Mmm, sweet corn! You know it’s summer when fresh corn on the cob shows up! I especially love it when the local crop comes in. It’s so juicy, crisp and sweet! The closer you can get it to when it was picked the better, before the sugars start turning to starch. The purest way to enjoy sweet corn is to eat it straight off the cob.
The microwave is the quickest way to perfectly cooked corn on the cob.
There are a number of ways you can cook it. The microwave is probably the simplest. Just stick the ears in there, husks and all and cook on high about 2-3 minutes per ear. It’s a good idea to move the center ears to the edges and turn all the ears over halfway through so they cook evenly. We do corn on the cob this way a lot and I used to end up with almost burned fingers all the time, getting the corn out of the husks. You want it still hot when you put it on the table, but when you peel back the husk all the steam comes rushing out and ouch!
Check out this technique for getting microwaved corn on the cob out of the husk without steaming your fingers!
I recently discovered a YouTube video, with an ingenious technique for getting microwaved corn out of the husk without the dreaded finger searing. An added advantage: the silk comes off cleanly, too! You simply cut off the bottom of the cob, grab the top and just sort of twist and squeeze the corn cob out from the husk. Any steam that escapes goes out the bottom away from your hands. Fyi – you do need to do this fairly soon after the corn is cooked. The steam trapped in there kind of helps the corn slide. It may be a little hot to hold so be careful and wrap a towel around it if you need to as you squeeze. When I first watched the video, I went, “Wow, how cool is that?!” And then I thought, “Duh, what an idiot I’ve been all these years!” Oh well, great ideas are always obvious in hindsight. Thank you, Louise Garnett and several other YouTube contibutors for this clever idea!
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- Grab Husk, Twist and Squeeze
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- Keep Squeezing
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- Corn Cleanly Removed from Husk
Grilled corn on the cob is great, too, especially when the grill’s already fired up for the rest of dinner!
The other easy way to cook corn on the cob is on the grill. You can do it in the husk or not. My family’s preference is in the husk. It essentially steams so it comes out similar to the microwave – nice and plump and juicy and crisp. On the other hand, if you take it out of the husks, you can get some nice char on the kernels. You get that great flame-grilled flavor, but it will get softer and less juicy, the more char you get on there, so there’s kind of a trade-off. Either way you grill the corn, it will take somewhere around 10 minutes with the cover down over high heat, and you’ll want to turn the corn frequently.
Flavored butters are a great way to add some variety to your summer corn on the cob enjoyment.
Once the corn’s cooked, the next question is what do you coat it with? The classic answer is butter and salt and we do that a lot – it just lets that sweet summertime fresh veggie goodness come through. But, it can be fun to change it up, too and spiced and/or herbed butters are a great way to do that. The cumin cilantro butter recipe below is a favorite of ours. It’s kind of a stretch calling it a recipe – it’s so simple. You can adapt it however you like, a little cayenne pepper could be added for heat. Another nice butter combo is garlic, salt and fresh basil. And when I say butter, really I mean butter or margarine. We eat dairy free most of the time for my daughter, so it’s margarine at our house. Earth Balance sells a great a line of healthy allergen free margarines.
However, you choose to cook it and dress it, take advantage of sweet local corn on the cob while you can – it won’t be around for long!
- 4 ears of sweet corn
- ¼ cup butter or margarine
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ Tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro
- Microwave on high, about 2-3 minutes per ear, rotating position of ears from center to outside and turning them halfway through, or grill over high heat, turning frequently, about 10 minutes with the cover down. Corn can be grilled in the husk or without it. Corn in the husk will steam similarly to how it cooks in the microwave. Corn without the husk will get a nice char, but not be quite so juicy and crisp.
- Mix butter or margarine and cumin, garlic powder and salt in a small bowl.
- Microwave on high 30 seconds to a minute until melted and hot.
- Add cilantro and let sit a few minutes before serving.
- Serve with a brush for coating corn.
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