I am shocked. Shocked! Shocked to realize that we are in summertime wind-down, and I have only had corn on the cob twice! What have I been thinking? Corn is delicious, easy peasy, and totally beautiful. Look at those kernels! Symmetry, precision, uniformity – yet each is a tiny, individual microcosm of corn deliciousness. Prepare yourself for some genius corn recipes.
And yes, I realize that I am going against my cardinal rule of summer, and I will be turning on the oven, as well as the stove. Some pleasures are worth the extra heat in the kitchen. I plan to take everything out to the picnic table anyway, where I can enjoy a bit of a breeze, and watch the birds sail home. The mown grass smells particularly green at this time of year, and I have a nice chilly glass of cheap white wine. What could be better? Why having some melted butter dripping down my chin, of course!
My mother, as I am sure most mothers who came before us did, boiled the living daylights out of ears of corn. And yet, the corn still tasted like the golden miracle that nature intended. Perhaps, like lobster and popcorn, corn on the cob is merely a vehicle for butter. That is a conundrum I am willing to spend the next thirty years mulling over in my pointy little head.
I like to steam corn on the cob in a big pot, with just an inch of water, and a metal vegetable steamer. I like to use the big lobster steamer pot. This is a dramatic production. Mr. Friday likes to wrap the ears of corn in great sails of aluminum foil, dotted with big gobs of butter, which he then tosses onto the sizzling grill. I suspect he is reliving Boy Scout camping trips. If some of the corn isn’t burnt and charred then it hasn’t been properly grilled. Just in case you wondered how to tell it was done. https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/07/best-basic-grilled-corn-food-lab-recipe.html
If you are of a more practical ilk, and like to cook one meal, and have viable leftovers, then this frittata dish is for you. Cook it once, and use it again for breakfast or lunch. It travels well, so you can nestle it in a brown paper sack and call it lunch. Or it could be the basis of a picnic. You can eat it with your hands when you are stuck in weekend beach traffic. It is a marvel! https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/08/frittata-bacon-corn-gruyere-dinner-in-20-recipe.html
I always cook too much corn – just look at the size of that lobster pot! With the extra ears of corn I have more than a few options for meals for the week. Those ever practical folks at Food52 have a great corn salad recipe: https://food52.com/recipes/37430-sriracha-lime-corn-salad
Summertime also means lobster time. We like to have a lobster fest at least once a summer, and this usually means lots of leftovers. Here is a budget-friendly recipe that brings the lobster fest feelings back home: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017627-corn-and-lobster-tart
If you would like to enjoy an elegant meal, then consider this corn soup recipe from the New York Times: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12665-summer-corn-soup
Think ahead! If you are particularly ambitious, and have bought a lot of sweet summer corn from your local CSA or farmers’ market, here is a recipe for corn relish that will distill summer for you, when you have forgotten how hot and grumpy you were in August; a little bit of summer sunshine for the long gray days of winter: https://www.daringgourmet.com/2015/07/19/homemade-sweet-corn-relish/
“I have no hostility to nature, but a child’s love to it. I expand and live in the warm day like corn and melons.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
MARY WOOD says
My mother did not boil corn it was in and out of the boiling water in three minutes.