Charmed Life
In summer 2008, when I discovered that a delicious corn salad could be made by slicing corn off cobs and putting it together with either tomatoes and lime; onions and basil; or really anything, it was a revelation. I’d buy a dozen ears at the market, boil them all (trying not to overcook them as I’m wont to do), eat some slathered with butter for dinner, and make a salad with the rest.
Alas, it is two years later, and I am beyond bored with corn salads. They’ve become a cliche to me, the first idea that springs to mind and far from the most original. So, what to do with the corn? I could make corn fritters, as Style’s own Mary Zajac did for our Ye Olde Maryland dinner party a few weeks back. They were delicious (you’ll read about them in our November issue). But I wanted something light and summery. So this weekend I was delighted to find a recipe I had clipped a few years back for a Corn, Tomato and Basil Chowder..
After my Saturday morning trip to Waverly Farmers Market, I had cherry tomatoes. I had some corn in the refrigerator from last week (plus about 6 cobs I had stuffed into the freezer earlier in the summer). I had a bounty of basil in my neighbor’s garden (an overachieving weeder had pulled up all of ours a few weeks ago). And I had a bag of fresh limes. The recipe is simple—and it was really a great surprise to see just how much sweet corn flavor got imparted into the broth just by boiling a half-dozen cobs for 10 minutes. I didn’t use the sour cream or creme fraiche the recipe calls for, but I did add a few chopped-up jalapenos for some bite at the end. It made a great first course for an impromptu dinner gathering on Saturday night. And it was great just now for lunch.
I made two other dishes from New York Times recipes this weekend. One was a Savory Ham and Gruyere Bread that was pretty great for brunch, but next time I would use a sharper cheese. And the other is something that’s become an old standby: Eggplant Salad with Red Peppers and Feta.
I also made a, if I do say so myself, awesome vegetable frittata. I have been making frittatas for years, but this was the first one I ever put half-and-half in. And I think, as they say, that made all the difference.
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