Mexican Street Corn Skillet

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One of my favorite seasons is nearly upon us, fresh corn season. When that farm fresh corn hits the markets, I am buying it by the armfuls, using it in as many dishes as possible from an omelet at breakfast, to a salad at lunch, to a quiche or a casserole at dinner. This year, I am also going to be enjoying it and this delicious Mexican street corn skillet. This is a recipe that I found on allrecipes.com and adapted slightly. Ostensibly, I believe it’s supposed to be a dip. As a dip, it’s absolutely wonderful, but it’s also excellent as a side dish with a grilled steak, or a wonderful accompaniment to any Mexican meal. If you have any left, use it the next morning as a filling in an omelet. You would not believe how good that is! No matter how you choose to make it, I guarantee you’re going to enjoy it. 

Mexican Street Corn Skillet

2 T. butter
1 small red onion, chopped
Kosher salt
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 Melissa’s pickled jalapeño, stemmed, seeded, and minced
1 16-oz. bag frozen corn, or 3 cups fresh corn
1 t. ground cumin
Pinch chili powder
2 T. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 10.5-oz. can Cream of Celery soup
Cayenne pepper, to taste

½ c. shredded cheddar
½ c. Cotija cheese
Chopped cilantro, optional

 Melt the butter in a 10” skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, season lightly with salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and jalapeño and cook, stirring until just softened, about 2 minutes. Add the corn, cumin, and chili powder, and cook, stirring, until warmed through and tender, about 6 minutes for frozen corn and 3 minutes for fresh corn. Add the lime juice, cream of celery soup, cayenne, and ⅔ cup water. Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring to combine. Taste and add more salt if desired.

 Turn on a broiler with a rack positioned about 6 inches from the heat. Sprinkle the top of the corn with the cheeses and broil until the top is deeply golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes, rotating once a minute to prevent burning. Add more cayenne to the top, if desired, along with a scattering of cilantro, and serve with hot sauce on the side.

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Creamy Corn Salsa

The beauty of salsa, any type, is its many uses. Not only can it be used as a dip, to be scooped up by tortilla or corn chips, but it can also be used as a condiment alongside pork or fish, as well as a tasty side salad when spooned on top of a soft lettuce leaf like Boston lettuce. Me? I could eat it with a spoon.

 This is really tasty, and a wonderful way to get picky kids to eat some vegetables. It’s important to thoroughly drain the corn so as not to make the dip too runny. When fresh corn becomes available in the summer, I’m going to make this again with one can of fiesta corn, and one cup of grilled corn. My guess is that it will be wonderful, and a great backyard barbecue or picnic food.

Creamy Corn Salad

Adapted from SouthYourMouth.com 

1 c. sour cream

½ c. Duke’s mayonnaise

1 t. cumin

¼ t. chili powder

½ t. garlic powder

¼ t. fresh lime zest

½ t. kosher salt

2 c. finely shredded Jack cheese

1 c. diced red onion

½ c. chopped cilantro

2 11-oz. cans Mexicorn, well drained

 Drain corn very well. In a large bowl, whisk together sour cream, mayo, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, lime zest, and salt.

 Add cheese, red onion, cilantro, and corn, folding until combined.

Refrigerate at least two hours before serving. Serve with corn chips or tortilla chips, or any way else that you can imagine.

 

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Panera-Inspired Smokey Summer Corn Chowder

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Having been on lock-down for so long, anytime one of my friends orders food for delivery or curbside pick up, we all know about it. I think there has been more detailed, in-depth food talk around here than ever before. One friend had a salad and Summer Corn Chowder from St. Louis Bread Co. (or as you call it, Panera), loved it, and as a consequence, has beaten a trail to their drive-thru ever since.

Intrigued, I had to try it. I had no recipe, so based this on the description on the web: “Roasted corn and skin-on red potatoes simmered with sweet cream, poblano peppers and cilantro.” Having never actually tried that soup, I had no basis for comparison, so Linda, God love her, got me some.  When I shared the end result with her she was delighted. “Nailed it!” she told me. “Now,” she went on, “I can have it year round.” So can you.

Panera-Inspired Smokey Summer Corn Chowder

2 T. olive oil

2 T. unsalted butter

2 large Melissa’s shallots, diced

3 T. flour

5 c. vegetable broth

1 T. Better Than Bouillon Roasted Chicken Base

1 1½ lbs. Melissa’s baby red potatoes, skin on, cubed

4 c. fresh, roasted corn kernels*

1 poblano pepper, chopped

½ c. chopped Melissa’s Sweet Red Bell Peppers

1 14.75-oz. can creamed corn

½ T. cumin

Salt, to taste

¼ t. freshly ground black pepper

½ c. fresh chopped cilantro

1 c. half-and-half

Diced fresh tomatoes, for garnish

Chopped fresh scallions, for garnish

Place the oil and butter in a pot over low heat. Add the shallots and cook until transparent, 6 to 8 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the shallots and cook, stirring, for an additional 3 to 5 minutes.

Add the broth, chicken base, and potatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, partially covered, for 10 minutes or until the potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally.

Add the corn, poblano pepper, red peppers, creamed corn, cumin, salt, pepper, cilantro, and half-and-half; cook over low heat for 8 minutes, smashing potatoes with a small masher (I use this one), until the soup has thickened and heated through.

Ladle 2 cups of soup into each bowl. Before serving, place 1 tablespoon of diced tomatoes in the center of each and top generously with additional chopped cilantro. Serve immediately.

*To roast corn: Preheat oven to 400° F.  Line a jelly roll pan with foil and set aside.  Rub softened butter over each ear of corn and sprinkle with salt and black pepper.  Line ears of corn up on prepared baking sheet and bake for 35 - 40 minutes, turning halfway through.

Corn, Tomato, and Cherry Salad

Have you ever had one of those days when you needed something, but you really didn’t want to go to the grocery store? Truth be told, I have those days all of the time. I absolutely hate to shop. If I can’t get it online, I don’t want to have to go out and get it, because I’m busy all the time, and hate to interrupt what I’m doing to run to the store.

Today was no different. I found myself without traditional salad fixings, and by this I mean lettuce. I panic when I run out of lettuce, which is why I buy so much of it when I go to the grocery store. Honestly, the checker must think I keep rabbits or something, because I buy a number of heads of iceberg lettuce, romaine, green and red leaf, one of those packages of organic greens, you name it, it goes into my cart. Like my dad, I have a salad every day. I love salad, and a day just doesn’t seem right without having one.

Today it’s hot, humid, and I don’t want to go out, so I was rummaging around in the fridge trying to come up with something that would resemble a salad. I went out into the garden, harvested four tomatoes this morning (a bumper crop!), as well as a cucumber. When I came inside, I started rummaging around to see what remains I had in the vegetable crisper. I pulled out part of a red onion, and an ear of corn. Then, I pulled out a package of dried cherries. You may question the cherries, but don’t, many a time a hint of sweetness will give something savory a lot of zing, and it did exactly that here. All of this sounded like it would either make a very interesting salad, or a bang up salsa, or what the heck? Both! I was right, it did.

This is an amazing combination of things that I happened to have on hand. I tossed it together with vinaigrette, and added some feta cheese. I’m not sure whether to eat it with a fork, or get out a bag of tortilla chips and dig in. Either way, it’s delicious!

Corn, Tomato, and Cherry Salad
Serves 1-2

1 ear corn, kernels removed
2 small tomatoes, seeded and diced
¼ cup diced red onion
1 cup diced cucumber
1 ripe avocado, diced
1 2-oz. pkg. Melissa’s Dried Tart Cherries
2 tablespoons feta cheese
Your favorite vinaigrette...or not

Toss all ingredients together and refrigerate for one hour to allow the flavors to meld. Serve it as a salad, or with chips as a salsa. You are going to love it!

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Another delicious corn salad with a touch of sweetness is this Corn and Blueberry Salad.

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Italian Chopped Salad

As I mentioned earlier in the week, this past weekend I spent a lot of time making a variety of salads. I love it when I have a salad already prepared waiting for me in the fridge, to just pull out and nosh on for lunch.

I have a lot of salad recipes that I've been wanting to try, this one, for Italian Chopped Salad among them. I changed it up a bit by adding fresh corn cut from the cob. You probably think that's a strange addition to a chopped salad, but it isn't at all. Here is a picture (not a good one because it was taken before digital cameras) of a salad that I had in Venice, Italy back in the summer of 2001. Look at all of the corn on top. Prior to this trip I had never eaten fresh corn on a salad, but now I love it, and so does my dad, who has a salad every day, and most of the time that salad is topped with fresh corn.

The slightly adapted recipe below is from bellyful.net, and can be changed up to suit your interests, likes, and what you have in the fridge. I made two changes, one, as I mentioned, was to add corn in place of the green olives, because I didn't have any of those on hand. The other was to swap out the scallions for red onion, because I happen to love red onion in a salad.

Italian Chopped Salad
Slightly adapted from bellyful.net

1 cup ditalini pasta, cooked according to package directions
3 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 9-oz. pkg. Melissa’s Peeled and Steamed Garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup cubed summer sausage
1 cup cubed provolone
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup marinated artichokes, drained and chopped
1/2 cup sliced red onion
1/2 cup fresh corn

Dressing:

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons honey
Two cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cups red wine vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

This salad can be prepared in one of two ways. Either you can combine all of the salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss it together with the dressing, and then serve, or, if using it as a main dish, you can put it together, attractively, in a pasta bowl (like I have used here) or on a plate. It's your choice.

To make the dressing - in a medium bowl whisk together all of the dressing ingredients except for the olive oil. Slowly pour in olive oil, whisking constantly to emulsify*. Drizzle over the salad and gently toss to coat

*I swear by bullet blenders for making vinaigrette salad dressings. I toss everything in together, and pulse it until it is combined. Using a bullet blender your salad dressing is going to beautifully emulsify, and stay emulsified for as long as it's in your fridge.

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Jalapeño Corn Fritters

One of the things I say when I describe myself to people is that I'm nocturnal. It's not something that I particularly want to be, it's just something that I am. From the time I was a little girl, and used to read Nancy Drew books with a flashlight under the covers of my bed, I've always known that I was a late night person. Unfortunately, I also enjoy early morning, and this adds up to not getting a whole lot of sleep. I try to let my body tell me how much sleep I need, and this generally means that I'm up every night until one or two. Nighttime, I find, is my most creative time.

 

Last night I went to bed around two, and was shocked when I looked at the clock this morning. I figured that there must have been a problem with the clock battery because the clock read noon! Yeah, 12 o'clock. High noon. I couldn't believe I had slept 10 hours. As a consequence, I feel great today. Little tidbits of the flu still hang on, but I feel like I have my old energy back, so was thrilled to get into the kitchen.

The first thing I did was tackle the five ears of corn that my dad had given me. They had been in the fridge for a long time, and I was afraid of losing them. I was in the mood for something spicy, easy, and that would suit for brunch, because, let's face it, if you're eating breakfast in the afternoon, the best you can call it is brunch.

Long ago I’d seen a recipe for fresh corn fritters, and decided to come up with my own version. I’d husked, cleaned, and stripped all of the kernels off of the cobs earlier in the week (I was so exhausted that it, seriously, took me all day), put the cops into a freezer bag, and stuck them into the freezer for making corn stock later. (Be sure to always save corncobs, unless you've gnawed on them, to use in stock. It makes a huge difference in potato, corn, and other similar chowders.)

 

I set some of the corn aside, and measured out 2 cups. From there I seeded a vacuum-sealed, roasted jalapeno -- a new product from Melissa's Produce. (You are going to go crazy over this one! Melissa's packages roasted jalapenos. They’re vacuum sealed, and it makes adding smoky heat to dishes so darned easy. You have the wonderful roasted jalapeno taste, they are easy to seed, they chop like a dream, and I have been stirring these into absolutely everything, from my scrambled eggs in the morning, to soups and broths in the afternoon, to mashed potatoes in the evening. This is my new favorite Melissa's product. Yep, move over Fire Roasted Sweet Red Bell Peppers.)

The recipe for these fritters is below. Honestly, you and the entire family are going to love them. They are lightly seasoned, the taste of the corn comes through, there's a little bit of heat and smokiness from the jalapenos, and they make a great snack. Not only did I have them as an afternoon snack, okay, okay brunch, breakfast, whatever, but the next morning those that were left over I served alongside a fluffy mound of scrambled eggs. What a great summer dish this is going to be for your barbecues! Try them. I'm not kidding.

Jalapeño Corn Fritters

2 beaten large eggs

1/4 cup flour

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon ground cumin

2 cups fresh corn kernels

1 thinly sliced scallion

1 finely chopped, seeded, Melissa’s Roasted Jalapeño

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Salt

Sour cream, chopped cilantro, and lime wedges, to garnish

Whisk together eggs, flour, Parmesan, salt, and cumin to combine. Add corn kernels, scallion, and 1/2 finely chopped seeded jalapeño; whisk to incorporate.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, cook heaping tablespoonfuls* of batter until golden brown, about 4 minutes per side; season fritters with salt. Serve with sour cream and lime wedges.

*I found that a big soup spoon works best for this. I tried one of those cookie scoops, but that made a right mess.

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Bacon and Corn Chowder

As I mentioned earlier, my dad has been eating his weight in fresh corn this summer, buying it up at every sale (and there are a lot of them), and sharing it with me. I've fixed it in many ways, but now, with fall approaching, I've started to make chowder. This chowder is a snap to make, and is so rich and delicious that you’ll want to have it all of the time.

Bacon and Corn Chowder

5 slices bacon, cut into pieces (reserve some for garnish)
1 cup diced yellow onion
2 large carrots, diced
1 celery rib, diced
1/2 cup diced Melissa's Fire Roasted Sweet Red Bell Peppers
6 Melissa's Baby Dutch Yellow Potatoes, quartered
2-1/2 cups corn broth*
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
3-4 ears corn, stripped of kernels, cobs reserved
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

* Make corn stock by using your stripped-of-kernels corn cobs and 3 cups water. Add a rib of celery, a couple of scallions, and half of a carrot, and cook for 20 minutes to reduce to 2-1/2 cups. If you prefer not to do this (although I do encourage it, and it is so easy), you may substitute chicken or vegetable stock.

Cook bacon in a large pot over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until crisp, about 5 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Into the pot vacated by the bacon place onion, carrots, and celery, and cook, stirring frequently until onion is softened, 8 to 10 minutes.

Add potatoes, broth, and thyme, and simmer, covered, until potatoes are just tender, about 15 minutes. Add corn, roasted red peppers, and cream, and simmer, uncovered, 10 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in bacon.

 Garnish with crumbled bacon, some kernels of corn, and chopped chives.

 

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My mom did all of the cooking while I was growing up; dad didn't even know how to boil water. So, I get more than a little pleasure at now hearing him talk about food. He has been on his own for over three years, and has become quite the microwave master. He also manages to give me weekly reports on the cheapest place to buy produce, and loves his corn on the cob.

The other day he told me that he added fresh corn to his daily [mountainous] salad and loved it. Suddenly I was taken back to Mr. O-P's and my trip to Italy. We were in a cafe in Florence, I had ordered a salad, and mounded in the middle was a pile of fresh corn. It was wonderful. If you want to make a salad extra hardy, freshly stripped corn is certainly one way to do it. Dad always picks up extra corn for me (on sale), so I had fun experimenting with it this week.

This recipe is from local food columnist Helen Fletcher who, like me, loves Mexican Street Corn, but does not love wearing it. She created this recipe (that appeared in local foodie magazine, Sauce) to keep herself clean and still enjoy her corn. It is so yummy!  Because it had been raining here for forty days and forty nights (okay, three), I wasn't able to use the outdoor grill, so just charred the corn in the broiler. This worked out just fine.

Mexican Street Corn Off the Cob

Slighted adapted from Sauce Magazine

2 cups corn (about four large ears)

¾ cup Melissa’s Fire Roasted Sweet Red Bell Peppers, diced

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

3/4 cup crumbled cotija cheese

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons lime juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

Remove the husks and silk from the corn. Place the corn over a medium-sized fire and grill, turning every four minutes or so until nicely charred on all sides and the corn is tender crisp. Cool.

Cut the corn from the cob, and combine with the red pepper, cilantro, and cheese. Mix the mayonnaise and lime juice, stirring it into the corn mixture.

Let the salad sit at room temperature for several hours to allow the flavors to come together.

Serves 4 

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Smoky Corn Chowder

No smoky barbecue for us this weekend.  With temperatures in the upper nineties, and humidity about the same, it's far too oppressive to be outside for more than a minute or two.  So we'll get our smoky goodness in this delicious Corn Chowder from SqWires Restaurant in St. Louis, another recipe from the SPECIAL REQUESTS cookbook.  Making soup in the heat of the summer may not strike you as the best choice for the season, but it is the perfect way to enjoy the fresh corn that is beginning to show up at local farm stands.  I have tasted a lot of corn chowder recipes, and this beats all of the others hands down. Perfect with a crusty roll and lightly dressed salad, a Cardinal victory will be the sweet dessert.

Smoky Corn Chowder

7 tablespoons butter, divided

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

5 slices bacon, diced

2 cups fresh corn kernels

1 medium onion, diced

1 medium carrot, minced

1 poblano pepper, seeded and diced

1-1/2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1-1/2 teaspoons chili powder

5 cups chicken stock

2 cups heavy cream

4 cups diced Yukon Gold potatoes

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Salt to taste

To make a roux, melt 6 tablespoons butter over medium heat.  Add flour; cook, stirring frequently, until very lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes.  Set aside.

In a large pot over medium heat, cook bacon in remaining 1 tablespoon butter until crisp, about 6 minutes.  Add corn, onion, carrot and poblano pepper; saute until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic, cumin, and chili powder; cook about 2 minutes.  Add stock.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.

Add cream and potatoes; simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.  Gradually whisk in roux, cooking the soup for a few minutes after each addition, until the soup reaches the desired consistency.  (You may not need all of the roux.)  Add black pepper and salt to taste.

The best way to remove corn from the cob is with this handy little tool:

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