July 30, 2020 - This Week's Box Contents, Featuring Sweet Corn!

Cooking With This Week's Box

Sierra Blanca Onions: Beer Battered Onion Rings; Chopped Tomato, Onion & Cucumber Salad; One-Pan Chicken with Potatoes & Tarragon

Missouri Garlic: Roasted Garlic Butter; Chinese “Dry-Fried” Green Beans; Crispy Smashed Potatoes with Herbed Yogurt

Green and/or Italian Zucchini: Grilled Corn Kale Salad (see below); Crustless Quiche with Summer Vegetables; Summertime Beer-Battered Fried Zucchini with Honey Mustard Ranch Dipping Sauce

Green and Silver Slicer Cucumbers (included in some boxes this week): Chopped Tomato, Onion & Cucumber Salad; Thai Cucumber Salad with Peanuts

Green Beans: Chinese “Dry-Fried” Green Beans

Green Curly Kale: Grilled Corn Kale Salad (see below); Vegetarian Kale Taco Salad

Red Prairie or Gold Carola Potatoes: Crispy Smashed Potatoeswith Herbed Yogurt; One-Pan Chicken with Potatoes & Tarragon

Sweet Corn: Sweet Corn Pancakes (see below); Grilled Corn Kale Salad (see below); Cornbread with Fresh Sweet Corn

Sunorange, Chocolate Sprinkles or Red Grape Tomatoes: Chopped Tomato, Onion & Cucumber Salad; Tomato Basil Scrambled Eggs

Tomatillos: Grilled Tomatillo & Pineapple Salsa; Roasted Tomatillo and Black Bean Chili

Cauliflower OR Broccoli: Chicken Broccoli Quesadilla; Grilled Cauliflower Hummus Sandwich; Roasted Cauliflower and Carrot Pizza

Orange Carrots: Ranch Fun Dip; Roasted Cauliflower and Carrot Pizza

Black Eggplant (included in some boxes this week): Eggplant & Chickpea Patties; Baked Eggplant Parmesan Penne

This week’s box is full of summer!  Rays of sunshine all soaked up and transformed into deliciousness by these beautiful vegetables!  Lets dive in and get cooking…and eating!  We’re talking sweet corn in this week’s vegetable feature, and what is summer without sweet corn!  Sweet corn is one of those vegetables you just can’t rush.  Even though we want a crop to be ready by a certain harvest date, it just doesn’t work that way.  Every crop matures on its own time and there’s nothing we can do except wait for the point of perfection and pick it!  This means sometimes we have a lot and sometimes we have a little. Regardless of how much you have, there are so many ways to use sweet corn that go beyond just corn on the cob.  You know I love to start the day off with vegetables in my breakfast, so why not kick off your morning with Sweet Corn Pancakes (see below)!  Top them off with some fresh berries and a drizzle of maple syrup and I guarantee you’ll have a good day.  If you’re looking to stay in the category of savory, consider this week’s other featured recipe for Grilled Corn and Kale Salad (see below).  Summer is the time to get creative with making and enjoying non-lettuce based vegetable salads.  This Grilled Corn and Kale Salad is a substantial salad that can serve as a meal all its own.  Massaged kale with grilled zucchini, corn and slices of fresh onions piled high.  If there’s room in your bowl, feel free to add some avocado, grilled chicken or poached fish as well!

Vegetarian Kale Taco Salad
photo from thealmondeater.com

Before we move on to other topics, I have a few more summer salad options to mention.  If the Grilled Corn and Kale Salad isn’t on your list for this week, you might want to use the kale to make this Vegetarian Kale Taco Salad.  I also want to mention this Chopped Tomato, Onion & Cucumber Salad.  This is a simple salad, but if you use good ingredients you don’t need to do much to make it delicious!  Add parsley from your herb garden, dress it with a simple basic vinaigrette of honey, Dijon mustard and lemon juice or vinegar.  Eat it just as it is, or serve it spooned over grilled bread for bruschetta or with hummus and pita chips.  I also have my eye on this Thai Cucumber Salad with Peanuts.  The thing I like about salads with Thai influence is how they utilize fresh, simple and clean ingredient combinations.

Did you notice how beautiful the dark, shiny beans are this week?  If you aren’t afraid of a little spice, try these Chinese “Dry-Fried”Green Beans.  This utilizes a stir-fry method from the Szechuan region of China where the food is spicy and flavorful!  On the other end of the spectrum, did you notice the brilliant white Sierra Blanca onions!  So beautiful, mild, tasty, and perfect for Beer Battered Onion Rings!  I know, we just talked about healthy kale salads and now I’m suggesting deep fried food?  Yes, at least once a summer we need to put a pot of oil on the stove and make fresh onion rings.  While you’re at it, you might as well make some Summertime Beer-Battered Fried Zucchini with Honey Mustard Ranch Dipping Sauce as well!

One-Pan Chicken with Potatoes & Tarragon
photo from alexandracooks.com

We are so grateful for this year’s potato crop!  This really is the time to indulge in potatoes, when they are fresh and so delicious.  I still think it’s wise to keep the preparations simple, such as Andrea Bemis’ recipe for Crispy Smashed Potatoes with Herbed Yogurt.  We featured her recipe in a previous newsletter.  This recipe actually employs a combo cooking method.  First you boil the potatoes, then smash them and roast them so they get crispy.  Then you serve them with a creamy yogurt based sauce laced with fresh parsley, dill, lemon and garlic.  Of course you could just boil them and slather them with some homemade Roasted Garlic Butter!  I also found this recipe for One-Pan Chicken with Potatoes & Tarragon.  You could substitute chervil from your herb garden in place of the tarragon, or really any other fresh herb of your choosing.  In this recipe, you roast the potatoes alongside the chicken which has a marinade made of Dijon mustard and mayonnaise—so odd I have to try it!

I like quiche any time of the year, so this recipe for Crustless Quiche with Summer Vegetables caught my eye.  I also like recipes that are intended to be versatile, as this one is.  Use whatever summer vegetables are speaking to you.  Potatoes, zucchini, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, or peppers are all great selections.  We’ll have many more tomatoes yet to come, but even if you only have a few you can still make Tomato Basil Scrambled Eggs for breakfast!

Roasted Tomatillo and Black Bean Chili
photo from recipewisdom.com

We weren’t sure we’d be able to harvest tomatillos again this week, but the plants pulled through for us and we have enough to send another pound your way this week!  This was our featured vegetable last week, so if you didn’t have a chance to read the feature article, check out our blog and you’ll find twelve delicious recipes using tomatillos!  This week I want to try this Grilled Tomatillo & Pineapple Salsa.  You could just eat it with chips, or serve it over grilled fish or chicken.  Of course, you could also make this tasty Roasted Tomatillo and Black Bean Chili and serve it with Cornbread with Fresh Sweet Corn!

Quesadillas are on our dinner rotation pretty frequently, mainly because they are quick and easy to make and you can put nearly anything in them.  So, lets give these Chicken Broccoli Quesadillas a try!  I also want to try this Grilled Cauliflower Hummus Sandwich.  I don’t think I’ve ever eaten cauliflower on a sandwich, but why not?  While we’re trying new things, I’ll also mention this recipe for Roasted Cauliflower and Carrot Pizza.  That’s right, cauliflower and carrots on pizza!

Ranch Fun Dip
photo by Kristin Miglore for food52.com

So, over the weekend I watched the most recent Genius Recipe video on Food52.com.  It caught my eye because it was described as a recipe that will get you eating more vegetables.  Ok, I need to know how this recipe will do that and I have to admit, this is a pretty genius idea.  In fact, I wish I had come up with it myself!  So the original idea behind this concept was to create a healthy snack that could travel well without having to be refrigerated.  Vegetables and dip is a great snack, but most dip options need to be refrigerated.  That’s where the genius part of this recipe comes in—this dip is totally dry and shelf stable!  Remember Fun Dip candy where you dip the stick into candy powder?  That was the inspiration for this concept.  All the flavor is packed into a dry mix that you dip fresh vegetables in.  The vegetables need to have a little water on them which will make the dry seasoning mix stick to them!  The recipe on Food52.com is for Ranch Fun Dip, but feel free to get creative and make up your own flavor combinations and pair them with any vegetables you want to starting with this week’s fresh carrots!

Baked Eggplant Parmesan Penne

We’re nearly at the bottom of the box, but before we finish we need to talk about the glossy, elegant black eggplant.  I was taking a look at our recipe archives and wanted to mention a few delicious recipes from the past featuring eggplant.  The first is Eggplant & Chickpea Patties.  These are so tasty and make a great main dish item for a vegetarian dinner.  The second is for Baked Eggplant Parmesan Penne, which was a hit in previous years even amongst the crowd of individuals who are a hard sell when it comes to eggplant!

Ok, that’s a wrap for this week.  Next week we’ll likely have some delicious sun jewel melons for you and hopefully a few peppers and more tomatoes…and corn!  Enjoy the last week of July and I’ll see you back here next week for more summer recipes!---Chef Andrea

Vegetable Feature: Sweet Corn

By Chef Andrea

Summer isn’t summer without sweet corn and we work really hard to grow the sweetest, best tasting corn we can!  Sweet corn is not always the easiest crop to grow.  Variety selection is a big part of the picture and there’s also the issue of pest control because, unfortunately, we are not the only creatures who like to eat sweet corn in the summer!  If you’re interested in learning more about what it takes to grow sweet corn, I’d encourage you to read the article we published on our blog last year entitled “The Journey of Sweet Corn:  From Seed to Table.”

Icing corn after harvest

Sweet corn is a crop you can’t rush, it’s ready when it’s ready and you just have to do your best to determine when it’s at its optimal maturity.  Sometimes you’ll have a lot and sometimes there will only be a small amount to pick.  Regardless of the quantity, I want to encourage you to think about ways you might enjoy and use corn that go beyond the classic Corn on the Cob.  Before we jump into preparation, I need to mention one very important thing about sweet corn that you need to remember.  Keep It Cold!!!  When you get your sweet corn home, please put it directly into the refrigerator and keep it there until you’re ready to cook it.  If refrigerator space is an issue, remove the husk and put the ears of corn in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.  Keeping sweet corn cold is important for maintaining the sugar content.  Time and warm temperatures will cause sugars to convert to starch which will negatively impact both flavor and texture.

Corn cut from the husk after cooking

As for using corn, you may choose to cook it in the husk or without the husk and you also have the option of cooking it on the cob or cutting it off the cob before cooking.  Often people will choose to cook corn on the cob and in its husk if they’re cooking it on a grill or open fire.  If you do this, you should soak the ears of corn in their husks for a bit before putting them on the grill, otherwise the husks will dry out and burn more quickly.  If you choose to remove the husks first, you have several options for cooking the corn if left on the cob.  You can roast it in the oven or place it directly on the grill.  You can also boil ears of corn in salted water.  Once cooked, you can either eat it directly off the cob or cut the kernels off the cob using a paring knife. Whether cooked or raw, cutting kernels off the cob can sometimes get a little messy.  I like to prop my ear of corn up on end in a shallow bowl when I cut the kernels off the cob.  This way the kernels will fall into the bowl instead of all over the cutting board.

photo by Marcus Nilson for epicurious.com

Once corn is cooked you have many options for how to use it.  You can incorporate it into pasta dishes, risotto, vegetable salads, soup, chowder, quesadillas, tacos and salsa!  You can also use fresh corn kernels in cornbread, muffins, waffles, pancakes or even to make desserts such as ice cream or a blueberry sweet corn crumble!  A little fresh corn can really brighten up any dish with its sweetness, color and tender texture.  If you need a little help finding recipes or ideas, check out this article from Epicurious that includes 79 recipes using corn!

We always focus on the kernels of corn, but if you really want to maximize each ear of corn we really should look at how to use the entire ear!  For starters, don’t discard the cobs!  Corn cobs have a lot of flavor and can be used to make a flavorful Corn Cob Broth or stock.  Corn cob broth can be used when making risotto, poaching fish or chicken, or as the base for sauces and soups.   There are many ways you can do this, but here are a couple versions to get you started.  

Corn Stock by Martha Stewart

Corn Stock by Saveur Magazine

I also learned that corn silk has health benefits and can be made into tea using either fresh or dried silks!  If you’re interested in learning more about these health benefits or how to make corn silk tea, here are a few articles to consult:  www.stylecraze.com/articles/health-benefits-of-corn-silk-tea and www.healthline.com/nutrition/corn-silk#bottom-line.

Lastly, I want to mention that sweet corn is very easy to freeze so you can savor it during the winter.  I recommend cooking it on the cob and then removing the kernels after cooking.  Simply put it in a freezer bag and pop it into the freezer.  It’s that easy!  Use the corn cobs to make corn stock and you can freeze that as well!

Grilled Corn & Kale Salad

Yield:  2-3 servings

4 cups green curly or lacinato kale, torn into bite-sized pieces (½ bunch)

1 Tbsp olive oil (for massaging the kale)

1 Tbsp vegetable oil (for grilled vegetables)

1 medium zucchini

½ of a medium white or red onion, thinly sliced

2 ears fresh corn, husked

½ cup grape tomatoes, halved or quartered

1 avocado, diced (optional)

½ cup pumpkin seeds, toasted

Dressing:

3 Tbsp olive oil

¼ cup lime juice

2 cloves garlic 

¼ to ½ of a jalapeño, seeds removed

1 tsp chili powder

½ tsp dried oregano

¼ tsp cumin

Salt and black pepper, to taste

1. First, preheat your grill or prepare a grill pan if you’re using the stovetop.
2. While the grill is preheating, prepare the kale.  Strip the leaves off the main stem and tear them into bite-sized pieces.  Place kale in a large bowl and drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil.  Using your hands, massage the kale to ensure all pieces are thoroughly and lightly coated with oil.  Set aside.
3. Make the dressing.  Combine all dressing ingredients in a blender and pulse until everything is combined.  Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.  Pour about half the dressing over the kale and toss to combine.
4. Prepare the zucchini and corn for grilling.  Slice zucchini into ¼ inch slices.  Brush each side with a little vegetable oil and season with salt and pepper.  Brush the ears of corn with vegetable oil as well, and season with salt and pepper.  Lay both vegetables on the grill and grill for 5-7 minutes on each side, or as needed to get nice grill marks and cook the vegetables until tender.  Remove from grill and set aside to cool slightly.
5. Once the vegetables are cooled enough to handle, cut the zucchini into small diced pieces.  Using a paring knife, cut the corn kernels off the cob of corn.  Add both zucchini and corn kernels to the kale along with the onion and tomatoes.  Season with salt and pepper and toss to combine.  Add more dressing as needed to nicely coat all the vegetables.  You may choose not to use all the dressing.
6. Allow the salad to rest for at least 10-15 minutes before serving.  This salad is durable enough to be made in advance and served the next day, in fact the flavors and texture are actually a bit improved!  Top each portion with toasted pumpkin seeds and avocado if desired.

This recipe was adapted slightly from an original recipe published on www.thealmondeater.com.  This is a great “make in advance” salad to take with you on a picnic or pack for a portable lunch!

Sweet Corn Pancakes

Yield:  About 9-10 4-inch pancakes

2 Tbsp butter, plus additional for the pan or griddle

1 cup fresh corn kernels (cut from 1-2 ears of corn)

⅛ tsp salt

1 large egg

1 ¼ cups buttermilk

¼ tsp vanilla extract

1 Tbsp sugar

¾ cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup cornmeal (finely ground)

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

1. Melt butter in a large skillet or on a griddle pan over medium heat.  Add the corn and saute for 4-5 minutes, until it begins to brown ever-so-slightly.  Season with salt and transfer to another bowl to cool slightly.  Wipe out the skillet so you can use it to make the pancakes.
2. Lightly beat the egg in a large mixing bowl, then whisk in buttermilk, vanilla and sugar.  In a smaller bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and baking soda.  Stir dry ingredients into the egg and buttermilk mixture, mixing just until combined but still a little lumpy in appearance.  Fold in the sweet corn.
3. Reheat your skillet or griddle pan over medium heat.  Brush the pan with butter and ladle ¼ cup batter at a time, keeping pancakes spaced so they don’t run together.  When the pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around the edges, flip them over and cook them until golden brown on the other side.  If they seem to be cooking too quickly (dark on the outside, but still raw in the center), turn the heat down slightly for the next batch.  Brush the pan with butter in between each patch and continue until all the batter is gone.  If you aren’t serving and eating them right out of the pan, place the cooked pancakes on a baking rack on a sheet tray and hold them in the oven turned on to low (150-180°F) until you’re ready to serve them.
4. Serve warm with butter, fresh fruit and warm maple syrup.

Recipe sourced from www.smittenkitchen.com, with slight adaptations made by Chef Andrea.

Vegetable Feature: Sweet Corn

By Andrea Yoder

     There’s always some excitement around sweet corn, after all it is a classic summer vegetable loved by most!  Farmer Richard enjoys the challenge of growing “the best” sweet corn, a delicate balance between choosing a variety with good genetics, one that will perform under challenging field conditions, and one with good corn flavor and just the right balance of sweetness and tenderness.  No small task!
     There are many varieties of sweet corn, but not all are created equally.  First, we do not grow any GMO sweet corn.  We opt to use organic or untreated seed and rely on newer “sugar-enhanced” bi-color hybrids, many of which are recommended to us by our knowledgeable seed rep.  These varieties start sweet and have tender kernels.  Early in the season we look for a variety with the ability to germinate in cold soil.  We do what we can to help it along by planting the seed fairly shallow on a sunny day.  The first 24 hours are critical to success so we rely on the heat of the sun to warm the soil.  This tactic, in Farmer Richard’s words, gives the seed the “kiss of life” and just enough heat and encouragement to germinate the seed.  The other tricky part of choosing an early season variety is that most varieties we have trialed don’t taste that great.  We’re happy to have found two delicious varieties this year, Sweetness & Nirvana.
     It’s important to keep sweet corn cold.  After the corn is picked, sugars will start to convert to starch.  Keeping corn cold will slow this process down, preserve the quality and sweetness and give you a few more days to enjoy it.  Another reason we plant the sugar-enhanced varieties is because they have a slower rate of conversion of sugars to starch.   Despite the fact that you see people selling and transporting corn out of the back of a pickup truck, this is not the best tactic.  We take ice to the field when we harvest it, ice it again when it comes in and store it in the cooler until we pack it and load it on a refrigerated truck.  We do what we can to grow the tastiest corn for you, but you need to do your part too!  Take a cooler with you when you pick up your box, store it in the refrigerator and eat it within a few days.
     While eating it off the cob is a special summer treat, fresh corn can be enjoyed in so many other ways.  Cut it off the cob and add it to summer vegetable salads, salsas or relishes.  Stir fresh corn kernels into cornbread batter, make fritters or try the recipe for sweet corn pancakes.   It’s also good in summer vegetable chowders and light soups.  If you cut the corn off the cob, don’t discard the cob.  Add it to soups or stock where it will impart a delicious corn flavor.

Sweet Corn Pancakes

Yield: 16-silver dollar size pancakes

½ cup yellow cornmeal
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
2 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 egg, beaten
½ cup buttermilk
1 cup fresh corn kernels
2 Tbsp minced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp finely chopped jalapeño, optional
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh herbs (oregano, basil, parsley, thyme, etc)
Vegetable oil, as needed

1.  In a small mixing bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add grated cheese and mix just enough to coat the cheese with the flour mixture.

2.  In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the egg and buttermilk until well combined.  Stir in the cornmeal mixture along with the corn, onion, garlic, jalapeño (if using) and fresh herbs.  Stir just until all the ingredients are mixed well.
3.  Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat.  Add just enough vegetable oil to lightly coat the pan.  Drop the pancake batter in small spoonfuls into the hot skillet.  Cook for about 2 minutes or until the underside is golden brown.  Using a spatula, flip the pancakes and cook on the other side until it is golden brown.  Remove the pancakes from the pan and hold them in a warm place until you finish making the remainder of the pancakes.

4.  Serve warm as a side dish or as the main part of a meal.  They are delicious for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Serve with a dollop of sour cream or fresh salsa if desired.

Recipe by Andrea Yoder

Charred Corn Salad with Mint, Parsley and Cilantro

Photo from Food & Wine website

Yield: 4 servings

4 large ears of corn, shucked
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
½ small onion, thinly sliced
2 ½ Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tsp pure maple syrup
1 jalapeño, seeded and thinly sliced
3 Tbsp torn mint leaves
3 Tbsp torn parsley leaves
3 Tbsp torn cilantro leaves

1. Heat a large grill pan or an outside grill.  Brush the corn with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Grill over moderately high heat, turning, until crisp-tender, about 12 minutes.  Let cool.

2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the onion and lime juice and let stand for 10 minutes.  Stir in the syrup, jalapeño and 2 Tbsp of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

3. Working in a large bowl, cut the kernels off the cobs in sections.  Add the onion dressing and toss.  Add the mint, parlsey and cilantro and toss again.  Serve warm.

This recipe is the creation of Chef Yotam Ottolenghi.  

It was featured in the September 2012 issue of Food and Wine magazine.

Vegetable Feature: Sweet Corn

by Andrea Yoder

Harvesting Sweet Corn!
 The corn is iced immediately after being picked.

There are some crops we grow to make money and others we grow to make friends.  Sweet corn is not a terribly profitable crop, but it is one that we fuss over quite a bit with the goal of growing corn that will make you stop and say “Man that’s good corn!”  Due to the cool, wet spring, we didn’t get as many corn plantings done as in some years, but the ones we did get planted have proven to be Fantastic…Stellar….Awesome!  These are fitting adjectives to describe this year’s corn-eating experience, but they’re also the names of several varieties of sweet corn we grew this year.

Variety selection is very important with sweet corn.  There are hundreds of corn varieties to choose from, but the challenge is finding the ones that produce well in our growing conditions.  First of all, we do not grow genetically modified sweet corn. The varieties we grow produce very sweet & flavorful corn that you’ll find to be very tender with nicely filled out ears.  The tenderness is because our varieties have a thin pericarp which is the “husk” that covers each kernel of corn.  Unfortunately, there is a lot of “ok” corn available in the marketplace, and there’s a lot of corn that really just doesn’t taste very good at all.  Over the years we continue to trial new varieties, but we keep turning back to the ones that give us the best quality product and best eating experience.

Sweet Corn Fence with Hawk, Streamers, and Scare-Eye Balloons

Our corn field looks like a disco party waiting to happen!  We have to protect the corn from all the critters that would like to help themselves to this tasty treat as well.  First we put up a 6’ tall fence all around the field.  Next we run an electrical wire about 6 inches off the ground…to keep out small creatures such as raccoons.  Now it’s time for the party decorations including silver reflective streamers and colorful scare-eye balloons that deter birds. We also put out a few hawk decoys that, while they don’t look very scary to a human, the blackbirds seem to respect.

After we go through all of this hullabaloo to produce a great tasting ear of corn, the final step is to KEEP IT COLD!  The sugars in corn can quickly convert to starch if the corn is not handled properly.  It’s important to keep corn cold from the time it’s picked until you’re ready to eat it. We ice the corn immediately in the field, and then again when it comes into the packing shed.  It’s important that you do your part as well to store your corn in the refrigerator and eat it within a few days.  Contrary to popular belief, the garage is not the best place to store sweet corn.  If you have limited refrigerator space, you can remove the husk and put the ears of corn in a plastic bag to store in the refrigerator.

Corn can be enjoyed by eating it directly off the cob, or you can cook it on the cob and cut it off.  Fresh corn cut off the cob can be used to make a lot of different dishes including salads, fritters, dips, fried rice, etc.  Don’t throw the cob away!  Corn cobs actually have a lot of flavor on them.  Add them to a pot of chicken or vegetable stock to add some great summer flavor.  I like to do this to make stock that I then use to make a delicious corn chowder.

Corn season is always way too short, but we hope you’ve been enjoying the ears in your box this year.  We are hoping for about one more week of corn, so savor your final bites of the season!

Grilled Corn and Ricotta Dip

This recipe was adapted from the recent August/September 2015 edition of Saveur magazine.  

This is an issue worth reading and is full of tasty recipes featuring summer vegetables. 

Yield:  3 cups
3 ears corn, shucked
¾ cup heavy cream
¾ cup ricotta
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp finely chopped thyme
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
¼ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp unsalted butter, diced
Finely chopped chives and scallions, to garnish

1. Heat the oven to 325°F.  Heat a grill pan over high and cook the corn until charred on all sides, 25 minutes.  Cut the kernels from the cob, and puree two-thirds of the kernels in a food processor with the cream, ricotta, flour, and thyme.  Season with salt and pepper and stir in remaining kernels.
2. Scrape the dip into an 8-inch baking dish, sprinkle with Parmesan, and dot with butter;  bake until bubbly, about 1 ½ hours.  Garnish with chives and scallions to serve.

HVF Serving Suggestions: Serve with fresh wedges of sweet pepper or carrot sticks.  You could also spread it on top  of a slice of toasted French or Italian bread and top off with slices of fresh tomato, or keep it very simple and just scoop it up with tortilla chips or crackers.

Corn Studded Corn Muffins with Mascarpone

This recipe was featured in the recent August 2015 issue of Food & Wine magazine.  This issue includes some great recipes for all the summer vegetables we’re enjoying right now.  Pick up your own copy or check out the recipes on their website.

Yield: 12 muffins
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup finely ground cornmeal
½ cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp plus one pinch Kosher salt
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 cup fresh corn kernels (from about 1 ½ ears)
½ cup mascarpone cheese
1 ½ Tbsp honey

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.  In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and 1 tsp of salt.  In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the buttermilk and melted butter.  Whisk in the dry ingredients, then fold in the corn kernels.
2. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups.  Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean.  Let the corn muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the mascarpone with the honey and a pinch of salt.  Serve with the muffins.