I am but one man with seven ears of corn.

[blkery]

The CSA strikes again. What should I do with these?

Gotchas:

I'm lactose intolerant so milk and cream are out, cheese and butter are OK.

My grill has horrible heat distribution, so I always screw it up when I try to grill corn.

I live in the PacNW and have no reasonable access to lobster.

[junquegrrl]

Don't forget to make some corn stock from the cobs after you scrape or cut the kernels off!!

[seconds]

I don't have any suggestions to add but wanted to say that your topic title cracked me up. Thank you! :)

[buttertart]

I love it too.

[tamagoji]

Try the tomato corn scramble from epicurious. To me the dish embodies summer. You dice some tomatoes, let them sit in a bowl w/olive oil, salt, vinegar (I use lemon juice). Then you cut the kernels off the cob and sautee with butter. Add the corn to the tomato mix and eat. If you have fresh basil, it's a plus.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

[aching]

This recipe is a family favorite - I made it last week with five ears of corn, but you could do seven and it would be great.

EDAMAME AND CORN SALAD

1 lb. edamame, steamed and shelled (about 2 lbs. in the shell)
2 cups corn, cooked and sliced from cob
1 cucumber, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
½ cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 T. olive oil
3 T. sherry or red-wine vinegar
¾ t. Kosher salt
¼ t. chili pepper flakes
3 oz. feta, crumbled
½ cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

• In a large bowl, combine edamame, corn, cucumber, and parsley.
• In a blender or small food processor, combine the garlic, olive oil, vinegar, salt, and chili pepper and blend until smooth.
• Add the dressing to the vegetables and toss gently.
• Top with the feta and walnuts.

Makes 4 side servings.

[Breezychow]

I've got 2 leftover ears from last night that I'm going to scrape the kernels off & add to some Chinese Fried Rice for tonight's dinner.

[chaitali]

My mom used to make this Indian-style corn for a quick snack. It's super healthy and oh-so good. It's my favorite summer meal with a grilled cheese sandwich on the side (to add some protein).

Indian corn salad with fresh coconut, chilis and lime

2 tsp oil (any kind will do)
1 tsp mustard seeds
2-3 fresh thai chilis, minced (adjust according to your heat tolerance level)
2 cups fresh corn kernels
2/3 cup fresh coconut (or dessicated coconut that has been reconstituted with warm water)
2-3 tbsp lime/lemon juice (again, adjust according to your taste)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro/coriander, minced (optional)
salt to taste

Heat the oil in a saucepan on medium-high heat and add the mustard seeds. Wait till the mustard splutters and then add the minced chilis. Turn the heat down to medium and stir the chilis around a bit. Add the corn and coconut and salt and cook for a couple of minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Garnish with the fresh coriander.

Makes 1 serving or 2 side servings.

[Gio]

Michael Ruhlman has a tasty sounding recipe that I'm making tonight. Baked Butterd Corn. Uses 1 ear of whole kernels and 3 ears of grated kernels. Extremely easy recipe. Got 12 ears of corn in this week's CSA . I'll freeze the rest.

http://ruhlman.com/2010/09/baked-butt...

[smtucker]

On my menu for tonight as well. Meant to make it last year when he posted the recipe the first time, but somehow every time I was planning to make it, someone had already eaten the corn!

[Gio]

We made that corn recipe last night and it was absolutely delicious. Left the cover off and baked it for about 30 minutes. I grated the corn cobs directly ito the casserole so I wouldn't lose any of the sweet milk. I added a pinch of cayenne to the corn mix and sprinkled sweet paprika over top. Was dying to add minced jalaneno and small diced onion but restrained myself. Maybe I'll do it the next time, but we loved it as it was.

[smtucker]

Us too. I did two small ramekins with a bit of smoked Spanish paprika, salt and butter. One of the ramekins got a lot of freshly ground black pepper. This was so fabulous! What a wonderful way to use corn towards the end of the season.

I am considering buying some corn now, stripping them, and freezing so that I can serve this at the Thanksgiving table. Or maybe I should freeze the corns whole? Any thoughts?

[Gio]

I'm really not sure about freezing the corn on the cob. I was going to strip off the kernels and save them in zip lock bags. I've heard pros and cons regarding using the cobs for stock so decided not to use them for now... just the kernels. Our freezer is about to burst as it is.

[smtucker]

I made a corn chowder last summer after making a corn stock from the cobs. What a waste of water that was! Now, it is possible I simply didn't use enough cobs, or maybe I had stripped them so very well there was nothing left to give.

So I will strip the kernels. Just enough for T-Days dinner.

[gimlis1mum]

What are the cons of using the cobs? I've always enjoyed the flavor in soup but I use the cobs fresh, not fozen.

[Gio]

Now remember, I've never used them for stock but the complaint I most often hear is that the resulting stock is much Too corny...LOL

[Scott D]

First thing that popped into my brain, too. I haven't tried it yet, so nice to see a couple positive reviews.

[GraydonCarter]

What's a CSA?

[Gio]

Community Supported Agriculture.
http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/cs...

[chaitali]

Community Supported Agriculture is a system where people can buy their food directly from local farmers and the farmers benefit from bypassing the middlemen and selling directly to the consumer.
Basically, local farmers and residents form groups where farmers bring individual bags of fresh produce for every resident (who has signed up for it) once a week or couple of times a month. Either the farmers drop it off at a designated spot or the people go to the farms to pick it up.
The food bag mostly consists of organic fruits and vegetables that were grown and harvested on the farm and sometimes eggs, cheese or meat. Often theres 5lbs or more produce in every bag.

[Shrinkrap]

Barefoot contessa's corn salad calls for 5 ears, and keeeps a few days. We live in N. Cal, and my college daughter's friend visiting from the "corn" belt asked for it on facebook. Ok, not really; it was a private message.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/in...

[Pia]

Similar recipe, but with bacon: http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/07/sum...

[jvanderh]

Aren't butter and cream the same thing? And doesn't cream have no lactose while cheese does have lactose?

[Vetter]

It all has lactose, just varying levels, and lots of folks do better with aged cheese (aged cheese, yogurt, kefir = less lactose). Most folks don't eat a lot of butter in one sitting.

[Vetter]

I've got this on my radar. http://www.food52.com/recipes/6470_co... We have clams in the PNW!

[decolady]

That does look good. We rarely get good clams around here.

[decolady]

Alton Brown's creamed corn (made with rosemary) is quite good.

Succotash, if you enjoy lima beans. I like to make it with baby limas.

[Breezychow]

I LOVE good fresh sweet corn, so even though it's only my husband & myself, I always overbuy. I bring a big pot of water to a boil, add in all the shucked corn, bring it just back to the boil & then turn off the heat & leave covered until we're ready to eat.

With any leftovers I scrape the kernels off of the cobs & add them to mixed vegetables, chilis, cornbread, fritters, salsas - really, the list of what to do with fresh corn kernels is nearly endless, even without using any milk or cream.

[scubadoo97]

If the corn is really sweet which most are these days then you really don't need to cook them much. I often toast them on the stove top directly over the heat source to get some char. Gives it a nice roasted corn flavor, then finish cooking if desired in the microwave for a very short time. Just to warm them through. Cut off the cob and use in any number of dishes or freeze for later use.

[mamachef]

Since, as you say, you are only one man, why not make a small batch of refrigerator corn relish and eat it up within a week? Scrape the kernels, and cook down with some diced onion and red and green bell pepper, some brown sugar, ginger and vinegar to taste. We like ours HOT so I add two tsp. crushed dry red pepper, but start @1 and correct for youself. Great on a burger, great on anything requiring salsa, great w/ roast chicken, fabulous eaten out of a spoon straight out of the fridge.

[Krislady]

Do you try to grill your corn in the husks? I shuck it first, then grill it - I find it's much easier to control the heat, plus I like the slightly charred bits! Then I cut it off the ears and freeze whatever we're not eating - grilled corn in chowders or stews (or even alone!) is a great thing in the dead of winter.

[greygarious]

The most important thing is to act FAST before the sugar turns to starch. Either cook them all right away, or cut the kernels off and freeze them raw. You can microwave them 2 and 3(arrange in a triangle) at a time, unshucked. When cool enough to handle, the husk and silk come off in one tug and the corn picks up flavor from steaming in the husk. The nuked corn on the cob can be reheated in the microwave.

[visciole]

This is often no longer true since a lot of the newer "super-sweet" hybrids can be kept for a while without the sugar turning to starch. So it depends on the variety.

Personally I would just steam the whole lot and keep it in the fridge for snacking. Nothing better than a room temp cob of corn to munch on.

[gimlis1mum]

Make corn chowder and freeze it. Cut the kernels off of the cobs and then use the back of the knife to "scrape" down the cobs. Break the cobs in half, put them in a pot with water to cover. Add a bit of sliced onion, bay leaf, maybe some thyme, bring to a boil and simmer. Ifyou have any shrimp shells in the freezer, throw them in the pot with the cobs. Let it cook for 20 minutes or longer.

Meanwhile get some diced onions cooking in a little olive oil (good), butter (better) or bacon grease (best). Add some diced red or green bell pepper, if you like. Add some diced potato, if you like (we prefer unpeeled red-skinned potatoes).

Strain the corncob stock and add it to the pot with the onions. Take ~2/3 of the corn kernels, put them in a blender or food processor, add some water and puree. Add the puree to the pot (rinse out the blender with a little more water), along with the rest of the corn kernels. Bring to a simmer and cook gently until the potatoes are soft. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Let the soup cool, chill it in the fridge, then freeze in single-serving sized containers. Eat in the middle of winter and feel oh so happy.

[Isolda]

I would scrape it off the cob and freeze it, as boring as that sounds. It's so nice to have good corn in the middle of the winter.
Otherwise, scrape it off and saute it with some hot peppers and edamame. You can eat some tonight for dinner, have some for lunch tomorrow, then put the rest in an omelet for Sunday morning.

[c oliver]

Here's a thread I started not long ago that may give you some ideas.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7225...

I have many cups worth of kernels now resting in my freezer also.