All Ears

So I'm trapped at home because my husband takes our only vehicle to work, (I cannot wait until my own car arrives) without much to do except watch the olympics on  a 13" tv, while sitting on a folding chair (I am NOT complaining though, because I've lived life before without any chairs at all and it isn't much fun) so I thought it would be nice if I had something productive to do until tomorrow(!!!!!) when stuff finally gets delivered.

Let me back up a bit.  One of the problems I had with an entire summer of moving, was that I thought I would somehow miss sweet corn season.  This may not be a big deal for you, but I grew up in South Dakota and the garden season was big.  Now I just lived 3 years in Hawaii, and they do grow corn there (albeit genetically altered) and it tastes okay, but it is harder.  It doesn't have all the milky goodness that true sweet corn has.  It is available most of the year, and is fairly expensive.  Before Hawaii, we lived for two years in Kansas, and believe me, we ate our share of corn there because the four years before that, we lived in Alaska.  They grow sweet corn there, but it is about $2-3 per ear(!) and so is more of a treat.  Saturday, after we moved into the house, we went grocery shopping and they had corn for $.38 per ear, which seemed a good price, so I bought some and we had it for supper and it was delicious!  Yea!  Maybe we didn't totally miss out on the corn. 

I decided on Monday that I would go back and buy more corn--enough to freeze, and Tuesday morning, I set about doing it.

I bought two dozen ears of corn.  Don't you love how the grocery stores got smart and started putting a trash can right there so you can do the messy shucking right there?  I do!

 For equipment, you don't need much.  A  large kettle...

No, I didn't plan on having this pan with me.  I did put a few pots and pans in hold baggage, but right as we were leaving the house in Hawaii, I found this lurking way down and back in the cupboard!  The movers missed it!  I didn't even see it back in there, and we always check!  Luckily it fit in a flatrate box!  Doubly lucky that I now have it!

Fill with water and bring it to a boil.  You will also need a cutting board and sharp, strong knife.

I like to get started by first cleaning the kitchen.  I moved everything out of the area that I was going to work in because the kernels of corn really bounce around and fly off while cutting them off the cob.  Also, when working with food preservation of any type, the cleaner you are, the safer the food will be. 

Once you are ready, the first thing to do is to blanch the corn.  This means you put it in boiling water for a few minutes...

...and then take it out and plunge into an ice water bath.  This process stops the "ripening" process of the corn, and I think it also makes it easier to cut off the cob.

Take the corn out of the ice water and let it drain in a colander.  Now it is time to slice it off the cob.  Stand the ear up on it's wider, more stable, end, and using a knife, slice down trying to get between the corn and the cob. 

The trick is to get the most of the kernels but no cob.  A little practice helps.  If you cut too shallowly, you can always run your knife down again to get the remaining goodness off the cob.  This step is messy!  The kernels go careening all over!  I can only stand to do about  two ears at a time before I start scooping it up into bags, but if you have a larger cutting board, or a higher tolerance of a mess, you can do more.

See how this came off in slabs?  That is what I love.  When you cook with this corn in the winter, it won't look like plain old frozen corn.

 Load it up into a freezer bag and don't forget to mark it!  I love doing this step because you can make bags as full as your family size dictates.  It is just the two of us, so I bag small amounts.  I can always make multiple bags if we have company!

I also like to press the corn all over the bag, making it as flat as possible, because that way, they stack nicely in the freezer, and better yet, they thaw quickly!  When it is time to cook and serve, my favorite way is to just saute it for a few minutes in butter.  Yum!  It is also excellent if you toss the thawed corn with a little olive oil, spread out on a sheet pan, and roast at 375 until it starts browning.  Yum!  Also tasty is to put it in some chowder.  I could go on and on...

It is sounding so good that I saved out an ear from the freezing process for my lunch.

Mmmm.  Happy sweet corn season to all of you from the Patriotic Quilter!

JoAnne

PS.  Aftr I finished my lunch, my husband called:  My car was in!!!  He was able to get away from work so we could go to Norfolk to get it.  It feels great to be independant again!