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Introduction
or, grilled corn
After 10 months in NASCAR country, the boyfriend and I got the chance to move back to the New York area. Ah, blessed civilization. He's working at a law firm for the summer, for very little pay. Subletting a summer place ended up being out of the question, so we're living with his parents. Yeah, you read that right. I'm spending all day at home with his mother, a quilter & knick knack collector.
In exchange for room & board for two months, I have to cook for the in-laws.
This little side project blog will chronicle the trials and tribulations and horrors that will almost surely ensue.
For the first few days that we were here, the boyfriend's mother was in France; cooking for his dad turned out to be a simple task. He gets home from work late and is used to scrounging for leftovers. Basic grilled corn was a special treat for him. I used a recipe from The Cook's Illustrated Guide to Grilling and Barbecue (an unbeatable reference), although it's so simple it barely even calls for a recipe at all.
GRILLED CORN
1. With a charcoal grill, you'll want to spread 2/3 of your coals on half of the grill and 1/3 on the other half, to create a hot zone and a medium-hot zone. With a gas grill, preheat on high for 15 minutes--unless you have a rocket-fueled high end Weber, gas grills don't get as hot as charcoal.
2. Prepare corn by removing the outer layers of husk. Just leave one complete layer so the kernels are covered but barely visible through the translucent inner leaves. Cut the tassel off so errant strands don't catch fire.
3. Grill for 8 to 10 minutes on the cooler area of your charcoal grill, or anyplace you like on the gas grill. You'll want to turn the corn every two minutes until the husk is charred on all sides.
4. When ready to serve, peel off the remaining husks and silk; they will come off very easily. Season with butter, salt & pepper.
The benefits of grilling corn are many--you don't need an enormous stock pot even if you want to feed a dozen folks, and you don't have to turn the stove on inside at all during a hot summer. The direct heat also sweetens the corn, so it will taste great very early or very late in the season. And if you're the only cook around, you can monitor the corn on the cooler side of the grill while cooking the main course over the hotter side; no running from the stove to the grill and back.
I love the CI book, since my dad kept the arcane grill knowledge to himself when I was growing up. Plus he's one of those well-done-steak types, so I don't know that I really could have learned much about grilling from him anyway!
Posted by Brian on Saturday, June 4, 2005 at 01:55 PM | Comments (2)
Comments
002. Brian
A cooking blog. . . what a great addition! And what a strange arrangement to have with the in-laws. And you started with a vegetarian post!