Grilled Corn Tutorial

Alright--I'm going to share a little tip I found.  There's grilled corn, and then there's grilled corn.  I saw this technique last summer when I was searching for a way to cook corn, and I'm pretty sure I should credit this to Bobby Flay.  We all know this man knows grilling.

So many times when we are served grilled corn, it's great--has good flavor, gets the char marks from the grill, but it can be a little--I think the best word is--deflated.  No longer.  Follow these steps, and you will be sure to have perfect grilled corn that is plump and juicy.

Step 1: peel back husks of corn; do not remove them from the ear of the corn entirely.

Step 2: Once you reach the ear of the corn, remove the silk and discard.

Step 3: place the husks of the corn back over the ear of the corn so that it is covered  completely.  In a large pot of cold water, soak the husk-covered corn in water for at least 20 minutes.

Step 4: After the corn has soaked for at least 20 minutes, place the corn on a hot grill as-is, with the husks still covering the corn kernels.

Step 5: Cook corn for approximately 30-35 minutes over indirect heat, depending on the heat of the grill, until done.   

Step 6: Serve!  The corn should be so juicy and flavorful, you may not even want (or need) to serve it with butter, salt and pepper.

Enjoy!!

Quick-Cooked Callaloo

We received callaloo in our Farm Share a few weeks ago, and I wanted to cook it up a little differently than I've had served to me: slow cooked.  It's summer, it's hot, we don't have AC, so the less amount of time I can keep the oven on, the better.  This recipe was inspired by a Gourmet recipe for Brazilian Collard Greens (found on Epicurious.com and mentioned previously on my blog).

What I did was very simple: After rinsing the callaloo leaves and cutting off the stems at the base of the leaf, I rolled several leaves into a cigar and cut the leaves into thin strips.  In a large sauté pan I heated some olive oil and added three cloves of garlic, chopped.  I then added the chopped callaloo, added a touch of salt and pepper, and sautéed until they turned a bright green.  That was it!  And I was pleasantly surprised by the vibrant, non-bitter flavor of the callaloo.  We served this as a side with grilled chicken and corn.

Beautiful Raspberries!

When berries look this good you don't have to do anything with them!  We ate these fresh, tossed with other summer berries--an example of one of the many reasons I love the summer!

Grilled Panzanella Salad

WOW.  This meal was great!  Panzanella is an Italian dish that is popular in the summer months.  It consists of sliced bread and tomatoes,  flavored with basil, olive oil, and vinegar, and often salt and pepper.  The bread used should be a day to a week old; in other words, hardened and crunchy--what some people would consider "stale," which is why it's often known as the "leftover salad."

Oh, but it is delicious!  This is probably one of my husband's and my favorite summer meals using our Farm Share produce to-date.

Grilled Panzanella Salad

Ingredients 
(serving 2)
Salad
Slices of Tuscan bread, thickly sliced
1 zucchini, thickly sliced
1-2 summer squash, thickly sliced
1-2 tomatoes, thickly sliced

Dressing
1 shallot, finely chopped
About 1/4 c. olive oil
About 2-3 tbp red wine vinegar
(I don't use measurements very often when I throw things together, so you may want to add proportions of the dressing cautiously until you find the flavor you like best--the measurements above are estimates to what I used)

Preparation
On hot grill, place bread, zucchini, and squash slices.  On cooler portions of the grill place the tomato slices.  Once all items begin to char and show grill marks, remove.  Rest bread slice on bottom of plate and top with grilled tomato, zucchini, and squash.  Drizzle dressing on top, and serve with chopped basil or oregano.

Summertime Pasta

So, I would not normally have used elbow macaroni for this pasta, but that's all we had!

To use some farm share produce, including zucchini, summer squash, and grape tomatoes, we sautéed some shrimp and produce in some olive oil and just a touch of salt and pepper.  Tossed with feta, chopped basil and pasta, we had a light, summer pasta that was delicious.

6/30 Farm Share Arrival

It has been AGES since I last blogged.  This summer has been one event after another...from out of town trips to hosting guests to juggling two internships to...finding out we have to move.  For those of you familiar with the Boston housing search, it is all consuming and frustrating.  But, after a couple months of looking (literally), we signed a lease today.  Back to normal life (except for that whole packing up and moving thing).  We hope we can continue our Farm Share membership in our new location--we're going to a completely different part of the city--so stay tuned to see if this might be the last season of the blog.  I would be sad!

Anyway, on to what is really important, our produce!

Here is the Farm Share from JUNE 30 (I know, almost a month later).  I have been really bad at taking pictures of our box lately, but I promise I'll try to get better!  I think one of the most interesting parts of being a Farm Share member is finding out what you get every week!

June 30 we received a head of red leaf lettuce, a bag of garlic scapes, 2 beets, kale, 2 cucumber, 3 summer squash and 2 zucchini, some russet potatoes and a huge head of cabbage.

Happy (healthy) eating!