Don’t be so Corny

Hi folks,

One thing I was noticing while shucking our fresh corn the other day, was how much of a mess I was making while doing so! The silk seemed to fall on everything, similar to the affect of cat hair. One shareholder mentioned to me the other day how your can microwave corn while it is still in the husk, which ends up making it much easier to shuck. Sure enough, after researching this a bit more, it turns out you can save yourself the mess of having to tear off the husk with your hands…

Simply cut your fresh ear of corn a couple inches above the stalk end and place in the microwave for about 3 minutes (or an additional minute if corn doesn’t slide out easily from stalk).

The steam from the microwave will separate the kernels from the stalk, thus the cob should slide right out of the husk silk free!

For those of you who may have some questions about how long to cook corn before it is ready, here are a few tips…

Boil a pot 3/4 full of water, add some sugar and lemon juice for extra sweetness, throw in as many corn cobs that will fit, then cover pot and turn off heat. Corn should sit in hot water like this for 10 minutes before it is ready.

Lastly I have included a recipe for choclo (meaning “corn pie” in Spanish), which is a very popular dish in South America. I don’t think I have had choclo since I lived in Paraguay, yet this recipe is very easy to make, and so tasty that I highly recommend testing this out if you have never had choclo before. You can even use store-bought pie crust to save time…

Recipe:

2 cups corn
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups milk (1% or more)
3/4 cup of butter
1/4 cup of cornstarch
2 hard boiled eggs (chopped)
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust
1 egg, beaten

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Place eggs in a pot and once the water boils, remove from the heat and let the eggs stand in the hot water for 15 minutes. Cool the eggs under cold running water; peel and chop.

Meanwhile, heat the corn in a saucepan and cook for approximately 2 minutes; strain and set aside to cool.

Heat the vegetable oil in the same saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion, and cook until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Pour the milk into the saucepan and whisk in the cornstarch. Add the butter, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer whisking constantly, then cook for 2 minutes over medium heat until the butter has melted and the sauce has thickened. Stir in the hard-boiled eggs and corn; pour into the piecrust.

Bake in the preheated oven until crust and pier are golden brown and pie center is firm which is about 25-30 minutes depending on your oven.

Half way through the baking process, brush the beaten egg over the top of the pie and finish baking. This will give the pie and nice golden brown topping.

Note: This recipe can be prepared ahead of time and warmed before serving.

References:

K Consulting

Kitchn.com

Zestuous

This post is by Matt Eiland who is in his first year as one of the Farm Apprentices at Moose Hill. In addition to the weekly pick-up posts, Matt has been sharing stories from the fields, ways to care and store for the crops, and other helpful insights.