In Defense of Corn-This Omnivore's Dilemma

[Sidebar: Is imitation the sincerest form of flattery? I sure hope other food bloggers think so. Most of my recipe inspirations come from the things other people are trying out on their sites, and whether I tweak a recipe or reproduce it step by step, I link to the original and give credit where credit is due. Could I call anything I am currently cooking an "original" recipe? Probably not. How about you? Onward!]I am one of those people who often carries guilt for many of the offenses of the world, whether I am directly involved or not. Once I find out about some transgression I feel implicated by my knowledge - my own version of "ignorance of the law is no defense".After I read Michael Pollan' Omnivore's Dilemma and understood how prevalent corn, or more accurately, processed corn by-products, have become in the manufactured pseudo-foods behind a lot of today's health crises, I thought back to all the corn on the cob I had enjoyed growing up, and I felt more than a few pangs, honestly. 

Clearly corn itself is not at fault, those honors go to agribusiness and a tendency towards ignoring ingredients and placing blind trust that we wouldn't be sold anything that would hurt us, to eat. But this is about an emotional response, not an intellectual one, and the demons behind my temporary avoidance of corn looked like that old familiar guilt by association. 

While avoiding corn might be prudent during cold weather months, we are eating seasonally around here, and once local summer corn began to show up in the market I knew I needed a killer corn recipe to exorcise those avoidance demons and get me back into the game.  Cob of Evil or not, I really truly love love love corn.  

Enter the Exorcist: Grilled Corn Salad with Cotija Cheese and Lime

As so often happens, the inspiration from this sprang from a recipe from another food blogger on the web. This recipe for Grilled Corn Salad with Queso Fresco and Lime, was a recent post I spotted at a site I recently bookmarked as I found myself checking it near daily, the visually striking bitchincamero blog, written by the irrepressible Melissa Camero Ainslie.As Mel is currently living in Miami, Florida and I am in Central Texas, the weather and population mixes are proving similar enough that most of her recipes are suitable for our temperatures and typically call for ingredients I can easily find. Win/win.

I find her approach to food and eating similar (she's not afraid of bacon or ice cream), and her recipes avoid the need for hours spent in the kitchen or expensive single use equipment. Beyond that I sincerely appreciate that she goes to the trouble to explain the process behind preparing each dish, often breaking it out step by step, which helpfully guides a first try for an amateur like me.

Last but not least, in her write up of this salad she mentioned how she appreciates a recipe where you can have tongs in one hand and a beer in the other. She had me there. After reading that I knew I had just the right recipe to banish my corn guilt.

I didn't recall seeing a number of servings given, but guesstimated that 1 ear of corn would generate one serving of salad. I wanted enough for two so I began by cutting the ingredient amounts roughly in half.

If you've read here much, you know I am all about using up what I have on hand. So for starters, while I was willing to buy the corn, I did a quick pantry/refirigerator survey to see what I already had and what might sub in for ingredients in the original recipe. I determined I could swap out cotija cheese for queso fresco, an organic sweet onion remnant from the last CSA basket for the green onion, a home grown jalapeño for the serrano and and some basil also from my garden for the cilantro.So here is my version of the recipe, prep notes included, which I served on a bed of baby arugula fresh from the Farmer's Market, alongisde a reheated chimichanga and pieces of one of our few (the proud!) home grown tomatoes. The peppery arugula was a great base for the sweet-salty salad, and tempered the bite of the lime dressing perfectly. Here goes:

2 ears of corn, husks on
1 tablespoon olive oil
juice of one medium lime
3-4 ounces of crumbled cotija cheese (I am a big cheese fan so I didn't halve this one!)
1/4 cup finely chopped sweet onion
pinch salt
1/2 jalapeño pepper, seeded, membrane removed, minced

Set your grill at the appropriate heat for roasting vegetables. Know your grill - if you are using an outdoor grill, medium heat is suggested. I used an indoor grill so I set it at the highest heat. While the grill heats, soak your corn in water to wet the husks.

Place the corn, husks on, on the grill and cook for 5-6 minutes, or until they develop grill marks, turning every minute or so.While corn is grilling, combine other ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Remove corn from heat, peel back the husks, and return corn to the grill, cooking until a nice brown char develops all around. Turn the corn every 1-2 minutes. In the original recipe it was suggested that this would take another 7 minutes or so. I found it took twice that on my grill, although in a real Homer Simpson "D'oh!" moment I switched the orientation of the cobs from laying them horizontally across the grate to vertically so the corn would settle in closer to the heating element and not roll so easily.Once your corn is nicely colored, [patience here - the grilled corn taste is what all the fuss is about] remove from heat, let cool a bit, and remove the kernels from the cob. bitchincamero's post linked to Simply Recipes, another great food blog written by Elise and three others, a place I regularly drop in for inspirarion, for some wonderful tips for corn kernel removal here.Toss the kernels with the other ingredients and serve.Serves 4 as a side [or 2 if you are me and my husband and nobody is watching]

Because the star of this salad is the grilled corn and my substitutions were very close to the original ingredients, I was pretty confident the results would be good, but would they be great? Would this salad merit the ranking bitchincamero gave hers in the title of her post of "favorite"? .I'd say ohhhhh yeah. We ended up with such a delicious result for our lunch yesterday that my husband fetched the rest of the salad not originally plated right out of the kitchen in it's bowl and then we sat and devoured the rest of it on the spot.

I'm still not in favor of using corn as the generator for by-products to sweeten, thicken, and otherwise modify nearly every processed food in your neighborhood supermarket. Nor do I support taking corn out of food production to fuel vehicles. I am still not OK with the idea that our federal government should subsidize the fence to fence planting of genetically modified corn and I think the use of pesticides and fertilizers to support those farming practices has to stop.

On the other hand, a few ears of summer corn, especially if you can get them from a local farmer, is part of what makes July and August a special time of the year for seasonal eaters. All things in moderation, yeah?

Turns out maybe I can have have some sweet corn, and eat it too.

Playing to My Strengths

I have to admit something to you. Getting a CSA basket every week has stretched my comfort zone. That arbitrarily appearing selection of seasonally available, organic, locally grown food has thrown me any number of ingredient curve balls. I knew that would happen. That was a big part of the appeal of getting the baskets in the first place. Realistically though, having my comfort zone stretched is just not playing to my strengths.

Putting whatever I have on hand in reasonable quantities together in a pleasing way that uses ingredients up before they pass their prime, and at the same time, delights our palates with a meal we both enjoy? That is when I am at my best.

Case in point today, was our lunch.

We had leftover grocery store smoked chicken sitting in the refrigerator as a potential lunch component today. I'd already bought that chicken in quantity to have some on hand for the evening when I helped my daughter with a CostCo run to procure supplies for the bridal party/shower she is hostessing and staging out of town this weekend, in New Orlean's French Quarter.

It turns out my daughter is a whiz at organizing. Her attention to detail and her ability to predict what will be needed to pull an event off, make this weekend in New Orleans a case of playing to her strengths.My daughter and I headed south to the megastore just after rush hour one day last week, and earlier that day, looking ahead to the potential timing of our trip including how long it would take to prepare the things we'd bought for transport, I saw I was not going to have time for on the spot dinner prep.

I had to plan/work ahead, so I decided to have some cooked protein my husband would like, one that would be flexible for several different preparation techniques, already on hand. When I got to my local grocery store they had some freshly smoked chicken pieces available. If there would not have been smoked chicken breasts and thighs out for sale I would probably have gone for a rotisserie chicken. Having cooked chicken meat around is always easy to parlay into several reasonable meals for us.

By the buy, I don't purchase store cooked protein often. I typically stick with a locally produced natural organic, pampered type chicken supplier from Gonzales, Texas. Some nights get ahead of me. I try to cut myself some slack. Doing the best I can is the point of this, not beating myself up for the times I get caught short.

My daughter's friend, the bride to be, had always spoken of marrying in New Orleans, her family is from there, but one hurricane led to another thing, and she is actually tying the nuptial knot in Raleigh-Durham at the Duke University chapel. Both the bride and groom are undergraduates of Duke. Hurricane devastated New Orleans didn't quite match up.

So my daughter figured, since at least half the bride's maids were going to have to fly somewhere for their pre-ceremony gathering, that New Orleans would be just the place.And they are all there this weekend, 8 gorgeous twenty somethings, holed up at the "W" Hotel, contributing to the economic revival of one of America's great cities. Hopefully they are enjoying good service and that remarkable sense of place and history New Orleans embodies that no storm or overbooked hotel could ever erase.

Which means today, I still had this smoked chicken left over. And pesto covered potatoes from last night's traditionally Italian preparation of Romano beans, new potatoes and yes, you guessed it, pesto.

I also had some dill flowers, some basil leaves, a new onion from the garden that was accidentally harvested while I was weeding, newly roasted pecans and aleph beit cucumbers.

Leftover from the CostCo run was a bottle of organic mango strawberry juice, and left over from a hospitality event for an organization I volunteer with we hosted at Church Assembly the weekend prior to that, was some inexpensive Chardonnay. I purchased a small container of ripe berries, mixed a ginger ale with the juice and chardonnay, added some tawny port, and came up with a really delightful White Sangria.

I chopped some of the leftover smoked chicken, made a dressing of mayonnaise, chiffonade basil and chopped dill from the back garden, added toasted pecans, the cucumber, onion, and salt/pepper to taste, and ended up with a great fresh chicken salad. I served that with a wonderfully chewy mixed whole grain bread I get at my store daubed with some awesome Irish butter. I presented the salad on freezer chilled plates atop a bed of micro arugula greens I bought today. I bordered the plate with pieces of our last ripe tomato.It was gorgeous, delicious, and that is my strength. Taking a few things on hand, adding in what looked good at the store, and coming up with an amazing meal to share with my husband.

Have a lovely weekend everybody. Y'all in New Orleans, have fun getting better acquainted. A gal getting married can't ask for a better send off than a trip to the French Quarter with her bridesmaids to celebrate the milestone. Because back here at home in Austin? We are enjoying the heat, the pool, some sangria and a delicious cold chicken salad that resulted from playing to my strengths.

I love a story with a great ending, don't you?

(L)eeks!

We had leeks in our CSA basket this week. As I often do, I turned to my son (a professional chef) and asked him for advice on how best to prepare the leeks in a way that will win over my husband's palate.

I will admit, one of my favorite aspects of these baskets is that extra shove I apparently need to explore how to prepare new vegetables at home. I've had and enjoyed leeks in restaurants any number of times, but was always intimidated about buying them to prepare in my own kitchen. When something shows up in my weekly basket - like leeks - necessity overcomes my inertia and gently insists that I override my fear of the unknown.

My son pointed out, coming off my turnip redux success (scalloped turnips winning out over roasted), that leeks lend themselves well to creamed concoctions. He said they practically cream themselves.

Gotta love a cooperative vegetable.

I tried it out and am pleased to report my son was correct. Leeks are a natural for creaming.

I simply chopped, sauteed in a little oil and butter, sprinkled with some flour and then stirred in a bit of cream. Creamed leeks, coming right up.While I was playing to previously demonstrated strengths, I ran another version of the pork tenderloin, only this time I prepared the fruit sauce with apples and loquats rather than strawberries and loquats.

With all due respect to the cookbook author who printed the original recipe, it was my premise that apples, being much closer in character and texture to loquats than strawberries, would hold up better when being prepared together in a sauce. The original recipe was delicious, but the strawberries did reduce themselves to squishy little bits by the time the sauce was reduced and ready for the pork. Using apples instead, the flavor was still complementary to the pork (if somewhat more traditional and expected), and the apples tended to cook at the same rate as the loquats, so to me the texture as well as the taste was more consistently satisfying.

My husband and I both enjoyed the leeks and the pork immensely. No leftovers this time around. Two more checks in the "winner's column!

Cooking Ahead

Part of the difficulties faced as a conscientious Mom, was that I read a lot. I paid attention to dire warnings about packaged foods and chemicals used to preserve shelf life. I knew I needed to avoid all those convenient, quickly thrown together "meal in a box" solutions devised as a response to the "what's for dinner?" dilemma that surfaced soon after I arrived back home from a long day at the office.

This sounds very high minded, but I unfortunately found myself frequently standing at my kitchen counter, staring at raw ingredients with a good hour's worth of prep and cooking time ahead of me, exhausted, while my kids clamored for "take out".

I reshelved raw ingredients, hopped back into my car, and caved in more times than I like to admit.

In order to simplify my life and provide healthier food for my growing kids, I decided to cook ahead for the work week during the weekends. I figured I could plan menus, shop for ingredients not on hand, and spend much of Saturday morning and early afternoon preparing dishes ahead while yet providing soccer game transport and/or movie drop off duties.

I searched out recipes for home prepared versions of my family's favorites. I spent hours reading nutritional labeling and chose ingredients and controlled preparation, all with their health in mind.

The Saturday Cook-A-Rama Strategy was at least a partial solution. Many days we spent so much time circling in the car after school that any type of dinner cooked and eaten at home still didn't work. Those days we did fast food, as healthy as I could find that my kids would accept. Other days I figured to try to have a head start dish, either prepared and only needing reheating, or close enough to ready, so I could face cooking dinner after a long day at work without triggering spontaneous weeping.

It wasn't perfect. There were still problems. I'd end up with a house so filled with food aromas they gently smacked you in the face like a warm wet washcloth as you walked inside. I'd have all this food prepared for dinner for other nights, in combination with such an extravagantly trashed kitchen there might be nothing left clean to cook in or with. Worst of all - nothing slated to eat for dinner that night.

I finally learned to either have something simple already prepared as a fallback meal before I hit "too tired", or to gracefully accept another night meant for take-out without seeing that as the crowning event in my being declared a personal failure as Mother, Wife, and Cook.

I dredge this up because I made one of my own (rare) original recipes to serve for Halloween Night dinner. Chile Chicken Stew. It is best eaten after it cools and is reheated - as are all stews according to my mind. I used to make this many Saturdays for a Sunday or Monday night meal. As a nod to our new Empty Nest, I made it early in the day, and will reheat it and serve it for dinner the same day. It will sit long enough before dinner for the flavors to blend and intensify, and I won't have to worry about trying to cook while answering the door to hand out candy.

This stew will not only stand up to my leaving it for stretches of time, but should fill us up so healthily and wonderfully that we won't be (too) tempted to turn off the porch light early, close the blinds, and pretend we aren't home while my husband and I polish off the remaining candy.Live and learn. Helpful practices are only helpful when they serve me, not when I become enslaved by my own standards.

Hope you have all had a Happy Halloween, however that works in your house.

A swing...

and a miss.

I prepared the Baked Green Tomato recipe last night for dinner.

We ate take out Thursday night in one of those fairly common - "it is late and we are starved and nobody wants to cook" - type moments. Fortunately for me my husband is a good sport and a willing driver and he fetched us to-go dinner Thursday while I showered off the accumulations of a day spent working off and on in the yard in the heat. Some days the best solution to a meal at day's end is to stay OUT of the kitchen.

So last night we enjoyed our delicious Thursday menu as Friday dinner. Grilled beef tenderloin, the baked green tomatoes, a pestoed chevre on crostini and a spinach salad with honey mustard vinaigrette. We ate every bite, don't get me wrong, but the green tomatoes were just not quite "there" for either of us.

Not sweet enough to qualify for dessert and the savory notes not enough to really balance the sugar, the dish is one I won't repeat. At least without major overhaul. I do wonder how it would fly as a savory offering- no brown sugar involved this time - just the tomatoes, crumbs, butter and maybe some chopped fresh herbs? Hmmmm. I think that is really only regulation baked tomatoes using green instead of ripe red. I'm not sure that's worth the substitution.

I included the photos because it was a most appealing looking final product and I'm putting the recipe here just in case some one of you out there wants to give it a try. It was simple, easy, fast. If you do fix these, be sure to let me know what you think. Baked Green Tomatoes

4 large firm green tomatoes
salt and pepper
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup coarse buttery cracker crumbs
4 tablespoons butter

Cut tomatoes in 1/2 inch slices; arrange in a greased baking dish.

Season tomatoes with salt and pepper. Spread each with about 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar.

Cover tomato slices with crumbs and dot with butter.

Bake at 350 degrees until tomatoes are tender but still firm, about 25 to 35 minutes. Serves 6

I am finally out of green tomatoes in sufficient quantity to prepare for a meal. I will try the last two teensy tomatoes chopped up some way as....don't know...I'll get back to you on that one.

I have an inkling now of what it is like to eat seasonally and locally. It requires finding a series of treatments and preparations to include whatever is ripe and available within the time span it will stay in the "ingredient" and not move over into the "compost" category. That is more challenging than I'd imagined.

I am mulling over the idea of joining a food co-op. This would offer me a way to at least get further along the path of eating locally and seasonally. I don't think I'll manage a total conversion at any speed, but I am willing to try and support local growers more. And I like the idea of knowing more about where my food came from and how it was grown.

Short more aggressive gardening on our part - and we do have sun access issues on our property due to a lovely surround of huge live oaks - I think getting a box of locally grown seasonal fruit and vegetables each month might be just the ticket.

My other "mull" is to try some hydroponic micro-greens on a personal scale. That will take more research, but I'll keep you posted.

Final score for Adventures in Green Tomato Eating? Two out of three of the dishes were WOW for at least one person in this house. One of the two WOWs was mutual, which is a shoo-in for a re-run. The other WOW was mine which also means, shoo-in for a re-run.

Anything I like as much as I like fried green tomatoes, I will cook again at least once a year because that is the prerogative of being the primary household cook. Other than the increasingly rare attempt to try to eat something I am either "supposed" to like or is "good for me", I cook what I like to eat. Don't you?