Baked buttered corn. Photo by Donna Turner Ruhlman
I think I post this recipe and preparation each year because its so good, and at this time of year, as the corn begins to lose its sweetness and grow bigger and starchier, there's no better way to cook it.
I use this corn cutter, but you could slice the kernels off the cob and puree two-thirds of them in a blender for the same effect.
Baking a mixture of pureed corn and whole kernels, cooking off much of the liquid, reduces the corn to an intensely sweet rich corn pudding. Nothing but corn, butter, salt, and pepper.
This dish, on a cool September evening, is for me a sweet, salty reminder of summer's inevitable deliquescence.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Corn is my favorite time of year.
BAKED CORN
Ingredients
- 6 to 8 ears of corn
- 2 ounces butter, cut into four pieces
- kosher salt to taste
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400˚F.
- Cut the kernels off 2 or 3 ears of corn and set aside.
- Using a corn cutter, cut and milk all the kernels from the remaining ears, squeezing the ears to get all the juice you can from them. (Alternatively, cut the kernels from these ears and puree in a blender.)
- Stir the whole kernels into cut corn or purée.
- Aggressively salt (about a teaspoon) the corn, and add lots of freshly ground pepper. Dot with butter.
- Put the corn in a cast-iron skillet, baking dish, Dutch oven, or individual ramekins. Ideally you want a depth of 2 to 3 inches. Press the pieces of butter into the corn and place the dish in the oven.
- Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until it's bubbling hot and a golden brown crust has formed (you can dry them out, so don't overbake).
If you liked this post, take a look at these links:
- My past post on Rethinking the Home-Cooked Family Meal and Grill Your Burgers.
- Saveur shares a great recipe for Lobster and Corn Chowder.
- Purdue University’s agriculture department shares a list of unusual types of corn.
- Big news, but bad news for Iowa corn farmers: This year's big yield means lower prices on corn.
© 2014 Michael Ruhlman. Photo © 2014 Donna Turner Ruhlman. All rights reserved.
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