It’s a Friday in July. The odds are that today or tomorrow or Sunday, you’ll buy summer corn, sweetening with each week of additional sun. And then you’ll grill or boil or broil or microwave those ears for one or more weekend meals.
Salt and butter will be consumed with that corn. Here’s a way to get both butter and salty flavor, combined, with a tangy benefit: make Caper Butter to spread on your corn. Capers are the pickled berries of a bush that grows wild around the perimeter of the Mediterranean, actually down into the Sahara and as far East as Iran. Capers are a staple, employed extensively and quite differently in the different Mediterranean cuisines.
Capers can, actually, be used wonderfully on their own. In many Mediterranean dishes though, you’ll often find capers used alongside chopped fresh oregano or other herbs, spices of all kinds, onion aplenty, citrus juices of all varieties, pepper and chiles of all shapes and sizes. When making this butter, then, you really have unlimited options. I’ve indicated a good, basic combination that Suzen and I have used, one that that will make your corn even more sumptuous.
Feel free to chop up your favorite additional flavors and add into the butter mixture.
Caper Butter for Your Weekend Corn
Yield: ½ cup
Ingredients:
- 1 stick [½ cup] butter, softened
- 2-4 tablespoons capers, depending on your pucker factor
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, optional
- Pinch of freshly chopped oregano, optional
Preparation:
In a metal bowl, add all the ingredients and gradually mix with a wooden spoon.
When thoroughly mixed, roll the butter into a log wrapped with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm. Use within a week.
Source: Brian O’Rourke
Photo Information Canon T2i, EFS 60 mm Macro Lens, F/5.6for 1/60th second at ISO‑1250