the best corn on the cob

Perhaps this has been covered already and please excuse me if it has but as I recollect right now must be corn season.

Fresh corn on the cob, is anything better? I've been out of the States for a while and I would really love to hear about all the good corn (especially the butter and sugar variety) that you are eating back home.

Do you boil it, grill it, take it off the cob and make that Sukotash thing my Grammy liked, cream it...? Can you get it at restaurants?

tks from France (the corn here is not as good as in MA, not nearly and I'm homesick)

I roast my corn in the husk on my grill. I remove the silk, then put the husk back over the ear. Then I soak it in water for a hour or two before putting it on the grill. By the way, I usually top the coals with wet hickory chips to add smoke. The corn is delicious.

What I miss, though, is the tooth-achingly sweet corn of my youth -- Bantam corn from the Litchfield, Connecticut area (actually, Bantam, Connecticut, I suppose). By the way, as I recall, stolen field corn is great, too.

Micheal & Emily, I pick up butter & sugar corn weekly from a gentleman selling it out of the back of his truck in New Preston, CT just south of Bantam. I grill it too and it is delicious. He also sells white corn but I have not tried that yet. If you are in the area he is on Rt 202 just South of the turn-off to Rt 45 in the dirt parking lot which is also home to Papa Joe's. He sells hot dogs out of a trailer during lunch hours.

Michael -

I have done it that way to and it is very good.

Recently, I attended one of Steve Raichlen's BBQ classes and he demonstrated an alternative - he claims that Michael's way steams the corn rather than grills it.

He pulls the husks back and ties them in place with butcher's string to make a handle. Then, he grills the exposed corn over direct heat, brushing from time to time with a combination of melted butter, garlic and cilantro. The corn is done once the kernels are lightly caramelized.

I like both ways, but I guess I just like corn on the cob about any way you cook it.

From the grill and from the smoker are both great.

Microwave is almost as tasty. Wrap in plastic wrap, punch a few holes in it, and then nuke (2 min. for a small ear, maybe 3 for a large one).

The best corn to be found around here starts coming in about the first of July. It is called Silver Queen. It is wonderful to just bring your water to a boil and drop the ears in to boil for a few minutes, then put on plenty of butter and salt. YUM.
My Mom makes the best cream corn in the world. She always freezes corn in the summer and then in the Winter at Family Get togethers, she always prepares cream corn. My sister and I almost fight over the left overs.
Something else that I like to do is to fry corn. I cut it off the cob and fry it in Canola oil until some of the kernals are light brown, then salt it and serve it.
Also, in the Fall I like to get ears of corn that are getting a little hard and roast them on the oven rack until they are crunchy.
This is good also.

quote:

Originally posted by greasewheel

Micheal & Emily, I pick up butter & sugar corn weekly from a gentleman selling it out of the back of his truck in New Preston, CT just south of Bantam. I grill it too and it is delicious. He also sells white corn but I have not tried that yet. If you are in the area he is on Rt 202 just South of the turn-off to Rt 45 in the dirt parking lot which is also home to Papa Joe's. He sells hot dogs out of a trailer during lunch hours.

I'm afraid that's a long drive from my home in Ohio.

quote:

Originally posted by Brent Kulman

Michael -

I have done it that way to and it is very good.

Recently, I attended one of Steve Raichlen's BBQ classes and he demonstrated an alternative - he claims that Michael's way steams the corn rather than grills it.

He pulls the husks back and ties them in place with butcher's string to make a handle. Then, he grills the exposed corn over direct heat, brushing from time to time with a combination of melted butter, garlic and cilantro. The corn is done once the kernels are lightly caramelized.

I like both ways, but I guess I just like corn on the cob about any way you cook it.

It sounds good. But I would have to disagree about my way steaming rather than grilling. At least, the grill marks on the corn, itself, would indicate that the ears are grilling.

Sorry Michael, I didn't read your profile. I wrongly assumed if you knew a small town like Bantam you must live in the area.

quote:

Originally posted by plb

From the grill and from the smoker are both great.

Microwave is almost as tasty. Wrap in plastic wrap, punch a few holes in it, and then nuke (2 min. for a small ear, maybe 3 for a large one).

OK, that's just flat out wrong. There is no way that anything from a microwave can be "almost as tasty" as anything from a smoker or grill.

That's like saying the hamburgers from McDonalds is almost as tasty as the ones from my corner bar hangout.

Goose,

To me corn should taste purely like corn. Maybe you prefer the taste of smoke or charcoal, or lighter fluid.

Does you corner bar hangout cook exactly the same burger as McD's, or is some of the difference in the raw materials?

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

What I miss, though, is the tooth-achingly sweet corn of my youth -- Bantam corn from the Litchfield, Connecticut area (actually, Bantam, Connecticut, I suppose). By the way, as I recall, stolen field corn is great, too.

I'm going to put in a good word here for science. I have read, and my own explorations in the subject have confirmed, that the messing that plant breeders have done with corn has had the opposite results of what they have done with tomatoes. In other words, the corn is now BETTER. That tooth-achingly sweet corn you remember stayed that sweet for about an hour or two after it was picked so to stay so toothsome it had to go rather directly from the field to your grill before the sugar turned to starch. Now, however, even those of us living nowhere near a cornfield can go to a supermarket (gasp!!) and buy corn that's pretty darned sweet (and will stay that way for days) and I have done so only a week ago. Lest you think I wouldn't know a decent ear of corn if it bit me on the butt, I grew up in Maryland and summer vegetables, including corn, grown in southern Maryland and throughout the Eastern Shore are (or, at least, were) wonderful. Just as you remember the Bantam ears, I recall Sunday trips out to a roadside stand where the farmer would escort us into the cornfield to pick as many ears as we wanted after which we would take them home, clean them and turn them into supper. Subsequently, I lived near Zellwood in Florida which is famous in that state for its corn and has a very popular corn festival every summer. But seriously, science has much improved the stability of the sugars in sweet corn making it more reliably sweet than it ever used to be.

quote:

Originally posted by BT

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

I grew up in Maryland and summer vegetables, including corn, grown in southern Maryland and throughout the Eastern Shore are (or, at least, were) wonderful.

The best corn I had this summer was the last of the season to be picked last week in Easton on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Simply perfect.

Garlic and cilantro on fresh corn on the cob? The man ought to be arrested!!!

The World's best fresh corn is grown right here in New Paltz, New York. The variety available changes just about every week, and each one is better than the last one. The ears are plump, juicy, buttery, sugary and worm free - no other place in the world can boast such great fresh corn on the cob.

We cook it in the simplest way possible - boiled for about five minutes in plain water. Delivered hot to the table and slathered with butter til it runs down your arms is the only way to eat it. Leftovers go into succotash, fritters , corn soup, and corn bread.

Eat your hearts out ,the rest of you poor folks who will never know corn in its perfect state...

Cheers, John

quote:

Originally posted by greasewheel

Sorry Michael, I didn't read your profile. I wrongly assumed if you knew a small town like Bantam you must live in the area.

I was born and reared in Connecticut. My folks used to have a cottage on Bantam Lake for those times when they didn't feel like staying in the beach cottage in Milford.

quote:

Originally posted by BT

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

What I miss, though, is the tooth-achingly sweet corn of my youth -- Bantam corn from the Litchfield, Connecticut area (actually, Bantam, Connecticut, I suppose). By the way, as I recall, stolen field corn is great, too.

I'm going to put in a good word here for science. I have read, and my own explorations in the subject have confirmed, that the messing that plant breeders have done with corn has had the opposite results of what they have done with tomatoes. In other words, the corn is now BETTER. That tooth-achingly sweet corn you remember stayed that sweet for about an hour or two after it was picked so to stay so toothsome it had to go rather directly from the field to your grill before the sugar turned to starch. Now, however, even those of us living nowhere near a cornfield can go to a supermarket (gasp!!) and buy corn that's pretty darned sweet (and will stay that way for days) and I have done so only a week ago. Lest you think I wouldn't know a decent ear of corn if it bit me on the butt, I grew up in Maryland and summer vegetables, including corn, grown in southern Maryland and throughout the Eastern Shore are (or, at least, were) wonderful. Just as you remember the Bantam ears, I recall Sunday trips out to a roadside stand where the farmer would escort us into the cornfield to pick as many ears as we wanted after which we would take them home, clean them and turn them into supper. Subsequently, I lived near Zellwood in Florida which is famous in that state for its corn and has a very popular corn festival every summer. But seriously, science has much improved the stability of the sugars in sweet corn making it more reliably sweet than it ever used to be.

I always picked the corn I ate, and it never used to last more than a couple of hours after the picking before it was gobbled up.

quote:

Originally posted by Brent Kulman

Michael -

I have done it that way to and it is very good.

Recently, I attended one of Steve Raichlen's BBQ classes and he demonstrated an alternative - he claims that Michael's way steams the corn rather than grills it.

He pulls the husks back and ties them in place with butcher's string to make a handle. Then, he grills the exposed corn over direct heat, brushing from time to time with a combination of melted butter, garlic and cilantro. The corn is done once the kernels are lightly caramelized.

I like both ways, but I guess I just like corn on the cob about any way you cook it.

I'm envious that you've attended a BBQ U class, I can only watch and learn on PBS!

Favorite corn by far for grilling, stovetop, creamed(I do my own)and yes SOMETIMES if in a hurry, microwave IMO would be silverqueen. I often will cream the bi-color variety as well. I can make a meal out of it.

Make an effort if you can, to find an article in the Dining section of the New York Times on 8/25/04 by R.W. Apple. It's all about sweet corn, specifically from Maryland's Eastern Shore. This will tell you everything you want to know about new improved corn varieties and shockingly, that there is no such thing as Silver Queen anymore.

I wish I could post a link but NYT's free archive only goes back 7 days. This is a great read however.

There's usually a vendor selling roasted corn outside of Mexican themed grocery stores like Fiesta and Carnival that's tasty.

no one here has mentioned simply eating the corn raw. I do this all the time and actually prefer it this way.

quote:

Originally posted by renfrew

no one here has mentioned simply eating the corn raw. I do this all the time and actually prefer it this way.

Guilty

Another thing good on corn on the cob, rub it down good with butter and sprinkle crushed red pepper on each row as you eat. I've tried melting butter and putting the pepper in it then brushing the corn, good but not quite as. Red pepper is great on fresh cooked cabbage too.

quote:

Originally posted by BT

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

What I miss, though, is the tooth-achingly sweet corn of my youth -- Bantam corn from the Litchfield, Connecticut area (actually, Bantam, Connecticut, I suppose). By the way, as I recall, stolen field corn is great, too.

I'm going to put in a good word here for science. I have read, and my own explorations in the subject have confirmed, that the messing that plant breeders have done with corn has had the opposite results of what they have done with tomatoes. In other words, the corn is now BETTER. That tooth-achingly sweet corn you remember stayed that sweet for about an hour or two after it was picked so to stay so toothsome it had to go rather directly from the field to your grill before the sugar turned to starch. Now, however, even those of us living nowhere near a cornfield can go to a supermarket (gasp!!) and buy corn that's pretty darned sweet (and will stay that way for days) and I have done so only a week ago. Lest you think I wouldn't know a decent ear of corn if it bit me on the butt, I grew up in Maryland and summer vegetables, including corn, grown in southern Maryland and throughout the Eastern Shore are (or, at least, were) wonderful. Just as you remember the Bantam ears, I recall Sunday trips out to a roadside stand where the farmer would escort us into the cornfield to pick as many ears as we wanted after which we would take them home, clean them and turn them into supper. Subsequently, I lived near Zellwood in Florida which is famous in that state for its corn and has a very popular corn festival every summer. But seriously, science has much improved the stability of the sugars in sweet corn making it more reliably sweet than it ever used to be.

I agree BT. Mom used to start the water heating before she went out to pick the corn. She now is amazed at how long the corn stays sweet.

Cakes

Sunday night, in the small CA town of Lone Pine at a place called the Mt. Whitney Family Restaurant, I had something I'd never even heard of. Deep-fried corn on the cob! And it was REALLY good!

Ed, was it coated in a batter or just deep fried. I have had the corn that was deep fried, but I heard somewhere that people were doing it now with a batter on it

quote:

Originally posted by EdSails

Sunday night, in the small CA town of Lone Pine at a place called the Mt. Whitney Family Restaurant, I had something I'd never even heard of. Deep-fried corn on the cob! And it was REALLY good!

I experimented with a new way to "grill" corn this summer when it was just too hot and humid to boil a pot of water. I haven't seen this method mentioned here on Roadfood. I removed the husks and silk, ran water over the ear until it was well soaked, then placed it on a sheet of aluminum foil. Spread a little butter or margerine on the corn, put a small splash more of water, then roll up (loose around the corn so it can breath( and twist the ends of the foil to seal. Put on the grill and kept turning as I cooked the steaks. When done, it was delicious.

The next time, I tried adding a dash of herbs, or chili powder, or some Tabasco before closing the foil. The rest of the family likes it plain, but I enjoy experimenting to see how it will taste.

quote:

Originally posted by EdSails

Sunday night, in the small CA town of Lone Pine at a place called the Mt. Whitney Family Restaurant, I had something I'd never even heard of. Deep-fried corn on the cob! And it was REALLY good!

We have that at some of our B-B-Q places(chain)mainly Bono's. I've taken frozen niblets, thaw them in cold water or just set them out till they're thawed and dropped them in my fry daddy just till they turn light brown. I've also cut it off the thawed cob and fryed it in a small amount of bacon grease, a little S&P, YUM! It's got a slight chewy texture. If I have kernel corn in the freezer, same thing. Never tried it from can corn, don't think it's be as good.

quote:

Originally posted by emsmom

Ed, was it coated in a batter or just deep fried. I have had the corn that was deep fried, but I heard somewhere that people were doing it now with a batter on it.

quote:

Originally posted by EdSails

Sunday night, in the small CA town of Lone Pine at a place called the Mt. Whitney Family Restaurant, I had something I'd never even heard of. Deep-fried corn on the cob! And it was REALLY good!

It was just deep-fried----no batter, just a naked corn on the cob! It was cooked enough to start turning that golden color but still very juicy inside. Alas, no stick!

The best corn is right here in central PA. A local farm raises all different hybreds of sweet corn and they pick it fresh every morning. They have 1/2 dozen bags (you get 7 ears) and dozen bags (you get 14 ears). Some of the names of the corn are Jackpot, Bodacious, Incredible, Silver Queen, Silver King and so on. They usually have two different kinds of corn each day and it could be a butter and sugar, yellow or white. They have a little cash box on a table and you pay by the honor system.

The corn is so sweet you could eat it raw if you wanted. However I prefer to steam it and eat it with butter and salt. I make sure I freeze some for the winter but it's just not the same. Sometime durning the summer I make a meal out of sweet corn and fresh tomatos out of my garden. One of the simple pleasures of life!

By the way the only tomatos I will eat are from out of my garden. No hot house tomatos for me. Therefore my tomato season is as short as my sweet corn season.

What the Hell, they pick corn at least three times a day here in New Paltz!

cheers, john

Emily, one of the things that confounds me about the French (and I'm 1/4 myself) is their rejection of corn as human food. It tends to suggest that instead of being epicures--not afraid to try any food obviously wholesome--that some French, at least, are just food snobs. Gee, they'd fit right in here in San Francisco! Please see if you can find sweet corn and make it for your friends.

Aren't we all lucky enough to live where our favorite varieties are grown? Science indeed is responsible for corn that will stay sweet after harvest, and, frankly, some is better, but I like it all. For that matter, what's with my fellow Californians shucking the corn in the grocery store? Nature provided corn with a wrapper that helps keep it fresh. Why leave that wrapper at the store? You're paying by the ear, not the pound, so why bring home corn that's turning stale as you pay for it?

I shuck and silk it, trim the bottom (get every last bit of the husk off now!) and put it in a large kettle of cold water--nothing else. Put on the lid, bring to a boil, then turn off the flame. Leave the lid on and wait 20 minutes for corn that's perfectly cooked every time. Wait a little longer and it will still not get overcooked. I melt butter, pour it into a corn dish and roll the ear in it, which is less messy and wasteful than cold butter from the fridge.

Friends in Iowa in mid-August simply soaked the unshucked corn in cold water for two minutes, then grilled. They removed the husk and silk afterwards, with one quick motion--all silk gone. Delicious!

Muppets corn is shucked and washed. Mix a package of Knorr (not Lipton, it's too salty) onion soup mix into 1/2 pound softened UNsalted butter. Spread thickly on the corn, wrap individually in foil and grill. Oops, I don't remember for how long! This works baking it in the oven, too. When you unwrap it, it's buttered and salted.

An old Midwestern trick is to put a little peanut butter on the corn after butter and before salt. A LITTLE! It just makes it taste sweeter somehow. Once I stretched the Muppets butter mix with peanut butter. No one noticed the peanut butter taste but all kept complimenting me on the very sweet corn.

Forget those plastic corn holders with the nails embedded, they never last. Williams-Sonoma sells stainless steel cornholders, and they're as strong as--stainless steel! They're not cheap, but they should last forever.

I just asked my partner if he'd go to the store--for corn! He said no. Alas!

I still raise Silver Queen, using the offspring of the seeds we have saved every harvest since I was a little girl, not by purchasing new. I also grow Ambrosia, Milk and Honey, and Pontiac Yellow, which is not as sweet and good to use for freezing whole cobs for consumption in the winter(doesn't get as hard and starchy). I generally either steam corn or grill it in the husk. As for accoutrements, for Ambrosia and Milk and Honey....it absolutely needs none. For yellow corn, I either use a spray butter, or make a butter flavored with seasoned salt and Tennessee Sunshine sauce(a vinegar based hot sauce with large flakes of pepper in it)

In my town, those in "in the know" wait for Mr. Traastad's orange-sided truck to show up in the parking lot at South Lanes. He grows several different varieties and staggers the planting times so he's always got something ready to sell. Due to a very cool, wet summer, corn season was late here in Wisconsin. It was the second week in August before the local growers started picking.

Aside from gorging on boiled corn with butter, I've been trying something new to freeze it for winter. I cut it off the cob, spread it out on a sheet pan, drizzle with a little olive or peanut oil, salt & pepper, then roast for five to eight minutes. You have to watch it because it goes from done to burned quickly! But it freezes very well and makes a tasty addition to salads and casseroles besides being good all by itself. I think this week or next will probably be the last picking, so I'll have to get another dozen ears for roasting.

quote:

Originally posted by redtressed

I still raise Silver Queen, using the offspring of the seeds we have saved every harvest since I was a little girl, not by purchasing new. I also grow Ambrosia, Milk and Honey, and Pontiac Yellow, which is not as sweet and good to use for freezing whole cobs for consumption in the winter(doesn't get as hard and starchy). I generally either steam corn or grill it in the husk. As for accoutrements, for Ambrosia and Milk and Honey....it absolutely needs none. For yellow corn, I either use a spray butter, or make a butter flavored with seasoned salt and Tennessee Sunshine sauce(a vinegar based hot sauce with large flakes of pepper in it)

Redtressed,

I hate to tell you this but the corn you have been eating for years is not Silver queen. Silver queen is a hybrid which means it is cross bred from 2 different strains. The seeds from a hybrid will not reproduce the hybrid. They will reproduce one of the parent strains.

Not that there is anything wrong with this.

I could really bore you with details about bull corn and seed corn and detassling (sp?) but take it from someone that grew up in Iowa, it's not Silver Queen.

Cakes

You are correct Cakes, on most points on this and for the commercial Silver Queen hybrid. The difference for this however, is that this was not from a commercial or home grown availiabilty. This strain/hybrid of Silver Queen was an experiment done by a southern university's plantpathologists, reason of developing a more disease and pest resistant corn. The mutations invoked did not do the resistance they were trying to acheive, in fact they weakened the "longevity" of the hybrids that were used, but adversely, in their opinion, the mutation that did occur was the retention of an almost pure composition ofthe original hybrid in successive plantings. It was never marketed or distributed for use, because of the excessive increase in fragility. We had it..lol...because my brother in law was one of the pathologists. In essence, it is not 100 percent Silver Queen as it is much more fragile, but it is of the original strain and has not been named otherwise, since it was never distributed, but the mutation did keep a great deal of the inherence of the hybrid. We've had many weird "experimental" veggies in our garden over the years, from what I would call a peppermato(a bell peppery ambienced tomato that didn't quite cut it, because of a thickened, fleshy tough skin)to a many knobbed carrot -radish. We also had some of the first Yukon Gold potatoes as well as a blue potato, the name which escapes me. You don't wanna know about all the houseplants, trees , grasses and even kudzu, that have been tried out on our property.(but I always had the most unusual plant projects in school) There is very little of it left, my guess is that within the next couple years , I'll run out of viable ones altogether. As it is now, I only had 7 stalks that produced this year and only a couple of ears on each, so it does seem to be weakening in reproductive abilities, greatly. So yes you are right, and I'm right

Very interesting, redtressed.

My grandfather's second wife's daughter's husband (how's that for shirt tail?)taught ag at SDSU and then worked for Sakoda, a seed corn company. That is where my limited knowledge comes from.

Cakes

Best corn I ever had was back in the 70's. I was living up in the country. A local Dairy farmer turned over one of his roadside fields to his son & daughter. They would plant it with corn every year. When the corn was ready they would set up a couple of chairs by the side of the road & wait. I would pull up, roll my window down & tell them how much I wanted. They would head into the field picking as they went. Money & corn would be exchanged through the window & off I would go. I only lived about a half mile down the road, so it didn't take long to get home. I'd put the water on first & by the time it was boiling the corn would be shucked. Alas the kids have grown & a church now stands in that field, but what great memories of wonderful corn.

quote:

Originally posted by seafarer john

Garlic and cilantro on fresh corn on the cob? The man ought to be arrested!!!

The World's best fresh corn is grown right here in New Paltz, New York. ..... - no other place in the world can boast such great fresh corn on the cob.



Eat your hearts out ,the rest of you poor folks who will never know corn in its perfect state...

Cheers, John

Sorry Seafarer John, Two words for you JERSEY CORN

The only good thing I can say for Jersey corn is that it is on the market two weeks before we have any of the World's Greatest Corn here in the Walkill valley.

Cheers, John

hi again and thanks for all of your comments,

Really the French are weird, in answer to MichaelGemmell, the only people who seem to really love corn here are the Africans. They set up these strange little stands in shopping carts, and cook it over charcoal, other ethnic groups do chestnuts, and it's really interesting but tough (cow corn, for the livestock in my opinion, but still better than nothing), however, it's not the butter and sugar I was brought up with...otherwise we do have corn at KFC but once again the really tough yellow kind.

Perhaps I will go on a photo this weekend of all the corn cobs on the street outside of the KFC at Chateau Rouge. V V interesting from a cultural perspective

quote:

Originally posted by redtressed

I still raise Silver Queen, using the offspring of the seeds we have saved every harvest since I was a little girl, not by purchasing new. I also grow Ambrosia, Milk and Honey, and Pontiac Yellow, which is not as sweet and good to use for freezing whole cobs for consumption in the winter(doesn't get as hard and starchy). I generally either steam corn or grill it in the husk. As for accoutrements, for Ambrosia and Milk and Honey....it absolutely needs none. For yellow corn, I either use a spray butter, or make a butter flavored with seasoned salt and Tennessee Sunshine sauce(a vinegar based hot sauce with large flakes of pepper in it)

do you sew your own clothes, and churn your own butter as well?

quote:

Goose Posted - 09/23/2004 : 16:28:51
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

quote:
Originally posted by redtressed

I still raise Silver Queen, using the offspring of the seeds we have saved every harvest since I was a little girl, not by purchasing new. I also grow Ambrosia, Milk and Honey, and Pontiac Yellow, which is not as sweet and good to use for freezing whole cobs for consumption in the winter(doesn't get as hard and starchy). I generally either steam corn or grill it in the husk. As for accoutrements, for Ambrosia and Milk and Honey....it absolutely needs none. For yellow corn, I either use a spray butter, or make a butter flavored with seasoned salt and Tennessee Sunshine sauce(a vinegar based hot sauce with large flakes of pepper in it)



do you sew your own clothes, and churn your own butter as well?

When the mood strikes.....uh huh. I have a 1869 butter churn but rarely employ it for such....tis just as easy to make butter in a glass jar. As far as the sewing...I did a good deal of the sewing and creation of costumes for the WVU Drama Department back in the dark ages and won the blue ribbon in state competition in 4-H, back before time began. Want me to sew the rip up in the seat of your britches?

A freind of mine was steeming clams over beer. I put some corn on the cob on top of the clams, when the clams were done so was the corn. Boy, they came out real good. Fill a pot with 3/4 clam juice and 1/4 beer and boil the corn til its done. It tastes almost as good.

quote:

Originally posted by snoby

A freind of mine was steeming clams over beer. I put some corn on the cob on top of the clams, when the clams were done so was the corn. Boy, they came out real good. Fill a pot with 3/4 clam juice and 1/4 beer and boil the corn til its done. It tastes almost as good.

Yum!

Snoby: That's almost what we call a clambake.

Cheers, john

quote:

Originally posted by redtressed

quote:

Goose Posted - 09/23/2004 : 16:28:51
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

quote:
Originally posted by redtressed

I still raise Silver Queen, using the offspring of the seeds we have saved every harvest since I was a little girl, not by purchasing new. I also grow Ambrosia, Milk and Honey, and Pontiac Yellow, which is not as sweet and good to use for freezing whole cobs for consumption in the winter(doesn't get as hard and starchy). I generally either steam corn or grill it in the husk. As for accoutrements, for Ambrosia and Milk and Honey....it absolutely needs none. For yellow corn, I either use a spray butter, or make a butter flavored with seasoned salt and Tennessee Sunshine sauce(a vinegar based hot sauce with large flakes of pepper in it)



do you sew your own clothes, and churn your own butter as well?

When the mood strikes.....uh huh. I have a 1869 butter churn but rarely employ it for such....tis just as easy to make butter in a glass jar. As far as the sewing...I did a good deal of the sewing and creation of costumes for the WVU Drama Department back in the dark ages and won the blue ribbon in state competition in 4-H, back before time began. Want me to sew the rip up in the seat of your britches?

so you can enter the "earth mother of the year contest", right?

well..yeah...and it's danged economical....and that's me........the econo-queen, not to be confused with the EconoLodge Queen.

Redtressed. Where or who makes Tennessee Sunshine? I've never seen it in the store and I'm from Tenn.
Cakes. I remember that my mom did the same thing, start the water to boil before we went to pick. Sure wish I had room or time for a garden now.

I've scanned this thread and I haven't seen reference to fried corn. I love me some fried corn. Does anyone do that? How about a recipe?

quote:

Originally posted by leslie1787

I've scanned this thread and I haven't seen reference to fried corn. I love me some fried corn. Does anyone do that? How about a recipe?

Back on the first page of this thread I started a discussion of deep-fried corn. It's good stuff!

Is there such a thing as bad corn? I'll eat it right out of the can. For fresh corn I love it boiled for five or ten minutes, or I like it on the grill.
When I was in Pakistan little kids would run up to the trains when they stopped and sell grilled ears of corn and they were excellent that way.

carl reitz

quote:

Originally posted by leslie1787

Redtressed. Where or who makes Tennessee Sunshine? I've never seen it in the store and I'm from Tenn.
Cakes. I remember that my mom did the same thing, start the water to boil before we went to pick. Sure wish I had room or time for a garden now.

I like it as well and it's Luzianne that makes it!

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty246

quote:

Originally posted by leslie1787

Redtressed. Where or who makes Tennessee Sunshine? I've never seen it in the store and I'm from Tenn.
Cakes. I remember that my mom did the same thing, start the water to boil before we went to pick. Sure wish I had room or time for a garden now.

I like it as well and it's Luzianne that makes it!

Luzianne makes Tennessee Sunshine, sorry it's Friday and I'm ready to go. Andyes, I like it especially on oysters.

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Originally posted by michaelgemmell

Emily, one of the things that confounds me about the French (and I'm 1/4 myself) is their rejection of corn as human food. It tends to suggest that instead of being epicures--not afraid to try any food obviously wholesome--that some French, at least, are just food snobs. Gee, they'd fit right in here in San Francisco! Please see if you can find sweet corn and make it for your friends.

Aren't we all lucky enough to live where our favorite varieties are grown? Science indeed is responsible for corn that will stay sweet after harvest, and, frankly, some is better, but I like it all. For that matter, what's with my fellow Californians shucking the corn in the grocery store? Nature provided corn with a wrapper that helps keep it fresh. Why leave that wrapper at the store? You're paying by the ear, not the pound, so why bring home corn that's turning stale as you pay for it?

I shuck and silk it, trim the bottom (get every last bit of the husk off now!) and put it in a large kettle of cold water--nothing else. Put on the lid, bring to a boil, then turn off the flame. Leave the lid on and wait 20 minutes for corn that's perfectly cooked every time. Wait a little longer and it will still not get overcooked. I melt butter, pour it into a corn dish and roll the ear in it, which is less messy and wasteful than cold butter from the fridge.

Friends in Iowa in mid-August simply soaked the unshucked corn in cold water for two minutes, then grilled. They removed the husk and silk afterwards, with one quick motion--all silk gone. Delicious!

Muppets corn is shucked and washed. Mix a package of Knorr (not Lipton, it's too salty) onion soup mix into 1/2 pound softened UNsalted butter. Spread thickly on the corn, wrap individually in foil and grill. Oops, I don't remember for how long! This works baking it in the oven, too. When you unwrap it, it's buttered and salted.

An old Midwestern trick is to put a little peanut butter on the corn after butter and before salt. A LITTLE! It just makes it taste sweeter somehow. Once I stretched the Muppets butter mix with peanut butter. No one noticed the peanut butter taste but all kept complimenting me on the very sweet corn.

Forget those plastic corn holders with the nails embedded, they never last. Williams-Sonoma sells stainless steel cornholders, and they're as strong as--stainless steel! They're not cheap, but they should last forever.

I just asked my partner if he'd go to the store--for corn! He said no. Alas!

I have to try the onion soup/butter method that sounds REALLY good! As for your partner not getting the corn, do him as my brother did me about kool-aid when we were kids, he'd ask me to make it, I'd say "no, you make it". He said: "If I make it you won't get any!" Nuff said. You go get the corn.....

I just go up to the local cornstand and they only have three signs to last through the entire season - Yellow Corn, White Corn and Bi-color Corn. The varieties under the sign or signs change with the weeks but they're always good if we have enough rain.

I eat it grilled, creamed, fried with bacon drippings and onion, mixed with fresh baby Fordhook lima beans and also dishes like corn pudding, corn fritters, etc. But I like it microwaved best and served with butter, salt & pepper. For me, microwaving has replaced the boiling or steaming method when I'm only making a couple of ears at a time.

Do you microwave it in the husk, unhusked, wrapped in something, How????

cheers, John

John,

Way up in this thread I recommended wrapping the corn in plastic wrap and poking a few holes in it. I think this method concentrates the flavor in the corn, by not dissipating it in the water or steam. However, one reader seemed offended by the unP.C.ness of using a microwave at all.

I would think leaving it in the husks would give the same effect, but would probably waste power by cooking the husks as well.

quote:

Originally posted by leslie1787

Redtressed. Where or who makes Tennessee Sunshine? I've never seen it in the store and I'm from Tenn.
Cakes. I remember that my mom did the same thing, start the water to boil before we went to pick. Sure wish I had room or time for a garden now.

Kroger has Tennessee Sunshine. At least, they do in Ohio. They also have Cajun Sunshine and several other Sunshines, all made by the same company.

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Originally posted by seafarer john

Do you microwave it in the husk, unhusked, wrapped in something, How????

cheers, John

About 10 years ago, I got this hard plastic container with two indentations the size of corn ears and a lighter weight plastic lid. I just stick the husked ears in it and put in the microwave for about 2 minutes, then turn and cook for about 2 minutes more. You could do it in any loosely covered microwaveable container. If I've had the corn for more than a few hours, I add a teaspoon or two of water.

I am not a fan of microwaves for other than melting butter, etc. but I think they shine when it comes to maintaining the natural taste of vegetables like asparagus and broccoli or for precooking ones like winter squashes or eggplant.

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Originally posted by redtressed

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Goose Posted - 09/23/2004 : 16:28:51
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Originally posted by redtressed

I still raise Silver Queen, using the offspring of the seeds we have saved every harvest since I was a little girl, not by purchasing new. I also grow Ambrosia, Milk and Honey, and Pontiac Yellow, which is not as sweet and good to use for freezing whole cobs for consumption in the winter(doesn't get as hard and starchy). I generally either steam corn or grill it in the husk. As for accoutrements, for Ambrosia and Milk and Honey....it absolutely needs none. For yellow corn, I either use a spray butter, or make a butter flavored with seasoned salt and Tennessee Sunshine sauce(a vinegar based hot sauce with large flakes of pepper in it)



do you sew your own clothes, and churn your own butter as well?

When the mood strikes.....uh huh. I have a 1869 butter churn but rarely employ it for such....tis just as easy to make butter in a glass jar. As far as the sewing...I did a good deal of the sewing and creation of costumes for the WVU Drama Department back in the dark ages and won the blue ribbon in state competition in 4-H, back before time began. Want me to sew the rip up in the seat of your britches?

redtressed: I have recently been thinking about doing this (making my own butter, not sewing up the seat of goose's pants). What kind of churn do you have? how long does it take? How long does it keep?