Giant in the Woods: Fire Roasted Sweet Corn
Okay, so I wasn't exactly in the woods. Actually I was just in a backyard, but there was no kitchen involved so it was kind of like the woods.
It's corn season still, and the corn is terribly affordable. I ate fresh sweet corn 4 or 5 days in a row last week when I was in Ohio and I think we were only paying around 2.50 for a bakers dozen at a local farm stand. If this isn't struggling artist food, I don't know what is.
There's nothing better than a dose of fantastic sweet corn everyday. The recipe here is simple to do in conjunction with whatever else you are grilling and will make the whole meal delicious. It really brings out the flavor of good local sweet corn and only takes about 15 minutes, including prep. Try to make this recipe while you can get fresh corn. There's almost no point in using the out of season stuff from the grocer.
I'm going to assume that you know how to start a grill. I prefer charcoal grilling, but gas works fine. Just make sure that it is HOT. The corn is being roasted here, but since it is sweet and fresh, you don't need to cook it for long. Good sweet corn can be eaten practically raw (like in the Crispy Corn Salad Recipe), so you are just browning it with a quick dry heat. In the pictures I have the corn roasting on the sides of the grill, but they would do well placed right in the middle of the rack, taking the direct heat.
Take an ear and peel back the husk as if it were a banana. You aren't shucking here, so be careful. Don't tear off the husk. Remove the silk completely from the exposed ear, following the example of the pictures below. It doesn't really matter if you have a strand or two left, but you want to get rid of as much as you can. When you have the silk cleared away, fold the husk back up so that it is loosely covering the entire ear. Toss it on the grill for 10 minutes, turning occasionally, and you're done. That's it. Dash clever, right?
