No one has called my cooking style Macgyveresque, but it is a little scrappy. I read recipes incessantly, collect them, drool over them, and then spin off of them. Today’s concoction is an example. Corn is in. Over estimating the need for dinner last night (hmmm), I had 2 ears of grill roasted corn leftover. In a post-dinner haze, I foolishly cut the corn off the cobs to make it easier to store, let that be a lesson kiddies.
And actually a digression is warranted. Our good friend B taught me how to cook corn on the grill. Peel the ears half way, leaving the leaves attached at the base of the cob and about 2 inches up the side. Keep the silk attached. Put the corn, peeled side down, in a large pot and fill with cold water. Ideally all the way to the end of the cob but submerge as best you can. Chill the corn for a good hour or two. When ready to grill, drain the pot, and refold the leaves and silk back up the corn cob. Give it a little twist to keep it together and lay them on a medium grill. Cover and cook till done – about 10 minutes. The outer leaves get charred but the corn inside is steamed and concentrated. The silk imparts a certain je ne sais quoi.
If you’re lucky enough to have left over corn, you can try this – or one of the several other recipes I considered. Let’s review: You have your basic sweet corn ice cream, steeped, strained, and churned. You’ve got your chunky. Steeped, not strained and churned. And by the way, I saw recipes for corn caramel or blackberry verbena syrup as toppers, oh my. And then you have your corn pops. You’ve got your more elaborate versions that steep the corn cob and kernels and you have the kind I made that take virtually no time and wow do they taste great. This version is based on the Serious Eats recipe for Corn Paletas but I modified and cut it in half due to an apparent corn shortage on the East Coast.
Leftover Corn Pops
2 1/2 cups roasted corn kernels
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons sugar
hearty pinch salt
1/4 cup half and half
dash of vanilla
Heat the milk, corn, sugar, and salt over medium heat to dissolve sugar for about 10 minutes. Cover and let sit for about 20 minutes to cool down. Add the half and half and vanilla. Use an immersion blender to to coarsely pulverize the mix. I like it chunky, you can go as smooth as you like. Pour it into pop molds, push up molds, or some other kinda mold and freeze until firm. At least 3 hours. Enjoy!
So a brief recap is in order. So far, I’ve posted every day in July – My goal is to do this in July only and then move to a few times a week, so be forwarned.
The site is up and includes photos – which I just learned how to crop and place.
And the frozen stuff
Mustard Ice Cream – so so. It seems I may not be able to recreate my Paris experience, but fun to try. Next time no sugar.
Frose – um, please!
Buttermilk / Berry pop – I’m on the fence on this one. Day 1 meh, day 4 awesome. Im inspired on berry pops for the kids coming over this weekend.
Black Pepper Roast Strawberry Balsamic Jam – its a sophisticated ice cream. I’m trying that again tonight so will let you know.
Dark Chocolate Sorbet – as always, wow