 1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped, which is a reasonable proportion for one can; use a whole small pepper if yours is on the thin side.
- Season wellCanned corn is packed with salt in some brands and not in others, so taste before adding any. Salt and black pepper are the obvious choices; a pinch of sugar or a dusting of paprika would not be out of place.
- Heat, not boilThe corn is already cooked in the can. A bare simmer keeps the kernels from bursting and going mealy.
- YieldOne can serves three as a vegetable side, two if it is carrying much of the plate.
Menu books of this period were built around the pantry shelf, and canned corn was one of its steadiest citizens: cheap, kept well, and needed only reheating. Such books often took a plain canned vegetable and gave it a fresh accent -- a green pepper, a chopped pimiento, an onion -- so the dish read as cooking rather than opening. The instruction to "season well" was common shorthand in books of this era, which often left salt and pepper to the cook's judgment rather than spelling them out.