Corn – Grow. Cook. Eat.

September 16, 2011

Other People’s Food (Recipe: Arepas with Salsa

As any home cook knows, it’s easy to get into a rut. Even though as a professional chef, my larder of recipes is expansive, I still fall into the same trap. As does my farmer-friend Brett, who also worked as a chef for 15 years before becoming a farmer. So when I visit him on the farm, he always prefers that I cook. And I love cooking on the farm because even the same ingredients behave so differently. The eggs have more texture and cook more slowly, the tomatoes are sweeter, and the beef has more flavor.

His most oft-requested dish is my arepas, a Latin American corn-cake. Usually, the cakes are made from ground corn-meal (masarepa) mixed with water and salt, and formed into patties. The patties are grilled and topped with salsa and cheese.

I learned how to make these in the more traditional recipe of cooking the dried hominy corn and then grinding it. The paste that emerges from the grinder is quite dry, so I mix it with fresh corn, cheese and butter. This gives the dough more sweetness and creaminess.

Arepas

1 – 1 lb. bag hominy
4 ears corn
1 tbs. chopped garlic
4 scallions, chopped
2 tbs. chopped cilantro *or more
1 – 2 cups grated jack cheese
3 tbs. butter
salt and pepper
plain oil
salsa

1. Cook hominy according to package directions.

2. Heat a large skillet. Melt butter. Add the corn, then the garlic. Cook over medium heat until the corn begins to roast and brown.

3. Drain hominy. Grind with a medium hole. Grind corn and garlic mixture as well.

4. Mix in by hand the jack cheese, scallion and cilantro. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

5. Form patties with dough. Pan fry in plain oil until crispy on both sides.

Tomato-Pepper Salsa

3 tomatoes, finely diced
1 red pepper, finely diced
1 onion, finely diced
1 tsp. chili paste (or more to taste)
½ lime, juiced
3 scallions, thinly sliced
2 tbs. chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste

Mix Salsa Ingredients together.

August 31, 2011

Fish at the Farmers’ Market

I love shopping at farmers’ markets, but it always seems that I need to supplement my weekly grocery run with a trip to Whole Foods. But now that the Union Square Farmers’ market has a fish vendor (along with the de riguer produce, as well as cheese, chocolate, bread and meat), My meals have become more diverse and I don’t have to make a second shopping stop.

Roasted Clams with Smoked Tomatoes, Corn and Grilled Bread
2 ears corn, shucked
4 slices of crusty bread brushed with olive oil
1 cup apple wood chips, soaked in water
3 tomatoes
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion sliced
3 cloves garlic
2 dozen Wellfleet or other littleneck clams
1/4 cup white wine

1.    Light a charcoal fire in the grill. When the fire is hot, grill the corn until it starts to char. Remove from heat and set aside. Grill bread slices for about 30 seconds on each side, until toasted.
2.    When fire on the grill starts to wane, drain the wood chips, and throw onto smoldering embers. Replace the grilling grate, put the tomatoes on the grill, and cover. Close the vents on the top of the grill lid. Let tomatoes smoke for at least 20 minutes.
3.    Cut corn kernels off the cob.
4.    In a large skillet, over medium – high heat, melt butter. Add onions and garlic and cook until they're soft, about 5 minutes.
5.    Add clams and toss in butter/onion mix until well coated and the clam shells begin to roast
6.    Add smoked tomatoes, corn and white wine. Cover pan, and cook for 5 minutes or until all the clams have opened.
7.    Serve clams with grilled bread for soaking up all the yummy juices.

From the farmers’ market: corn, bread, tomatoes, onions, garlic, clams

August 26, 2011

Kiss My Grits

Wherever I travel in the south, some form of grits graces each and every menu: at breakfast with butter and cheese or at dinner with shrimp, simmered in tomatoes.

In the summer, the grits can be made with fresh corn, the shrimp with fresh tomatoes. In the winter, the dish becomes richer and creamier with cheddar cheese instead of fresh corn and stewed tomatoes instead of the truly vine-ripened available now.

Shrimp and Grits
I'm not a huge bell pepper fan, but in this dish they really add a critical element of flavor to the shrimp sauce.

2 tbs. butter
½ cup chopped onion
1 tbs. chopped garlic
¼ cup diced bell peppers
¼ cup white wine
1 tsp. fresh thyme
2 cups stewed tomatoes
1 cup chicken or shrimp stock
½ cup heavy cream
2 tbs. tomato paste
Salt and pepper to taste

1 pound shrimp – peeled and deveined

1 tbs. butter (opt.)
1 small shallot, diced (opt.)
2 garlic cloves, chopped (opt.)
1 ear corn – kernels cut off (opt.)
3 cups liquid – a combination of water, milk and chicken stock
½ cup grits
½ cup grated cheddar cheese

Basil to garnish

1.    In a sauce pot or skillet over medium high heat, melt the butter. Add the onions garlic and peppers and sauté for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and the garlic starts to brown.
2.    Add the white wine to the pan. Let it cook down until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Add the thyme, tomatoes and stock
3.    Simmer the tomatoes for about 15 minutes, until they start to thicken. Add the cream and tomato paste. Set aside.
4.    Start the grits: If using the optional ingredients… melt the butter in a sauce pot. Add the shallots, garlic and corn. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the liquid, and turn heat to high. Season with salt and pepper. If not using the options, heat the liquid in a sauce pot and season with salt and pepper to taste.
5.    When liquid comes to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and whisk in the grits. Stir frequently for 3 minutes or until grits swell. Cover to pot and let simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.
6.    Just before the grits are cooked, reheat the tomato sauce. Add the shrimp to the sauce and cook for 2 – 3 minutes, or just until shrimp are cooked.
7.    When grits are cooked, stir in the cheese.
8.    Serve the shrimp over the grits. Garnish with fresh basil

From the garden: garlic, tomatoes, thyme, basil (and in the background lots of eggplant and broccoli)
From the farmers’ market: onions, corn, peppers

September 2, 2010

Chanterelle-Corn Succotash

Even though I have plenty of vegetables in the garden, I’m in need a little more diversity in my diet. A trip to Russo’s rectified the situation and gave me inspiration for another meal.

Of course, I picked up corn – at peak sweetness, who could resist! And as I scanned the mushrooms, I noticed beautiful coral colored chanterelles: plump and dry, I knew they were fresh. I snatched a half a pound of those too.

When I got home, I opted for a variation on succotash, using the meaty mushrooms in place of the more traditional squash. It makes a lovely accompaniment to roast chicken or burgers.

Chanterelle Corn Succotash
1 – 2 tbs. butter
½ pound chanterelle mushrooms, cut in half or quarters (depending on how large they are)
1 large shallot, peeled and diced
2 – 3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2 ears corn, kernels cut off the cob
1 large tomato, diced
¼ cup dry sherry
5 – 6 leaves basil, chiffonade
Salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste

1. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add half the butter. Let it melt and then add the mushrooms, sprinkling the shallots and garlic on top. Season with salt and pepper. Cook without stirring for 3 minutes, or until mushrooms start to brown. Stir and continue cooking for 1 minute more. Add the sherry. Remove mushrooms from pan and set aside.

2. To the mushroom pan, add the remaining butter. Melt over high heat. Add the corn. Season with salt and pepper and cook without stirring for 4 minutes, or until the corn starts to brown and become aromatic. It’s okay if it sticks a little.

3. Add the mushrooms and tomatoes back to the corn pan. Cook for 1 minute more, just to heat through.

4. Remove from heat and put succotash in a serving dish. Season with lemon juice and garnish with basil.

August 2, 2010

Sweet Corn Chowder

For all the malign commercial corn receives from the sustainable agricultural community, sweet summer corn is literally a whole different beast… and savored for its sweet, crunchy flavor. Sweet corn growers limit their production to varieties meant for eating “unprocessed” – fresh off the cob or frozen. The corn of “Food, Inc infamy”, dent corn, deserves all the flack. The more starchy varieties get processed for corn starch, corn syrup, and animal feed. Dent corn, treated with lye, is used to make masa harina and tortillas.

You can still be a self-respecting sustainable agriculture advocate and enjoy sweet summer corn. I do!

Fresh picked corn needs little adornment, just barely a hint of salt or butter. Its peak flavor is best appreciated with 48 hours of harvesting. After that, the sugars begin converting to starch – even the texture deteriorates.

Recipes abound for corn chowder with all sorts of seasonings and flavors. But when corn is super fresh, I like mine very simple.

Corn Chowder

6 ears corn
2 tbs. butter
1 tbs. chopped garlic
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
¼ cup white wine
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup cream
Salt and pepper to taste
3 small Yukon gold potatoes
2 scallions or one cubanelle pepper, diced

1. Shuck the corn. Cut the corn kernels off the cob. Save the corn cobs.

2. In a large pot, over medium heat, melt 1 tbs. butter. Add ½ the corn, ½ the garlic, and the onion. Let cook for about 3 minutes before stirring. Add the wine, corn cobs and chicken broth. Let simmer for 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile… cut the potatoes into a medium dice. Toss them with salt and let sit for 5 minutes. Rinse off excess salt.

4. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add remaining butter and potatoes. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. When potatoes are al dente (timing will depend on how small you cut the potatoes) add the remaining garlic and corn. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and stir in cubanelle peppers and/or scallion.

5. Finish making the corn chowder… fish the cobs out of the broth and scrape all the juice out and back into the pot. Puree the broth in a blender – be careful with the hot liquid – and be sure to take the center plug out of the center of the blender top to let the steam escape.
6. Return the corn stock to the pot and stir in the cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
7. Serve the soup with the corn and potato garnish. Top with a dollop of romesco sauce or sun-dried tomato pesto if desired.