The other day, I said to my hubby, “You know, we never really make side dishes.” he followed, “We eat the same vegetables every single day.” In fact, we had been eating the same rotation of three or four vegetables for months. Stir-fried cauliflower. Stir-fried zucchini. Grilled squash. Broccoli. Yup. We were in a rut.
When I get into a rut, I turn to my cookbooks. The internet is a vast and wonderful thing, but it actually really sucks for finding inspiration—at least for me. There is something about opening a big, heavy cookbook written by someone you trust. It’s like turning to an old friend for advice. Thus began an impromptu research expedition and, for once, I found exactly what I was looking for: a summer side that is bright, fresh, and fun to cook. You might not have had creamed corn since you were a little kid, but man, this can be a great dish with some love and care. Leave it to Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc cookbook to make something so simple taste so great. It is perfect.
Get together some good sweet corn, a lime, some spices (not shown above), butter, salt, and heavy cream. Oh, some fresh parsley, too.
Zip the kernels off and remove any silks. Chop the parsley. The recipe in Ad Hoc uses chives, I had parsley in the garden.
Cook the corn in some butter, lime juice, and a pinch of salt…
Easy stuff, kids!
Fresh Creamed Summer Corn
Ingredients
- 6 ears supersweet white or yellow corn shucked
- 1 lime
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Salt
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
- 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
Instructions
- Cut vertically down each ear of corn to remove kernels into a bowl. Scrape out any leftover kernel/milk with a spoon into a bowl.
- Grate the zest of the lime with a microplane. Set aside. Cut the lime in half.
- Melt butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the corn, squeeze about a tablespoon of lime juice over the corn and season with a pinch of salt. Reduce heat to medium low and cook until all liquid is evaporated and the corn begins to sizzle, 15 minutes or so.
- Stir in 3/4 cup of the heavy cream, the cayenne, and the lime zest. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes until cream is absorbed. Add more cream if desired and season to taste with salt. Stir in the parsley.
