Sunday, July 16, 2006

Ontario Corn


This is about the first week for local sweet corn. We grow some fabulous sweet corn in Ontario, and we like to take advantage when the farm-fresh corn is available. Yesterday, I was in a local grocery store that was trying to sell some sad-looking imported excuse for corn wrapped in cellophane packs of 6, likely picked two weeks ago. I couldn't believe they wouldn't have had the foresight to get the good stuff just as soon as it became available. We cooked some up on the bbq today - we pull back the husks and remove the silks, then put the husks back together and tie them off with a bit of butchers string. Then we soak the cobs in cold water for a while before tossing them on the grill. A great summer treat!

6 comments:

Candy Minx said...

Don't forget , it takes a gallon of oil to grow a bushel of corn. Same fertilizer is produced by oil that was invented by the scientist who made the gas for concentration camps. And George Bush wants to use corn fuel to run cars...that would use EVEN more oil. I suppose you might be able to find some organically grown corn though. The chemicals left over from the second world war turned out to be something that corn flourishes and grows big and fast.

Sorry to be such a downer. Down with farming! Long live buffalo and fish good to eat and they can live free till we eat them.

mister anchovy said...

No corn for you, not even bbq corn with butter and sea salt. No way.
(What to do with pals with so much good advice to dispense, huh?)

greatwhitebear said...

Been grilling a LOT of sweet corn here this summer. TGWB's method:

get a large bucket or wash tub and fill with cold water. Throw ears of corn in and let soak for an hour or so.

Throw right on grill and cook until husks are charred.

When you peel the husks off, the silk comes right off with it!

thehealingroom said...

I LOVE locally grown corn. BC coast's are not quite ready yet. I live practically next door to a corn farm. Since it is available fresh for such a small window of time, we go nuts. Sometimes corn IS the meal.
I was invited to a barbecue on the sunshine coast and they put the cobs on the barbie. They were terrible and now I know why....they didn't soak them. Thanks for the tip.

Candy Minx said...

Well, you can notice that they haven't been told yet today :)

sorry to be such a wet noodle...but I just can't get excited about corn. sure I eat it here and there as a guest but I don't much lost sleep if I don't eat it. It's prison food and not very nutritional.

You can put butter on other food and it tastes good too. Isn't it really the salt and the butter that tarts up corn on the cob?

Down with farming and farm food!


:)

And it really does take a gallon of oil to produce the dangerous non-organic fertilizer that growns most corn.

mister anchovy said...

Good luck with the hunter/gatherer thang, Candy.