19 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:
That corn looks really good. Till I think about cutting an ear of corn in half lengthwise.
Upfront CYA (CMA?) announcement: I am NOT recommending that anyone else try this, especially @JoNorvelleWalker.
That said, it was relatively easy to cut the corn to the approximate sizes we got at the restaurant. I didn't feel unsafe and no injury resulted.
A cooked, even par-cooked, cob is ever so much easier to cut than a raw one so I microwaved an ear of corn, in the husk for a couple of minutes, a bit less than I'd use if I was going to eat it directly, then shucked it. The kernels were still opaque in some areas, just becoming translucent in others. I don't have a smoker but when I made the Smoked Corn Mayo from Vivian Howard's Deep Run Roots, I smoked it on the stovetop and I should probably consider that as a first step instead of the microwave.
On to the chopping....
I cut off and discarded a bit of the pointy end and cut the rest of the cob in half crosswise, into two cob-lets ~ 3.5 inches long.
I stood the cob-lets on end and sliced downwards, cutting them in half lengthwise. They stood up very stably and this was easy to do with all fingers well clear of the knife blade.
I placed each half cob-let flat on the board, with its cut side down and sliced each in half again, lengthwise so each cob-let was essentially quartered, yielding 8 cob segments from one ear. Easy peasy.
Now, I have no idea how they were cooked. I didn't actually order them and only tasted them towards the end of the meal, not when they were freshly served, which might have helped me figure it out.
Since the dish is titled "crispy split corn," deep frying is a possibility but rather unlikely to happen.
I'll try some CSO methods but should pause and whip up some of that bacon aioli first...
