When local produce is flooding the farmers’ markets, you want to take advantage of the bounty.  I always look forward to those late summer barbecues, where everyone gathers to report on their summer travels and share plans for the fall.  One last steak or burger feast, with local tomatoes hot off the vine, potato salad, and corn on the cob…

…except…

I would rather not subject my guests to corn on the cob.  Sometimes it’s a matter of wanting to be kind to guests with braces on their teeth.  Sometimes it’s just a matter of not wanting to watch butter running down chins and fingers and elbows and dripping on shirtfronts — I think that should be a private, guilty pleasure.  And then, there’s always the question of whether public flossing, while urgently desired, is actually socially acceptable.

Here’s a way to enjoy all the lovely flavor of fresh corn, without any of the mess.  Really simple, infinitely variable, and you can customize it to accessorize your summer feast.  You can do it right on the barbecue in a cast iron skillet, or you can do it in the nice, air-conditioned kitchen while the men tending the grill tell stories.

Oh yes, and it’s Carter’s favorite!

Corn OFF the Cob

Ingredients:  

Fresh corn on the cob — remove the husks, and give the cob a rub with a soft cloth to remove most of the silk

Butter and oil in equal quantities

Salt and pepper for sure, with options to follow

Method:

Cut the kernels off the cob with a small sharp knife.  It helps to do this into a fairly large bowl, holding the cob by the stem, and resting the tip in the bottom.  Some folks like to invert a small bowl in the bottom of the large bowl to make it easier to slice right down to the end of the cob.  One cob yields about a cup of kernels, just the right amount for a single serving.

In a large frying pan, melt butter with an equal quantity of neutral-flavored oil – about a teaspoon of each per cup of fresh corn (that’s a blob and a drizzle).  You want to use at least medium-high heat in order to lightly brown the corn, so choose a high-temperature tolerant oil (ie. NOT EVOO), which will help prevent the butter from burning. When the foam stops sputtering, the water has evaporated and the temperature will be perfect for sauteeing. I spent one summer watching the original Julia Child “French Chef” tv shows — she says this all the time!

When the foam from the butter is starting to subside, add the corn to the pan.  Let it just sit there for a minute.   Optional additions will come after the corn has achieved a nice light caramelization.

Toss or stir the corn until it’s hot and lightly browned.   Really good fresh corn can be eaten raw, so the degree of doneness is entirely up to you.  Keep tasting until it’s just right.

Season with salt and pepper at least (this is where you would add your optional ingredients), and serve promptly – it doesn’t improve significantly once it’s out of the pan (that’s a nice way of saying it gets a bit soggy).  Sometimes the tasting is so enthusiastic that there’s not much left in the pan anyway, once everyone at the party has had a tasting-spoonful, and given an opinion about how to make it even better….

Optional ingredients:

You can add anything you like, from cream to pine nuts, but here are some suggestions:

Finely sliced green onions add a nice finish all by themselves — chives too.  Parsley is never wrong, but flat-leaf parsley is the best choice for flavor.  Just about any combination of fresh herbs from the garden are great with corn. If you are garden-deprived, get a package of “poultry blend” fresh herbs –thyme, rosemary and sage — and supplement it with a little parsley.

If you want fried onion flavor, add some finely diced onion or shallot right along with the corn.  If you want to add garlic, wait until the corn is lightly browned before adding it so it doesn’t over-cook and become bitter.

Bacon can’t be wrong.   Cook off some bacon, crumble it, and set it aside.  Use the same pan you cooked the bacon in (pour off excess bacon fat, add butter) to saute the corn, then add the bacon back at the end.  Yum.  Or pancetta or proscuitto.  Or chorizo!  Make sure you add a little onion, and lots of black pepper.

Go Southwestern:  You can simply add a sprinkle of chili powder or chipotle powder along with the salt and pepper, and perhaps a bit of no-salt seasoning blend.  If you’re in the mood, you can
go all out with finely chopped red onion, jalapeno, bell pepper, cilantro, garlic (fresh or granulated).  Add as much as you like once the corn is nicely browned – don’t forget a bit of salt and pepper.  Continue cooking just until everything is heated through.

These photos show what I had in my fridge on testing day, and what I did with it.

I had my corn, of course, and bell peppers, garlic, dried chipotle powder (smoked jalapeno peppers, very hot), green onion and cilantro.  The corn was browned first, then the bell peppers and garlic added and sauteed until the garlic was fragrant.  Seasoning (salt, pepper, chipotle) was added, and the green onions and cilantro were added off the heat as a garnish.

Carter enjoyed this trial batch for breakfast!

Too much trouble?  How about the simple addition of a spoonful or two of your favorite salsa?  You could finish it off with a grating of flavorful cheese – I understand Romano is not unlike Mexican Cotija.  You could go gooey with grated Pepper Jack.

Add the flavors of Greece:  Chopped roasted red pepper, finely chopped black olives, a bit of finely diced tomato and some crumbled feta cheese.  A little fresh or dried basil and oregano would be nice along with the salt and pepper.  This might be especially tasty if you’re serving lamb burgers….

Mushrooms are good with everything.  Add finely chopped shallot and sliced or chopped mushrooms right along with the corn.  Keep the heat pretty high so everything sautees rather than
steaming.  You could put this RIGHT ON those burgers!

In season, please support your local farmers and buy lots of fresh corn.  In the middle of winter, you can use all your creative ideas with frozen corn.  You don’t even have to thaw it — brown it straight out of the freezer. It’s a great way to perk up a mid-week meal.