An Explosive Side Dish

Corn on the cob always heralds summer for me, but after eating it five nights in a row the thrill wears off. That’s when my mind turns to Fresh Corn Fritters.  Nothing could be easier to make, especially if you have a few ears of already cooked corn sitting in the fridge.

Improv in the Kitchen

My friend Ellen loves to improvise—both on stage and in the kitchen.  She’s fearless and successful in both arenas, although she doesn’t tell me about the flops.

Unlike some cooks I know, Ellen is willing to go off recipe because 1) she doesn’t like one or more of the ingredients, 2) she avoids certain foods for health reasons or 3) she just feels like it.

Cornmeal: What Is It and How Do I Use It?

If you’ve ever eaten cornbread, you’ve eaten cornmeal.  Cornmeal is simply ground corn, available in three sizes: fine, medium and coarse.  It’s normally not ground as fine as flour and thus is not a substitute for flour.  It’s more like an addition.

Mom Money-Saving Tip 92

Here’s a way to re-purpose leftover cooked corn on the cob.  Put several ears on a non-stick frying pan, turn the heat to medium-high and let the kernels heat up and start to brown.  Turn the ears every minute or so that different kernels brown.  Serve while the corn is still hot.

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Mom’s Basic Bootcamp: Corn

Until recently I took corn for granted.  I kept a can or two on hand to serve as an emergency vegetable but seldom actually did so.  Occasionally I’d buy a box of frozen corn and then forget it was in the freezer.

I have always favored fresh corn.  It reminds me of summers in Western Pennsylvania.  My father was a big corn lover, and being in a semi-rural area we often bought a dozen ears from a roadside stand and ate them all in one sitting.

Back in those days

Eat Your Greens

These three words – “Eat your greens” – evoke strong memories at our house, especially when our son and daughter are sitting around the dinner table.  While attending elementary school in London, they heard these words constantly at lunchtime.  The dinner ladies, as the female cafeteria staff were called, would not allow children to leave the table until their plates were clean.  Usually that meant choking down some mysterious green sludge.

As parents, we were happy to know our kids were eating balanced meals that we didn’t have to prepare.  Only later did we realize that greens had become the enemy.  These days we often have impromptu skits when cooked spinach, kale, chard, beet greens or mustard greens appear as side dishes.  Luckily leafy salads don’t prompt anyone to chant “Eat your greens,” but our son did buy his sister a dinner lady action figure a few years ago.

How can I overcome this knock on foods that I like to eat?

Mom Cooking Tip 107

With corn coming into season, here’s a quick way to remove corn silks.  Rub them off with a damp paper towel.

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Mom Cooking Tip 52

Corn on the cob gets tough if it’s overcooked. Add ears of corn to a pot of unsalted boiling water, cover and cook for about 2 minutes.  Remove from the water with tongs and serve with butter and salt on the side.  I prefer removing the husks before cooking because there’s less folderol at the table.

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Hominy: What Is It and How Do I Cook It?

My first encounter with hominy was in a California supermarket.  A store employee was offering samples of Pozole, a traditional Mexican stew, and stacked on the table were cans of hominy.  The picture on the label showed large kernels of corn, so large that they could have been on steroids.  They tasted like corn, only more so. 

Hominy on the left, Corn on the right

Is hominy a new vegetable?  No.  Here’s how corn transforms into hominy: dried corn kernels are soaked in an alkaline solution, and that process causes the kernels to swell.  You can buy hominy in ready-to-eat form in cans or you can buy it dried in bags.

I bought a can and added a cup of hominy to homemade vegetable soup.  It was definitely a conversation-starter.