CORN AND THE FOURTH OF JULY
A recipe for Elotes, Mexican street corn, follows both the story and the reflection below.
Corn’s around the corner. Here are tips for pickin', storin', and cookin' fresh corn.
Pick up each ear of corn you're hankering after; it should feel hefty. Run your fingers down its length, feeling for any cavities or bulges, either one a sign of damage or spoilage.
There's no need to peel back any of the husk, even near the tip. It truly is unnecessary and, besides, you ruin the ear for a subsequent buyer. Husks should feel moist, hug the ear, and be dark green, unless someone's already peeled away the outer husk. You don't want to buy those anyway. Silks should be tan or golden; any slimy dark brown or black silks are bad.
Final fret check: Gently feel with your fingertips around the silked end. The kernels should be plump and firm very close to or all the way to the tippy top.
Fresh corn is always best the day that you pick (or buy) it. You may store it for a couple of days (up to three) in the coldest portion of the refrigerator, still wrapped in its husks, in plastic bags. A paper towel wrapped around every third ear is a good way both to wick away moisture and to circulate air.
To grill: Pull back husks just enough to remove the silk, then reposition husks. (Alternatively, you may leave silks intact; they easily slide off after cooking.) Soak the ears in cool water for 20 minutes, then place on a hot grill. Cover, grill for 15-20 minutes, turning the ears every 5 minutes or so.
To microwave: This is a surprisingly effective way to cook corn on the cob. Let the ears out of the refrigerator for 30 minutes, if that’s where they’re coming from, so that they can shake off most of their cold. Leave the husks and silks intact. If necessary, remove some of the stem end so that all ears can spin on the turntable without striking any side of the microwave.
Zap on high for 3-4 minutes per ear, depending on thickness; for example, three ears for 9-12 minutes. Cook up to 3 ears at a time, laid side by side. When done, cut off an inch from the stem end. With a kitchen towel or several sheets of paper toweling, grip the ear at the tapered, silked end and squeeze and pull. Both the husks and silks will slide right off.
To boil: Husk ears and remove silks. Trim if you see fit. Boil in rapidly boiling, salted water (no milk or sugar necessary) for 2-3 minutes for crisp kernels, up to 6 minutes for softer kernels.
To roast: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Roast ears with husks and silks intact for 20-25 minutes, depending on thickness. If ears are husked, with silks removed, wrap in aluminum foil and roast for the same amount of time.
Thinking about food and the Fourth
By Bill St. John
The red, white and blue is plenty blue these days. Blue as in “glum”—to be generous. Blue’s a wide hue in 2023. Opposite of red, it’s one pole of our polarization, sad to say.
Some might say that the only thing we all do in concert is kvetch. Well, we all do get up in the morning. We all pass our days; we eat our three squares. Or most of us do, anyway.
But do we do any one thing together on any given day?
Once, not so long ago, on the Fourth of July, Independence Day, our national birthday, all of us watched a parade, saluted the flag, oohed-and-aahed at works on fire in the sky.
But all of us don’t do—or, really, choose not to do—all of that altogether anymore.
Yet one thing that we all did on the Fourth of July we’ll still do, every one of us (for the great majority).
We’ll eat.
We’ll eat corn, we’ll eat burgers, we’ll eat brats. And potato salad, and cornbread, and ‘q. And always a lot of whatever we’ll eat.
On the Fourth, we eat in the late morning because it is a day off, or in the early afternoon because it’s a picnic, or we eat before the night yawns to a close because that’s the best time to savor the day’s labor spent or spared.
This year, we’ll eat together, again. We’ll sit at tables outside, if the weather is lucky, or in screened-off porches, if it is not. We’ll sit with Gran and Pa and Mom and Dad; we’ll sit with our children.
We did much the same last year on the third Thursday in November when we gave thanks for that same red, white and blue. But, on that day we also had manuals to help manage family shoals should one or another of us had been more or less red than blue, or the reverse, or neither.
But July 4 somehow declares independence from that worry and, so it seems, all worries that beset us.
Because all of us, we just get excited to take a break and sit down and eat. Together.
We do not eat alone. We don’t eat “blue.”
Worth remembering, that.
A serving of Elotes, Mexican street corn.
RECIPE: Elotes (Grilled Mexican street corn)
One rounded teaspoon of the popular chile-lime seasoning called Tajín may substitute for both the chile powder and the lime juice. Makes 4.
Ingredients
4 ears fresh corn, shucked
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream or Mexican crema
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 teaspoon ancho or guajillo chili powder, plus more for serving
1/3 cup cilantro leaves and tender stems, finely chopped
1/2 cup Cotija or queso fresco cheese, crumbled
Directions
In a large, wide bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream or crema, lime juice, chile powder and cilantro. Set aside.
Grill the corn cobs over medium-high heat, turning, until well browned on all sides, 8-10 minutes, perhaps more. With tongs, slather cobs all over with the flavored mayonnaise mixture and serve topped with the crumbled cheese and more chile powder (or chile sauce) to taste.