Suzi’s Blog
Corn, Silk and Lilacs
A mild winter has its benefits. You haven’t broken your leg while skiing. Your heating bills were not as high as the Federal budget.
And corn is available way early. We have Florida corn in our local supermarket. Big ears, with lots of well-formed kernels. This early corn does not have quite the rich flavor that only summer sun can provide. But it’s darn good. In fact, in the coming few days you’ll see a bevy of corn recipes here.
Of course, between buying the corn and eating the corn there is cooking the corn. Which means removing the husk and dealing with that silk. Have you ever had to shuck twenty ears and found your kitchen looking like a “thread bomb” went off? Really a mess.
Here’s a solution, an amazing solution. I normally think of a YouTube as a place to find videos of cats dressed up costumes and performing some feline ballet number. Well, there is other information there. Try this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnBF6bv4Oe4
Here you will see a fantastic idea. Put the whole ear of corn in the microwave, cook for 4 minutes an ear, remove the ear, and just cut off the bottom end. Then you simply pick up the ear by the tassel end and the cooked corn slips right out of the husk. No silk attached.
Suzen and I have watched, been intrigued and believe. We have to believe. We saw it on YouTube.
However, we will be testing this weekend.
And we want to test flavor, too. Cooking in the microwave is not the same as boiling in water [or milk!]. Or roasting, either shucked or unshucked. We’ll try the microwave idea, and then see if we can use our grill for a moment or two to generate flavor and add some carmelization.
Ah, the lilacs. This mild winter has made for early corn. It has also meant that, at least here in the Northeast, lilac bushes have none, or at best a few, blossoms. Suzen has created a small lilac forest just outside our front room. In a normal year, we can open the windows and have lilac fragrance for three or four months. This year, we are going to have to settle for munching on corn.
Chef Daniel O’Rourke’s 45 Minute Strawberry Banana Smoothie
My twin grandsons are mirror twins. That’s like being a SUPERTWIN. They look alike, but they “mirror” certain things. One is right handed, and his mirror brother is left-handed. One is artsy, and one is analytical. One is destined to be a chef and the other will be his lawyer.
That’s Chef Daniel in the picture. His brother, Reid, is on the sofa to the right, out of sight. Reid is watching TV. Actually, so is Daniel, which helps explain why this smoothie took 45 minutes to make.
Reid had asked his mother, Michele, for a smoothie. She made him one. Reid, who may turn out to be a food critic and a lawyer, said he did not like it.
“I’ll do it,” said Daniel. That’s when the clock started. Like his father, Daniel is a natural cook but a very meticulous one. He did not use a cookbook here, he did survey every shelf in the refrigerator and freezer and pantry for ingredients, and he was taste testing along the way.
He created the smoothie below. Because Daniel is already preparing his own private collection of recipes, I cannot reveal here the exact proportions of ingredients, but Daniel did agree to share the ingredient list. With Suzen, we have guestimated the ingredient amounts shown below. Daniel may, in the future, choose to share some of his other recipes. Suzen and I will strive for full disclosure.
Oh, Reid tasted this new smoothie and still was a tad dissatisfied. “Too cold,” he commented.
These guys may be mirror twins, but they do share one characteristic: they are total perfectionists. Twenty years from now, you really will be astonished at the food in Daniel’s restaurant while you sit with Reid going over every detail of the contract he has drawn up for you.
As their grandfather, all I can do is hope for a discount.
Daniel’s 45 Minute Banana Strawberry Smoothie
Yield: 1 drink
Ingredients:
- 1 banana, peeled of course
- 1 cup of fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
- 1 small container of strawberry yogurt
- 1 cup of ice
Preparation:
| Place the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Adjust the ice as necessary to attain the texture you desire. Add more yogurt to increase fluidity. |
Source: Chef Daniel Scott O’Rourke, Austin, Texas
