Cooking Corn

[livingdeb]

I cooked corn on the cob for the first time yesterday. Here are the steps I took.

1. Hear about easy delicious microwave recipe.

2. Wait until corn is in season (i.e., no more expensive than 3/$1) and buy an ear.

3. Forget about it in the refrigerator for over a week.

4. Microwave it in the husk for 2 minutes. Notice that the ear is too long to keep from getting wedged in the microwave when the carousel turns.

5. Wrap in a towel for five minutes while steam does something or other.

6. Take the husk off, salt and eat.

It was a bit underdone and not very yummy. I was going to eat the whole thing anyway, but I just couldn't get through that last row.

Robin says it's best to grill it and second best to roast it in the oven or even the microwave.  He also said it's best to avoid corn, one of the scariest frankenfoods we currently have.

I kind of like corn on the cob, though, and don't eat enough vegetables.  And just because it's been altered doesn't mean it's dangerous.  If it is dangerous, it's just another one of the slow-death things, not a quick-death thing.  So I will try cooking it again.

Comments

[p-j-cleary.livejournal.com]

Robin obviously hasn't had fresh-out-of-the-field sweet corn. Delish!

Boiled corn on the cob slathered with butter and sprinkled with salt is one of the true delights of summer.

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

Turns out he has had fresh-out-of-the-field corn. (I asked!) He just likes other vegetables more. Fresh-out-of-the-field tomatoes are his favorite.

[madspark.livejournal.com]

Freshness is _everything_ with corn on the cob, so most likely it was the dwell time that did it in.

[(Anonymous)]

Word. You want to eat corn as soon after it's picked as possible. When my dad visits our corn farming relatives, they go out in the field and pick about 4 ears apiece and cook immediately for maximum yumminess. While this option is not available to the rest of us, you do want to approximate it as much as possible.

And if you're not eating it with butter and salt, I think you are missing out.

-sally

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

I suspected staleness was the main culprit and will try again. I agree about butter and salt, but sometimes just salt is almost just as good.

[alethiography.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

A couple of notes:

1. Corn on the cob is also awesome raw. No, seriously - and don't hold the half-cooked version against the raw version. Try it! (No butter and salt in that case.)

2. Husking and then boiling is perfectly easy and delicious. (Personally, I almost never find the microwave easier than the stovetop for things - e.g., pudding - that can be cooked either way.)

3. My understanding from what I've read is that corn isn't actually scarier than any other fruit or vegetable. What's "scary" about corn is the way they make it into everything else in the grocery store (beef, chicken, eggs, milk, additives, etc.) Eating corn itself is not scary at all.

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

I also cook pudding on the stovetop. Mostly I just use the microwave for re-heating.

Virtually all corn in the world has been genetically modified, so that may or may not be scary.

I am unlikely to try raw corn any time soon. It probably tastes even more like a vegetable, right? All crunchy and moist, like celery?

[fraeuleinchen.livejournal.com]

The crazy monoculture corn grown in all those fields in Iowa is not the edible kind you'd see sold as corn for corn-on-the-cob. At least that's what I've gathered, from what little I've read or watched (King Corn, a documentary, for example; I recommend it!)

Growing up on Long Island and then later in New Hampshire, we often bought corn from a roadside farm stand, and we always, always boiled it. No grilling for us (though I've had grilled corn since then and liked it). I am not a melted-butter person, but salt is a must. Yum.

One last observation: yes, corn is a vegetable, but it is a starch, so it's not one of the preferred vegetable. I know, I know, I'm not your mother. But hey, it's true.

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

I thought all corn had been genetically altered in some way and that a company almost rhyming with LongRantO had deliberately flung their own GM corn seed even into fields of farmers who refused to buy their stuff so that no corn could escape. Can't remember where I heard that, but I think it was more than one place.

Sadly, all the good vegetables belong in other food groups:

beans (pinto, kidney, navy, etc.) - protein
corn on the cob - starch
iceberg lettuce - water
popcorn - starch
potatoes - starch
sweet potatoes - starch (at least these also have Vitamin A)
tomatoes (processed) - fruit

(Note: I do also like other lettuces, which count as a real vegetable. And maybe onion, garlic, basil, and mushrooms sort of count as vegetables.)

[fraeuleinchen.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm not saying that the on-the-cob eatin' corn hasn't been jacked with... I'm just saying that the huge huge huge miles and miles of corn fields out in the mid-West, which have a pastoral look about them, contain corn that is basically inedible. It is grown only for its use as an agent to be recycled into other food and food-like substances. Watch King Corn, and you'll learn more! (And then promptly forget much of it, like me :-/)

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

Wow. It's sick what's legal in this country.