Corn, oh sweet corn

[LJC]

So... let's hear it for the Jersey Corn!

What are you doing with it?

Where are you getting it?

How much do you love it?

[coughy]

I am getting it at a small farm stand on Northfield Avenue in West Orange. She brings it in fresh each day from a farm in Warren. I am steaming it - a lot of it. What we don't eat off the cob we eat in salad the next day.

[Curlz]

What are you doing with it?

Where are you getting it?

How much do you love it?

Um, let's keep it CLEAN, folks! This is a family site!!!

[wfnugent]

This post is rated NC-17 - Nibbling Corn 17 waking hours

Hot, salty and buttered.

Throw it on the grill, turn at 12-15 min and take off at 25-27. Shuck, eat and smile.

also, corn bread, roasted corn salsa, corn ice cream and roasted corn creme brulee.

If Homer ate corn instead of donuts....Mmmm....Corn. Is there anything it can't do?

I bet corn bread donuts would be pretty great. Have to break out the big fryer.

[pnapoli]

Throw it on the grill, turn at 12-15 min and take off at 25-27. Shuck, eat and smile.

yep. it's really that simple. bought some at whole foods (montclair) yesterday and threw it on the grill tonight. sooo good.

[wfnugent]

Growing up, Mom would boil the bejesus out of it and the corn would always come out stale tasting as all of those sweet sweet sugars had had turned to something akin to a substance best used to stiffen shirt collars.

The first time we threw it on the grill, it was an epiphany. A number of recipes/cookbooks suggest soaking the ears in water or sugared water for a time before grilling. If the corn is fresh, there is no need. Also, if you pull it off the grill, peel back the husk and find that it is not quite done, throw it back on huskless and let the kernels carmelize and take on a smokey taste. It just makes it better.

Some of the ears are bursting.

A white juice works inside.

Cornsilk creeps in the end and dangles in the wind.

Always--I never knew it any other way--

The wind and the corn talk things over together.

And the rain and the corn and the sun and the corn

Talk things over together.

Excerpted from Laughing Corn by Carl Sandburg

[emilymarie]

Went to both Whole Foods in Montclair and then the A&P in U. Montclair on Sunday in search of corn. Whole Foods was completely out of the stuff (real disappointment), and the A&P had the saddest corn that about 100 pairs of hands had poked, prodded, and "undressed" (the husk had been pulled off most of them revealing brown kernels).

Ended up buying the already shucked and wrapped corn (4 small cobs), and it was actually quite sweet and delicious.

Does Ploch's (I think that's the name) on Grove Street in Clifton have good corn and other summer produce? There's another Ploch's on Broad Street as well, I believe.

[Wiener]

Anyone ever watch Bill Maher on HBO? Last week he claimed that corn was ruining our country, the major cause of obesity in our land. He is quite adament about corn and very serious. Of course, he is referring to corn syrup and the corn that is used to fatten the pigs. He refers to the amounts of corn syrup we injest every year. He has a valid point about corn syrup, if, in fact, corn syrup comes from corn. Can anyone confirm or deny that corn syrup is made from corn? I thought it was a processed sugar product and had little or nothing to do with corn.

BTW, there is a small produce store about 6 blocks up from Plochs in Clifton, that sells fresh produce. Up on Allwood Road, heading east from Plochs. It may be called Allwood farms.

[GG Mora]

...if, in fact, corn syrup comes from corn. Can anyone confirm or deny that corn syrup is made from corn?

Corn syrup is indeed made from corn. More precisely, corn syrup is made from corn starch. An explanation of the process can be found here, along with some brief and biased tangential discussion.

[Wiener]

Yikes. That will help put a hault to my family feud ! I guess Bill Maher has a point.

[ghostrider]

Farmers' mkt corn (Rutheford, every Weds).

I still prefer it boiled. You have to watch it - boil for between 4 & 5 minutes, depending on kernel size (it's always a subjective call) after the water returns to a boil after you toss in the ears.

Just unsalted butter & no salt. Cardiac diet. Took a bit of getting used to but I got there.

P.S. There's a nursery / garden store on Van Houten on the west end of Clifton that also sells produce & has had excellent corn in past years. Haven't been there this year so don't have the name of the place at hand.

Edited August 10, 2004 by ghostrider (log)

[phaelon56]

I wonder if the "Rte 17 Farm Market" in East Rutherford by Staples sells local corn? (BTW they are a year round produce store not a real farmer's market)

When I lived in NJ the local ShopRite didn't carry jersey corn - even at the peak of the season. What's up with that? Up here in central NY state all the supermarkets make a big deal out of selling local produce when it's available (actually.... it's Wegman's that makes the big deal and the rest are copy-cats except for the smaller local stores like IGA that have always sold local produce when it's available).

I gave up on boiling except when trying to cook large quantities. I microwave it in the husk - two or three ears at a time and it comes out great - better than boiling. I will get around to grilligng some when time permits.

[tommy]

while i'm a fan of grilling (with and without the husk, and a combination of both), i've found the following method trouble-free:

boil a pot of water.

salt.

turn off.

throw in corn and let set sit for 5 minutes-5 hours, depending on when you want to eat it.

cutting out the "timing" factor is always a good thing for me.

[Curlz]

I microwave it in the husk - two or three ears at a time and it comes out great - better than boiling.

You've just made my day, Phaelon! I (snif) am without a grill, and reading about all of this grilled corn is just depressing me. Will have to see if I can pick up some decent corn and try the microwave method tonight!

[wfnugent]

My timer comes in a brown bottle.

Corn on grill...open beer....drink beer...turn corn...open beer....drink beer...serve corn.

The corn and I are roasted to perfection.

[tommy]

My timer comes in a brown bottle.

Corn on grill...open beer....drink beer...turn corn...open beer....drink beer...serve corn.

The corn and I are roasted to perfection.

sort of off topic, but i do a "one-beer grilled asparagus".

although, over the years the asparagus has come out with different levels of "char", depending on the circumstances.

[wfnugent]

Veering a bit further off topic and hopefully not falling off my deck in a stupor, I want to try the 4 hour pork shoulder printed in the Times two weeks ago. I may need a case.

To pull this jalopy of a post back on to the road, I will serve corn with the pork.

Time: About 4 hours

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons black pepper

2 teaspoons

cumin

2 teaspoons mild chili powder, like ancho or New Mexico

2

teaspoons paprika

1 pork shoulder, about 5 or 6 pounds.

1. Start gas grill, using burners only on one side to

achieve a heat of 250 to 300 degrees. Put a couple of

handfuls of wood chips in a tinfoil pan, and set it over

working burners. While grill heats, mix together dry

ingredients, and rub them all over pork, including under

skin as best you can and in any crevices.

2. Put pork on cool side of grill and cover. Check about 15

minutes later to make sure chips are smoking and heat is

below 300 degrees. Check every hour or so in case heat

escalates too much or chips need replenishing.

3. Pork is done when it reaches an internal temperature of

about 190 degrees, about 4 hours later (less time if you

used a smaller piece of pork, more if larger). Meat will be

very tender. If you like, raise heat and grill meat to

crisp it up a bit. Serve immediately, or refrigerate

overnight, slice and grill (or pan-grill) individual

slices.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

[tommy]

nugent, brine the shoulder overnight and consider 5 or 6 hours at 280. just a thought. and do serve it with corn.

[Curlz]

And do feel free to ask a few of us to test it for you! The corn too, of course...

[NYYANKEESFAN]

Living in Warren County we get fresh corn from our back yard garden! When it has not come in the garden, many farmers put a bunch they just picked on the back of a pick up and sell it. So good. With all the rain we have had this year the corn crop is outstanding.

We microwave the corn. Husk it; roll it in plastic wrap, high setting for a few minutes, perfect corn.

Edited August 11, 2004 by NYYANKEESFAN (log)

[Bond Girl]

Love sweet summer corn. Get them from the Union Square Green Market and had to keep them out of the reach of the dog.

I usually cook my the way Tommy does in a pot of boiling water, but I also cut them off the ears and:

make corn chowder with them,

toss them in the pan with some oil and jalepeno peppers and put them in a gazpacho,

cook them with some zucchini, squash, tomatoes, and onion and serve that over rice,

make corn pudding

Have pasta with sweet corn and cheese or pasta with sweet corn and peas.

[chappie]

I can't attest for Jersey corn, but on the Eastern Shore of Maryland we have quite a summer bounty.

I cook it according to whatever heat source I'm using that night, but I like to grill it. I soak the whole ears in water (which I'm not sure is even necessary; I've done without in a pinch) and throw them over — and sometimes right on — hot coals.

But lately I've found a way to stretch my corn even further by boiling down the leftover ears into a stock that tastes remarkably like fresh sweet corn. Last night I had about six ears in the fridge left from a farmer's market spree and created a chowder by cutting the kernels off, making stock with the ears, rendering salt pork, cooking the kernels, a chopped onion and a clove of garlic — along with some cumin — in the fat, adding the stock and potatoes, two chopped ancho chiles and two chipotles, and finally seasoning and adding cream when the potatoes were cooked. Fantastic; just ate leftovers tonight with a dollop of sour cream, chives and sweet paprika sprinkled on top.

Have you tried making corn stock?

[Curlz]

WOW, Chappie--that sounds fabulous!! I love making soups and have made corn chowder, but always using a chicken stock. Will have to give this a try!

And yes, MD does have great corn--Silver Queen, right? We lived down there for a few years when I was a kid, and I remember good corn and wonderful peaches (of all things) from a local farm stand. Jersey corn (most esp in August) is some GOOD eating. Trust us!

Btw, I've neglected to thank those of you who recommended the microwave technique; I risked my last piece of farmer's market corn the other night, zapping it for about 2 1/2 mins in the husk, and it was wonderful--and no waiting for water to boil!

[chappie]

I love making soups and have made corn chowder, but always using a chicken stock.

If you have a good homemade chicken stock, you could go right ahead and use it — and even add chicken meat to the chowder — but try boiling the corn "bones" in the chicken stock. Might add even more corn flavor.

Without the chicken or chicken stock, this is a cheap way to both use leftovers and make a fantastic dinner.

[andiesenji]

Have you ever heard of corn cob jelly?

Growing up on a farm, one learned to never waste anything. After the dried corn was shelled the cobs were saved and washed and boiled to get the last bit of goodness out of them.

Often apple skins were cooked with the cobs which added natural pectin.

As has been noted by others on this thread, you certainly can cook down the liquid from boiling fresh corncobs and use it in stock for extra flavor.

Another thing to do with it is to use the liquid for cooking rice. Even better, add a can of coconut milk and cook the rice in the corn "liquor"/coconut milk liquid. The flavor is wonderful and people will wonder what magic you have used to get that lovely flavor....

If you buy the "ornamental" corn for decoration at Halloween or Thanksgiving, you can shell the dried corn off the cobs and cook as instructed in the recipes on this site.

Even popcorn cobs make good jelly.

Edited August 19, 2004 by andiesenji (log)