Corn

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Sum-sum-summertime!

Just remember that old adage – have the water boiling before you go out and pick the corn! Or in other words, eat that corn before too many days go by. And refrigerate it until you do eat it.

The boiling thing was good advice before the very sweet hybrid corns came into existence. These days, the corn in our boxes is going to be very sweet and stay that way for a while. But eventually those sugars will turn to starch, so enjoy it quickly if you can.

If you didn’t eat that corn when the box arrived, I hope you’ll eat it tonight. Sure, you could store it, but what would be the point? Here you are with corn as fresh from the farm as possible … why would you wait to enjoy its sweetness? So – take a sharp serrated knife and cut off the tops, husk and all. Toss the worms to your backyard wildlife. If you’re going to roast your corn in the husk, then just peel the husks back and brush off the silks. This is much easier to do dry than if you try to do it under running water. Pull the husks back up, give them a little soak to keep the husks from burning on the grill, and then put them on the grill long enough to char the husks and infuse the corn with a lovely smoky flavor. Or … corn this fresh really doesn’t need cooking. You could just cut it off the cob and mix it the salad of your choice, or toss it with the cilantro and some lemon or lime juice for a yummy corn salsa.

Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as throwing those ears of corn in the freezer as is. Corn, like most fruits and vegetables, needs to be blanched before freezing. Blanching can be done by either boiling or steaming, and it destroys the enzymes that would break down the texture of your corn as it sits in the freezer. Fortunately, it’s easy to do and doesn’t take too long.

Here’s my method. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. While the water is heating, shuck your corn and remove all the silks. When the water comes to a boil, drop in the ears of corn and cover the pot. You should only be adding enough corn so that the water returns to a boil within a minute.

Once the water is boiling again, time it. You want to cook the corn for about 4 minutes. When the time’s up, remove the corn from the hot water and cool it in an ice bath.

When the corn is cool, cut the kernels from the cobs and store them in freezer containers in amounts that work for recipes you normally use. I like to freeze my corn in 2-cup and 4-cup batches.

Now when those field peas start arriving, you’ll have corn in the freezer ready to join the field peas in a big bowl of succotash. Yum.

Need directions for cutting the corn off the cob? The biggest problems folks seem to have are kernels flying all over the place and cobs slipping around. Try this method.

Place a large bowl on a damp towel. Fold a paper towel or dish towel into fourths and place it inside the container. Stand one ear of corn on the paper towel, using the stem as a handle. Using a paring knife, slice downward, letting the kernels fall into the container. Rotate the cob and continue until all the kernels have been removed; discard the cob. Did that work better for you?

(2023) Fresh Corn Polenta

My other two ears of corn will be used for the Corn Polenta recipe below. A fresh version of a comfort food favorite from my childhood – creamed corn.

(2023) Coconut-Dill Salmon with Green Beans and Corn

Can’t resist also passing along this recipe that I ran into at cooking.nytimes.com. This one makes use of dill, corn, cherry tomatoes from this week’s box. Maybe you also have green beans leftover, or tucked into the freezer. Bonus: you can bake it wrapped in foil packages on the grill. The combo with the coconut milk sounds divine.

(2023) Summer Skillet Corn, with Peppers, Eggplant, Tomato and Za’atar

I am tempted to just chop everything up and make a big salad with a little of everything in it – yes, raw corn, and YES, raw okra. And that will be dinner tonight. But eventually we’ll want something else, so I’ve got three ideas here – two from my go-to New York Times (cold noodles with tomatoes!) but one that was demonstrated at the Decatur Farmers Market. I have to say that I truly miss restaurant chef demos at local farmers markets. At once time that was a mainstay of the markets and always a source of creative inspiration … now they’re extremely rare, but the Community Farmers Market folks have local cooks who do demos most every week, and their recipes are perhaps a bit more practical and maybe easier to pull off.

So here’s the loosely written recipe for “summer skillet corn, with peppers, eggplant, tomato and za’atar” that was demonstrated at the Decatur Farmers Market. We don’t have eggplant in this week’s box, but you’ve got everything else and if there’s no za’atar at your house, just use whatever seasoning mix is on hand.

(2023) Corn and Celery Stir-Fry

I am tempted to just chop everything up and make a big salad with a little of everything in it – yes, raw corn, and YES, raw okra. And that will be dinner tonight. But eventually we’ll want something else, so I’ve got three ideas here – two from my go-to New York Times (cold noodles with tomatoes!) but one that was demonstrated at the Decatur Farmers Market. I have to say that I truly miss restaurant chef demos at local farmers markets. At once time that was a mainstay of the markets and always a source of creative inspiration … now they’re extremely rare, but the Community Farmers Market folks have local cooks who do demos most every week, and their recipes are perhaps a bit more practical and maybe easier to pull off.

(2022) bartaco’s Street Corn

We ran bartaco’s grilled Mexican street corn recipe in the AJC earlier this month and it’s delicious. I don’t know where that recipe had been all my life. I’ve appended it down below.

(2021) Summer Vegetables in Spiced Yogurt Sauce

This is also a recipe from the New York Times and totally adaptable for what is in this week’s box. You should swap out vegetables as you prefer. I’ve just been in the mood for Indian food, so this really appealed to me this week. We ran a recipe for Chicken Korma from Aroma Bistro in Roswell a week or two ago and testing that recipe just made me crave Indian spices.

(2021) Grilled Corn Salad with Hot Honey-Lime Dressing

I know I am fickle, but maybe fresh corn is my favorite CSA vegetable. We were late picking up our box yesterday and it was time for dinner so instead of sitting down to ponder recipe ideas and share them with you, I went right to the grill to cook that corn and make the Grilled Corn Salad from Bryan Furman of B’s Cracklin’ Barbecue. See the recipe below.

I consider the avocado optional and made mine without it. And I skipped the serrano and used one of the red peppers from the box. I have no idea what variety they are!

(2018) Gujarati Corn on the Cob Curry | Gujarati makai subji

I ran into this recipe today, one from the Splendid Table folks. It’s from a new book, Meera Sodha’s Fresh India, and I love the idea of the whole cobs in the soup. See https://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/gujarati-corn-on-the-cob-curry? for the fun picture. I intend to take the easy way out and use peanut butter instead of grinding peanuts. You could also just use regular all-purpose flour or whole wheat, if you don’t have chickpea flour on hand. I do have to laugh when the recipe says to encourage people to use their hands – how else would they get the corn kernels off those cobs?

(2018) Pickled Corn

Food 52 put out this pickled corn recipe recently. You may not want it today when you’re enjoying those first ears, but if we find a dozen ears in a box one week, this could come in useful. It’s like a lot of pickled corn relish recipes, but pretty simple. And of course, if you don’t have a fresh bay leaf, a dried one will do.

(2017) Cherry Tomato, Corn and Halloumi Salad

From Martha Stewart – love this combination. If you don’t want to buy halloumi (which is a very cool cheese if you’re not familiar with it) consider some feta. Maybe from Decimal Place? You could just do the feta as it comes from the container, or give it a little saute as suggested here. It’s fun if you haven’t tried “sauteed cheese” before.

(2017) Summer Succotash

I wish I remembered where this came from. But it’s a great way to use the corn and peppers from today’s box. We don’t have field peas yet, but I’m betting we’ll see some soon. And this is delicious without field peas – so consider maybe dicing up a zucchini if you have one left from last week. It’s an easy recipe for a slow cooker.

Baked Corn Pudding

You may also be looking for ways to eat more corn. Atlanta chef Virginia Willis created this recipe. The amount of corn can expand or contract as much or as little as you like.

Roasted Corn and Tomato Salsa

And since there were so many ears of corn, I can also make this salsa. It’s from Lyn Deardorff who is “Preserving Now” and demonstrated this recipe at the Freedom Farmers Market.

Shrimp and Corn Salad

I’m back again from another quick trip to the beach with a few pounds of fresh Georgia shrimp. And with ears and ears of corn in my box, how can I resist this quick salad? Sorry I don’t remember the origins of this recipe.

Corn Pudding

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Puree 3 cups corn in a food processor. Transfer to a large bowl, and stir in remaining cup corn, the salt, scallions, peppers, flour and 1/3 cup cheese. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and cream just until combined. Stir into corn mixture.  Place butter in an 8-inch square Read More…

Penne with Roasted Tomatoes and Corn

This week I’ve been reading “Cooking for Mr. Latte” by Amanda Hesser, former food editor of the New York Times. All this week’s recipes come from that book – a lovely combination of memoir and cookbook.

Toasts with Ricotta, Corn and Chives

This week I’ve been reading “Cooking for Mr. Latte” by Amanda Hesser, former food editor of the New York Times. All this week’s recipes come from that book – a lovely combination of memoir and cookbook.

Corn, Squash and Tomato Stir Fry

The first corn of the season – yum. A tip if you’re not familiar with no-spray corn. Most ears are likely to have a corn worm or two. Just cut off the affected part of the ear and you’re good to go. If I have more corn than I can use right away, I grill the extra ears in the husk. When they’re done, the husks and silks slip off easily and I store the grilled corn in a sealable plastic bag in the refrigerator. It will keep about a week that way and is still as sweet as it was the day it arrived.

In the meantime, if you need an idea for today’s fresh corn, try this recipe from Martha Rose Shulman of the New York Times. No Thai basil? Any basil will do, or just omit.

Black Pepper Kettle Corn

From Food and Wine magazine. Their note: “This kettle corn is so satisfying—it’s salty, sweet and a little spicy. Since it stays crisp for a few hours, you can make it in advance.”

Grilled Shrimp and Smoky Grilled Corn Grits

Shrimp and grits is the most requested dish I get for the AJC’s “From the menu of” column. This recipe was printed in Southern Living. I just happen to have a few ears of fresh corn in my vegetable bin – but maybe you have some you froze from the bounty this summer?

Spicy Corn Chowder with Chili-Lime Shrimp

A recipe for when you want to do a little more with your corn than just eat it off the cob. Adapted from a recipe by chef Will Gault of Vince’s restaurant in Leland,Mississippi.

Mexican Street Corn

All those gorgeous ears of corn make me go want to head directly to the grill and crank it up for some fabulous Mexican-style grilled corn. This recipe comes from seriouseats.com.

Penne with Crisp Prosciutto, Zucchini and Corn

Tomorrow I’m going to try this pasta recipe, but I’ll substitute pancetta for the prosciutto since I have some sitting in the refrigerator waiting for a use. This recipe came from Fine Cooking magazine.

Cucumber-Corn Soup

And finally, how about one more chilled corn soup? This one will use your cucumbers, too. With all this heat, I’m searching for all the cool meals I can find. This one is no-cook, perfect for this weather and came from “Everyday Food” magazine. The avocado provides the creamy component for this soup – a fabulous raw recipe. You’ll have to rustle up your own avocado; they’re not an organic crop for this neck of the woods so we’ll never see them in our Riverview box. Unless of course global warming advances faster than we think ….

Corn and Squash Tacos

I am now officially a fan of squash tacos having just written about some for the AJC and tomorrow’s Food section. That recipe came from Seth Freedman who is the market chef at the East Atlanta Village Farmers Market. Here’s another variation on the theme. I love that you make a corn cob stock for this recipe. That’s a great thing to do any time you’re cutting corn off the cob for a recipe. Turn those cobs into a delicious stock either by themselves or with tomato and onion trimmings. Waste not, want not … you know.

Chilled Corn and Bacon Soup

I know I’m the mood for a chilled corn soup. This recipe came from the nice people at Good Housekeeping. It uses smoked paprika, one of my favorite ways to get a little smoky heat into a recipe. Lacking smoked paprika, you could use a little adobo sauce from that can of chipotle peppers I know you keep in your pantry. And of course the bacon lends its own smoky nuance.

Grilled Fish with Charred Corn Salsa

This recipe from Christopher Rochelle is a little lengthy, but that’s because of his complete directions for making little fish and seasoning parcels for the grill. I love the idea of using those lovely organic corn husks and maybe you’re up for a little experimentation in the kitchen this week. Fresh corn husks are much better for grilling than the dried husks sold for tamale making. Use a firm white fish like halibut or cod.

Chipotle Corn Soup

This recipe is adapted from one written by food writer Christine Gallary. You can make up a big batch and freeze the extra. Serve this soup cold or hot.

notes about corn 2

When faced with a bounty of corn, what should you do? Enjoy all you can right away and freeze the rest, of course. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as throwing those ears of corn in the freezer as is. Corn, like most fruits and vegetables, needs to be blanched before...

notes about corn

Corn, basil and broccoli – the newest members of the vegetable family to grace our box this week. If you didn’t eat that corn last night, I hope you’ll eat it tonight. Sure, you could store it, but what would be the point? Here you are with corn as fresh from the farm...

notes about popcorn

A note about popcorn, assuming you still have one or more cobs left over from last week. Suzanne Welander had some advice: “I spend some time and ‘roll’ kernels off of the popcorn cob and cook them in my cast iron skillet just like “regular” popcorn. You...

Chicken and Summer Vegetable Tostadas

You probably didn’t need a tostada recipe, but it’s good to be reminded that all kinds of veggies make great tostadas –AND quesadillas – AND tacos – and they’re wonderful any time of day. This recipe comes from Cooking Light.

Creamed Fresh Corn

And when you tire of corn on the cob, how about creamed corn? Some of us grew up only eating creamed corn from a can or a tube in the freezer case. How about making your own?

Squash and Corn Tacos

Do you know how to roast peppers? I roast poblanos (and other large peppers) by just putting them on the gas burners on my cooktop. You want to brown the skins, so just leave them in the flames and turn them to get all sides blistered. Then drop the peppers into a paper bag, fold down the top and let the peppers steam. When they’re cool enough to handle, remove from the bag and remove the stem, seeds and skin. Easy! I do this periodically and store the roasted peppers in bags in the freezer to pull out as needed.