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Corny memories

Posted by James Sechrengost on 07/16, 2013 at 08:59 AM

Corny memories

When I was a little kid our family didn’t have a lot of money and things were tight. My mom was a single mother and struggled to make ends meet like a lot of single mothers do. We lived near a farm and the farmer got to know us kids as we wandered over hill and dale exploring and just being kids. Sometimes he would give us odd jobs for which he paid us in eggs and vegetables out of his truck patch. The one thing I remember most was that he grew corn for feed. If he was out plowing and I knew he was going to be in the fields all day I would bring him some iced tea in a thermos or jug if I was heading out that way in my explorations. He started to leave a small corner of his field unplanted with field corn. He instead planted sweet corn or bread and butter corn there. He told us to pick as much as we needed. We never took advantage of his generosity but only took enough corn for a meal or two.

It wasn’t till I was much older that I realized that he never picked any for himself. He had out of the kindness of his heart planted that corner just for us. To this day I have a soft spot in my heart for farmers and corn. I love that it is getting close to the time that fresh corn will be available at those little roadside stands. I love making corn relish, creamed corn, corn chowder, corn in all its wonderful variety. The one I always come back to though is corn on the cob, as you can imagine, even with my love of corn over the years just the plain simple corn on the cob needs a little sprucing up. Here is one of the ways I like to add something a little different to my corn on the cob.

12 ears of corn cleaned but with husks still attached

1 clove garlic finely minced

2/3 cup unsalted butter cut into cubes (if you use salted butter omit the salt)

½ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Put the corn husks and all in a large container filled with cold water. What you’re trying to do is get the husks as moist as possible for their trip to the grill (at least 30 minutes).

While the corn is soaking, put the salt, butter, and garlic in a small pan and over a low heat cook till the butter is melted and the ingredients are combined.

Put aside about 4 tablespoons of the butter mixture and then coat the corn ears with the remainder.

After you coat an ear bring the husk back down over the corn and tie it together with some kitchen string.

Take the corn out to the grill and over a medium heat cook for about 25-30 minutes until tender making sure to turn every few minutes so the husk doesn’t burn too much.

When done cut the string and peel back the husk. Drizzle with the reserved butter mixture and sprinkle with the shredded Parmesan and serve.

I hope this brings you as much pleasure as my memories do me.

Tags: recipe | corn |