I admit, the name is somewhat misleading since I’m not using cream at all. But that’s good, right?

This is my son’s all time favorite side dish. The kid devours it. I’ll often double it so he can have more than one serving when we eat something he’s not too crazy about. Which is basically anything that doesn’t start with the letter P: pasta, pizza or pancake. I use the leftovers to make tuna patties or add it to pot pies.

You can easily add some (cubed) cooked chicken and use it as a pasta sauce or put it in an oven dish, top it with mashed potatoes and cheese, bake it and voila, dinner.

It’s a rather simple and straightforward recipe with a really laid back flavor. Maybe that’s what makes this so good?

Ingredients:

1 large shallot (or 1/2 a small onion)
1/2 red bell pepper
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp mustard powder
1/2 to 2 cups of milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cup peas (frozen)
1 1/2 cup corn (drained)
4 tbsp grated parmesan
pinch nutmeg 

Directions:

Chop the shallot.
 

Do the same with the bell pepper. Use whatever color you like, but red just makes it all look so bright-colored.

Mix the flour with the mustard powder.

Keep 1 1/2 to 2 cups of milk nearby.

Heat the butter and sauté the shallot and bell pepper for about 4 minutes.

Add the flour, stir well and cook for 2 minutes to neutralize the rawness of the flour. Keep stirring.

Pour in about 1/2 a cup of milk while stirring vigorously.

Bit by bit, you pour in milk until you have a consistency you like. I usually stop at roughly 1 1/2 cup. Don’t make it too thin!

Simmer the sauce for a minute or two.

Season it with 1/2 a tsp salt, a pinch of (freshly grated) nutmeg to taste and about 1/8 tsp pepper.

Stir in the (frozen) peas.

And add the corn as well.

Let it simmer for 5 minutes, until everything is all bubbly warm.

Stir in the grated Parmesan as a finishing touch. I would have used the good stuff, but alas; I didn’t have any. Such is life. Feel free to add some dried sage or thyme as well for a bit of extra flavor.

Seriously, who doesn’t love creamed corn and peas? It looks so cheerful!