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20 Jul Holy Corn on the Cob!

I don’t know why I forget every year – until I sink my teeth into my first ear – how much I love fresh corn. It’s always, without fail, a total surprise. A brilliant, delightful surprise. I grew up with boiled corn. Often boiled forever. It was a revelation when my mom toned that down – a mere three minutes in the pot, then done. The corn tasted fresher and crisper. Love. Then my dad started grilling corn. Pre-soaking the ears in water and having to take care that the leaves wouldn’t catch on fire, took some of the grilling joy out of it for me. Tasty but too high maintenance and not really practical for those of us without a grill (or grilling weather – I’m looking at you June gloom).

Deb of the Smitten Kitchen is a inspiration in many, many ways. This summer she published a recipe for charred corn and zucchini tacos that you really should go make right now. Seriously, my ode to corn can wait, go make her tacos and come back.

Hi, again. So, where was I… oh, yes. It was while reading Smitten’s recipe that my brain blew open – you don’t need a grill to roast corn! You just need a flame. Like the one on a gas stove. Inside, in my kitchen. Whoa. So, this summer, instead of waiting for pots of water to boil, or shaking my wool gloved fist at San Francisco’s cold, gray, not-BBQ-weather-at-all skies, I’ve been having my own little grill-outs inside. Best part – besides the smokey flavor – is that I don’t have to wait for the ears to cool like I do with boiled corn. I can chomp and savor the roasted outside and fresh barely cooked inside immediately. (Note, if you’re entertaining for a crowd, this would not be terribly efficient – even if it is delicious. Best for one or two people, unless you let everyone roast their own, like marshmallows.)

Stove Grilled Corn on the Cob

1-2 ears of fresh corn

1. Clean corn; you can keep the leaves and stems on (peeled back to use as a handle of sorts is nice, especially if you don’t have tongs). I am not meticulous about stripping off every last strand of silk for two reasons: first, in general I don’t care if a few strands are left behind, and second, the gas flame will burn off the little bits and pieces anyway. If your corn is already cleaned entirely of leaves and stems, that’s fine, but you’ll just want to use tongs for sure.

2. Turn on gas burner to high. Using tongs or your leaf and stem handle to hold the bottom end of an ear, patiently hold ear of corn over flame, rotating every 30 seconds or so, much like a marshmallow. You can go ahead and set the corn on the burner (again, rotating every 30 seconds or so), but stay close and pay attention so that bit of the corn doesn’t completely burn.

3. When ear is evenly roasted, stop. Serve. Eat. Love.

12 Jun French Onion Soup …

Look at those beautiful onions. Aren’t they just begging to be turned into soup? Maybe it was the dreary rain of last weekend, but once I got these babies home from the farmers market, I was pretty focused on making a lighter french onion soup – this is spring after all and not winter. (Right? Please?)

After looking up a ton of recipes – traditional, vegetarian, vegan, etc – I settled on this template from Tyler Florence, but with some lighter, vegetarian and gluten-free changes (this can easily be made vegan, just substitute olive oil for the butter). You can always add back the beef stock and the bread and cheese, if that’s what makes you happy.

Springy French Onion Soup

1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
4 large spring onions
1 stalk green garlic, bulb and tenderest parts diced
1 bay leaf
1 large sprig fresh thyme
sea salt
1/2 C red wine
1 1/2 T arrowroot powder (potato starch or regular all-purpose flour will also work)
1-2 T miso, to taste (I used brown rice miso for this)
1/2 C hot water
1 quart vegetable broth
1-2 t lemon juice (optional)
parsley, chopped (optional)
nutritional yeast (optional)

1. Wash and trim onions. Cut in half length-wise, stem to stern. Then slice into thin half-moons.

2. Melt butter in a large pot over medium high heat. Add onions, bay leaf, thyme, and a generous pinch of salt and let cook, stirring once in a while until onions are soft and sweet (aka caramelized), ~ 30 mins.

3. When onions are soft and sweet to taste, add wine and simmer it off, ~5-10 mins.

4. Remove bay leaf and what’s left of the thyme sprig (most of the little leaves will likely have come off – that’s good), and add the arrowroot powder. Stir to incorporate. Cook for 5-10 mins.

5. Boil water and dissolve 1 T miso in 1/2 C hot water.

6. Add vegetable broth and miso to onions. Add another pinch of salt, stir and simmer for ~20 mins. At some point, maybe 10 mins in, taste for seasoning – add more salt or miso as desired.

At this point, the soup should be good to go and have a pretty traditional, earthy, almost beefy quality to the broth. If this works for you, then ladle it up. However, if you want something a little more springy, a little brighter… add 1-2 t lemon juice to the soup and serve it up topped with a couple pinches of chopped parsley. Further to go? Want a little hint of cheesiness without busting out the gruyere? Add a dash of nutritional yeast.

05 Jun Strawberries… and Kale!

What would you do with 12 pints of strawberries? Surely you would spare one for a massaged kale salad, no?

Kale with strawberries, some green garlic and a top notch blue cheese , like this one from Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company …

= sweet, spicy, creamy, green love.

Massaged Kale and Strawberry Salad

1 bunch dino kale
1 pint strawberries
2-3 T good quality blue cheese
1 stalk green garlic
1/2 t sea salt
1-2 T white balsamic vinegar
1 t cumin, more or less to taste
handful walnuts, chopped or broken up

1. Soak kale in a big bowl of water to wash off any debris or critters. While that’s soaking, clean a pint of strawberries and thinly slice the bulb and tender bits of a stalk of green garlic. Set aside.

2. De-rib kale (strip out the tough rib), tear into bite-sized pieces and place in a large bowl. Pat kale dry. Sprinkle with salt. Massage with hands for at least five minutes, until pieces are tender. Halfway through, splash in 1 T while balsamic vinegar and work it into the kale as you continue to massage.

It should look a little like this about halfway through:

3. Toast cumin in a dry, small sauce pan. Don’t walk away, it will burn. Shake pan once in a while. It’s done when the fragrance blooms.

4. Add cumin and green garlic to salad. Toss to incorporate. Crumble blue cheese onto salad and toss to incorporate. Slice strawberries into salad. Toss to incorporate and to check for desired strawberry to other stuff ratio. (You don’t necessarily need a strawberry in every bite, but every other bite would be nice, no?) You may or may not use the whole pint.

5. Taste and add more salt, vinegar or cumin, as desired. Add walnuts.

6. Toss and toss and toss until blue cheese starts to coat everything just a little bit.

Nice sized salad for two, maybe with a cup of soup on the side. Or it’s just the right size for dinner for one… if you’re a little kale crazy like someone we know.