Photo by Jake Griggs

We grow the 277A and 275A varieties.

The sections below were copied with permission from Mi Ae Lipe’s Tastes from the Valley to Bluff: The Featherstone Farm Cookbook (2008).

Storage

Cook your corn promptly; its sugars start converting to starch as soon as the ears are picked, although the newer supersweet hybrids may retain their sweetness for several days. Always refrigerate your corn until you are ready to cook it; this chilling slows down the sugar conversion. Keep the husks on to retain freshness.

Complementary Herbs, Seasonings, & Foods

Butter, cayenne pepper, chile, cream, cumin, curry powder, garlic salt, lima beans, lime juice, Old Bay seasoning, paprika, parsley, peas, pepper, salt, sugar.

Serving Suggestions

• It's awfully hard to beat simple, freshly boiled corn on the cob served with nothing but butter and salt and pepper. An interesting variation is corn on the cob with thick cream, ground chile powder, and lime juice.

• If you actually get tired of fresh corn on the cob or find you have a lot of corn on your hands, try making creamed corn, corn pudding, corn au gratin, corn soup, or scalloped corn.

• Combine sweet corn kernels and lima beans with bits of onion and bacon for that traditional American dish, succotash.

• In a Boston baked beans recipe, substitute fresh sweet corn kernels for the beans.

• Barbecue corn on the grill, along with potatoes, onions, and meat.

• Strip off the kernels from older corn and use them in chowders, soups, stews, omelets, quiches, fried rice, and pancake batter.

• Add fresh, whole kernels to cornbread batter.

• If the corn is really fresh and just-picked, try enjoying a tender, sweet ear raw.

Links

Cook out of the Box - Freezing Corn

Cook out of the Box Blog - Tried and True: Salsas

Cook out of the Box Blog - Hands On: Blanching

Cook out of the Box Blog - Tried and True: Corn Bread

Recipes

Summer Saute with Pasta

Bring pasta water to a boil and cook the pasta while you are working on the vegetables. Saute the following in olive oil: onion or garlic; summer squash, cut into little sticks (batons if you want to be swanky); sweet bell pepper (diced or sliced); corn kernels.  Stir in a spoonful or two of pesto if you have it or else just add a generous handful of sliced basil.  Cover for a few minutes until all vegetables are soft.  Add a little pasta cooking water if too dry.  Serve over cooked pasta (linguine is nice).

Credit: Cook out of the Box 2010 - Week 12

Fresh Corn Fritters (serves 4-6)

This recipe is from Country Tastes by Beatrice Ojakangas.  I always make corn fritters every year with the first corn of the season.  You really need to use fresh corn for this recipe.

Cut kernels from six ears of corn - you should end up with about 2 1/2 cups of corn.  I always use the back of my knife to scrape the "creamy" part of the corn left on the cob after the kernels are cut.

Mix corn with 3 eggs, well beaten, and about 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 t. salt.  Add a bit more flour if necessary for the batter to hold together.

Heat a mixture of butter and oil in a heavy frying pan - to a depth of about 1/4 inch.  Fat should hot enough that a drop of water "skitters" when it hits the pan.  Drop spoonfuls of batter in the fat - turning when golden brown.  Keep fritters warm in a 300 degree oven until ready to serve - no more than 30 minutes.

POSTSCRIPT: I made these fritters the day after I originally wrote this post and fried them in the merest film of butter.  They worked just fine.  So maybe you don't need to fry these in so much fat. 

Credit: Cook out of the Box 2010 - Week 9

Corn Chowder (serves 4-6)

Ingredients

1/4 pound bacon or pancetta

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped bell pepper

3 cups corn - cut fresh from cob

1 1/2 cups diced potatoes

about 3 cups milk

fresh dill

salt and pepper to taste

Cook bacon or pancetta until crisp.  Set aside meat.  Saute onion and peppers in fat remaining in pan until soft.  Add potatoes and corn and about 2 cups water.  Bring to a boil, turn down and simmer until potatoes are soft.  Add milk, dill and seasonings.  Gently heat.  Serve with bacon or pancetta as a garnish.  (Note as with most soups, you can vary the amounts of various ingredients according to your preference and what you have on hand.)

Credit: Cook out of the Box 2010 - Week 10

Fresh Corn Tomato Salsa

Ingredients (amount and size of each to be decided by cook - according to taste and availability)

Chopped fresh tomatoes (squeeze out most of juice and seeds - save for soup)

Chopped onion

Chopped cucumber, peeled and seeded (optional)

Chopped fresh cilantro - about 1/2 cup per 2 cups vegetables

Finely minced jalapeno pepper - more or less depending on desired heat intensity)

Corn kernels (Boil or steam ears of corn, cut off kernels when corn is cool)

Fresh minced garlic (about 1 t. per two cups of vegetables)

Red wine vinegar, lime juice or lemon juice - about 1/4 cup per two cups of vegetables

Salt to taste

Credit: Cook out of the Box 2010 - Week 11

Last updated on March 16, 2012 by Featherstone Farm