Corn and Roasted Green Chili Risotto

‘Tis the season of corn and chilis. Nearing the end of their harvest cycle, great stands of corn stalks are drying and rustling in the wind, yielding long plump ears for supper. After we’ve had a summer full of corn on the cob, we’re slicing off the kernels, simmering the cobs for stock, and adding them to soups, stews, corn bread, and now risotto.

Meanwhile, green chili peppers are populating their bushes in droves — long anaheims, shiny dark green poblanos, jalapenos, serranos, bird chilis and varieties I’ve never heard of in amazing shapes and colors. Our CSA plants hundreds of feet of peppers as a pick-your-own crop and this has been an especially successful season.  We’ve been harvesting 20-30 peppers a week for about a month and there are many little ones growing, a testament to constant picking that stimulates the plant to produce more fruit.

 I roasted the largest anaheims (in the same family as the famous hatch chili from New Mexico), a few poblanos and others that are relatively large on our outdoor grill until browned. The skins slip right off. The milder ones were eaten with a little salt and fresh cheese. The stronger ones were set aside in the refrigerator to add to various dishes or frozen in heavy plastic bags in quantities that are logical to add to individual dishes. Since thin-skinned chili peppers can be frozen raw, I halved and de-seeded some to be preserved this way. They get mushy but I use them in cooked food so no matter. (If you’re freezing bell peppers, blanch them first.) Yet others, the ones whose color is breaking, are left on a rack to turn red and dry out, so that they can be bagged whole or crushed. My pepper supply will last a year. Looking forward to local huevos rancheros in January. 

So for a satisfying supper on the first day of fall, I decided to make risotto, using stock made with corncobs. I added roasted corn kernels and green chilis, and spiked the dish with lime juice and zest, and sprinkling of cilantro.  Served with tomatoes sprinkled with a crumbly cheese, this was a perfect celebration of seasonality.  (I cooked the corn in the oven, allowing half to brown and adding the other half partway through just to cook them lightly.)

Corn and Roasted Green Chili Risotto

2 ears of corn

3-4 c vegetable or light chicken stock

1-2 anaheim peppers

Olive oil

Salt

1 small onion, finely chopped

Butter (or olive oil)

¾ c Arborio rice

1 lime

Cilantro leaves

Cut the corn kernels into a bowl (they spatter less if you cut the cobs in half crosswise and slice one half at a time), reserving the cobs.

Place the cobs in a saucepan with the broth or stock and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Remove and discard the cobs. Keep the liquid warm.

Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Place half the corn kernels and the whole peppers on baking sheet and with a little olive oil and salt. Roast for around 7-10 minutes, turning the peppers and stirring the corn part way through. Add the reserved corn kernels and cook for 3-5 minutes until cooked but not brown. Remove the corn to a bowl to cool. Place the peppers in a bag to steam, and remove the skin and seeds. Chop and add to the corn.

To make the risotto, lightly sauté the onion in a little butter until soft. Add the rice and stir to coat the grains. Start adding the stock, about ¼ cup at a time, regulating the heat to keep the liquid at a simmer. Keep stirring and adding additional ¼ cup of stock. The entire risotto should take about 20 minutes to cook.

Add the reserved corn and peppers, the lime juice and half the zest and cilantro.

Garnish with the remaining lime zest and cilantro.

Serves 3 as a main dish, 4 as a side dish.

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Corn Chowder

Corn chowder just happens in my kitchen this time every year. Following a large picnic that features corn salad, I’m left with a couple dozen corncobs and usually a few ears of unused corn. With my waste-not-want-not attitude toward food, I make corn broth from the cobs and use it as the base for the chowder. This year, I added a smoked pork hock to the corncobs to make a slightly smoky and rich soup base. In addition to wanting to clear my freezer for the newly made broth, I thought that the pork would complement the chowder’s bacon base and temper the incredible sweetness that results from the corn itself, and to some degree I was right. The amount of sugar in corn is astonishing. No wonder it has become the demon behind obesity in America. 

Traditionally – and technically – chowder is considered a dish made with fish or shellfish and stewed with vegetables, and often in milk. The name actually comes from the French “chaudière,” with means “pot,” or “heated thing” since “chaud” means warm. While chowders are now prevalent on menus everywhere in America, they originate in New England and eastern Canada, places like New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.  With access to fish from the sea, and staples such as salt pork, storage potatoes and onions from the land, they were all set to use their local bounty for nourishing and flavorful meals.  Corn chowder is one widely accepted variation. 

I learned to appreciate the ins and outs of the chowders of New England and elsewhere from Jasper White, who wrote a book called 50 Chowders and who runs the Summer Shack restaurant near Cambridge, Massachusetts, where I’ve been known to hang out with friends and family. He also wrote a book called Lobster at Home, so you can tell that he’s capable of taking a single idea and making a volume out of it. His idea of chowder is not a proscribed set of ingredients, but rather a method (my kind of chef).  He encourages his readers just to “let it happen” in their kitchens, as it does in mine. One of the advantages of chowder is that it can be made ahead so it’s great for a party or for a weeknight meal if you’d thought ahead to make it on the weekend.

This is a beautiful chowder, as the combination of yellow-orange pepper, bicolor corn and turmeric creates a golden dish. I tinkered with his recipe of course, diminishing the amount of butter and cream and increasing the liquid. 

Corn Chowder adapted from Jasper White, 50 Chowders

3-4 medium ears of corn (yielding 2 c kernels)

¼ lb slab bacon, but unto 1/3-inch dice

1 tbsp unsalted butter

1 medium onion, cut into ½-inch dice

½ large red, orange or yellow bell pepper, but into ½-inch dice

1 large sprig of fresh thyme, leaves stripped from the stems

½ tsp ground cumin

1/8 tsp ground turmeric

¾-1 lb all-purpose potatoes (I like Yukon gold), peeled and cut into ½-inch dice

3½ c corn broth or chicken stock, preferably homemade

Kosher or sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

2 tsp cornstarch

½ c heavy cream

2 tbsp thinly sliced scallions or chopped chives

Husk the corn and cut away the kernels, scraping down the cob to save the milky juice.

Heat a large heavy pot over low heat and add the diced bacon, cooking it on low heat until it has rendered about 1tablespoon of fat. Turn up the heat a little to allow the bacon to crisp.

Add the butter, onion, bell pepper, thyme, cumin and turmeric and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender but not browned, about 8 minutes.

Add the corn kernels, potatoes and liquid and turn up the heat. Cover the pot and allow the mixture to boil vigorously for about 8 minutes. Check for doneness and crush some of the potatoes against the side of the pot to thicken the chowder.  The corn and potatoes should retain their shape, so don’t overcook them.

Reduce the heat slightly and season with salt and pepper. Stir the cornstarch into 2 tbsp of water until smooth. Add gradually to the chowder and let cook for a few minutes, allowing the mixture to return to a boil.

Turn the heat to low and add the cream. Do not allow the chowder to boil after adding the cream or it will curdle.

Serve within an hour or let it cool and refrigerate it for another day.

Adjust the seasonings if necessary and garnish with the scallions or chives.

Makes about 7 cups, serving 3-4 for a main course, or 6-8 as a first course.

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Tomato, Corn and Pepper Soup

Pure August. The abundance of tomatoes, corn and peppers is upon us, despite the terrible tomato-growing season. This simple soup has a tomato and red pepper base seasoned with chili powder and cumin. The red pepper gives the tomatoes an instant density and mellowness that would be achieved only after hours of cooking the tomatoes alone. Green bell and jalapeno peppers are sautéed until tender and stewed with freshly cut corn, and then added to the base. This is reminiscent of cold season vegetable chili, perfect as our nights turn cool, but it has the lightness that we appreciate in summer fare. If you wanted to serve this as a vegetable chili, simply boost the spices and increase the proportion of corn and peppers to tomato.

Tomato, Corn and Pepper Soup

6-8 ripe tomatoes

2 tbsp olive oil

1 red pepper, diced

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp chili powder of your liking

1 tsp salt

Water, if necessary.

½ green pepper, diced

1/2 jalapeño pepper, finely diced

Kernels from 1 ear of corn

Cilantro

As you prefer, either peel, seed and chop the tomatoes, or just chop them. (You’ll puree the soup later so leaving tender skins on will not affect it much.)

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the red pepper and onion and sauté until soft. Add the  cumin and chili powder and cook for a few minutes.

Add the tomatoes and salt and increase the temperature to bring the tomatoes to a boil. Lower the temperature, cover the pot and cook the tomatoes until they have reduced to a liquidy puree and are cooked through, Add water if the tomatoes are not thin enough for soup.

Meanwhile, sauté the green pepper, jalapeño and corn in a little olive oil until they are crisp-tender.

When the tomatoes are thoroughly cooked, puree the mixture in a food processor and return to the saucepan. Adjust the seasonings. Add the peppers and corn and a little cilantro, and cook until the corn is completely tender

Garnish with additional cilantro leaves.

Serves 4.

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Summer Vegetable Ricotta Custard

There’s nothing like a versatile base that simplifies meal preparation at any time of year. In the winter, we tend to favor vegetable frittatas, open-faced Italian omelets that contain any number of cooked vegetables. But in the heat of the summer, a mixture of eggs, milk and ricotta cheese makes a light base that envelopes the vegetables and forms a light custard. The custard can be flavored with spices such as saffron or nutmeg, or with herbs such as basil, parsley or cilantro You could also add grated cheese, or even a little precooked rice, but that makes the final dish heavier and more suitable for fall.

 I made this custard twice this month: the first time with roasted eggplant, red pepper and basil the second with corn, red and orange peppers and cilantro. I have previously used eggplant, tomatoes and mushrooms, as well as yellow summer squash and wax beans. As is, this makes a simple summer supper served with fresh tomatoes or a watermelon and tomato salad with feta cheese and basil. Simple, satisfying, summer.

 Summer Vegetable Ricotta Custard

About 2 cups of roasted or otherwise cooked vegetables (e.g., a combination of eggplant and red peppers, or corn and peppers, or summer squash and beans, or tomatoes and mushrooms, or any of them alone)

2 eggs

½ c milk (low-fat is fine)

½ c ricotta cheese (low-fat is fine)

Seasonings (e.g., 1 tbsp chopped basil or parsley, ¼ tsp grated nutmeg, ¼ tsp saffron dissolved in 1 tbsp hot water)

1 tsp salt or to taste

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Butter a 1-quart baking dish. Layer the vegetables in the dish.

Lightly beat the eggs and add the milk, ricotta cheese, stirring to combine well, Add seasonings and salt. Pour over the vegetables.

Bake until set, about 30 minutes. Let cool for about 10 minutes before serving

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Corn Season: Louisiana Maquechoux

Corn, tomatoes and peppers are central in native American culinary geography. Like the three sisters — corn, squash and beans – that are grown together to complement each other’s habits, corn, tomatoes and peppers mature around the same time and therefore are natural companions at the dinner table.

A specialty of Southern Louisiana, the Cajun dish called “maquechoux” consists of sautéed corn with vegetables, seasoned with bacon and crowned with cream. It doesn’t need a lot of cream since the milky pulp of the corn – created by barely slicing some of the corn kernels from the cob and scraping off the corn pulp with the back of the knife blade – lends a unique creaminess. I have typically made this with scallions, but regular yellow onions would be fine. Similarly, I typically use red pepper but green pepper or a combination is fine. I have even gone so far as adding steamed okra.

Louisiana Maquechoux adapted from Bert Greene, Greene on Greens

6 ears of corn

2 slices bacon

6 scallions, bulbs and green tops sliced separately

1 red bell pepper, seeded, diced

2 ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped

½ tsp sugar (optional, depends on the sweetness of the corn)

½ tsp fresh thyme leaves

2 tsp chopped fresh basil

¼-1/3 c heavy cream

Salt and black pepper

Cut the kernels from 3 ears of corn in a wide shallow bowl. For the other 3 ears, hold the cobs vertically and slice through the kernels about halfway. With the blunt side of the knife blade, scrape the cob to release the milky pulp.

Saute the bacon in a large skillet until crisp. Remove the bacon to drain. Add the white part of the scallion and the red pepper to the skillet and cook over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, sugar (if using), thyme and basil. Cook, uncovered, over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Add the corn and cream and cook, stirring, until the corn is tender and the mixture is creamy, about 8 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste, and top with the green parts of the scallions and crumbled bacon.

Serves 6 amply.

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Zucchini, Corn and Red Pepper Pancakes

A quick meal on a hot summer night, vegetable pancakes whip up in no time. Zucchini pancakes are of course the classic, another in a long line of tricks to use up the bounteous harvest. Here I combined them with corn kernels, red pepper and basil. Served with corn on the cob and sliced nectarines, they were just the right supper for an evening in the garden.

Zucchini, Corn and Red Pepper Pancakes

2 medium zucchini (about 3/4 lb)

Salt

½ c fresh corn kernels

¼ c finely diced red pepper

1-2 leaves Genovese basil, shredded

1/3 c flour

½ tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

2 eggs

Butter and/or vegetable oil

Grate the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater. Place the shreds in a colander and lightly salt them, setting aside to drain for about 30 minutes or so. Squeeze in a towel to get as much liquid out of them as possible.

If the corn is tough, shallow-boil it for a minute in a little water and set aside to drain thoroughly.

Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

Heat a cast iron griddle on the stove over medium heat so that it is uniformly hot when the batter is ready.

Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl. Add the drained zucchini, corn, red pepper and basil. Fold in the flour mixture until no traces of flour remain.

Add a little butter and/or vegetable oil to the heated griddle. Spoon on the zucchini batter to form 2-2½ inch cakes and cook slowly over medium-low heat for a few minutes until the bottom is browned and the top is starting to dry. Flip to brown the other side and remove to a plate. Keep them warm while you prepare the rest.

Makes about twelve 2½-inch pancakes.

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Mustard Greens Soup with Corn and Black Beans

Making this soup was a real stumble-on event. I had picked up a giant head of red mustard at the farmers’ market, not having any idea what I would do with it.  Then, as I was getting ready to plant another portion of my kitchen garden, I was leafing through Sylvia Thompson’s excellent volumes, The Kitchen Garden and The Kitchen Garden Cookbook, and came across a recipe for Spicy Mustard Leaf Soup. Ta-da.  And there was a bonus: it used corn kernels and vegetable broth. One of my pantry dilemmas at this time of year is using up last year’s produce, including the cold cellar (still full of sweet potatoes, potatoes, winter squash and onions) and the freezer, which luckily for me is small.  I’ve been noodling about what to do with the couple of quarts of corn broth and couple of bags of corn kernels. Here’s my big chance to take care of at least some of both. 

Full-grown red mustard has wide leaves that are dark red on one side and green on the other, and a thick stalk. I cut off the leaves and sliced them into ribbons, and I chopped the stems into 1/4 -inch pieces. While the leaves are pretty pungent when eaten raw, they mellow significantly when cooked. And the stems cook more quickly than the leaves, surprisingly, since I do the same thing with collards. It must be the age of the plant.

I used a combination of corn broth and just-made chicken stock. The recipe called for fresh tomato. I tried that with some success, even at this time of year, since I salted the diced organic tomato (on-the-vine type) and let it accumulate flavor and shed water. Tomatoes aren’t worth it except in local season in my view. Thompson added ground coriander and lime juice to the finished product, which she decided was slightly Indonesian. I tried a little as a taster and left it out. 

This was very flavorful, and it tasted like a good tonic for the springtime, getting rid of the winter blahs, if you still have any.  I wasn’t fond of the addition of ground coriander and lime juice so I made them optional. I could imagine this instead with some smoky ham, making it more Southern U.S. than Southeast Asia. That’s what I’ll do with the leftovers.

Mustard Greens Soup with Corn & Black Beans adapted from Sylvia Thompson

1 large bunch red mustard (about 1 lb, yielding 6 c slivered leaves and 1½ c chopped stems)

1 large onion, quartered lengthwise and sliced crosswise

4 cloves garlic, slivered

2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced

1½ tsp turmeric powder

8 c vegetable broth or chicken stock or a combination (I used half corn broth, half chicken stock)

1½ c corn kernels (2 ears)

1½ c black beans

Salt

Optional: 1 tomato, diced, marinated with salt, and drained

Optional: 1 tsp ground coriander

Optional: Lemon or lime juice

Place the mustard leaves and stems, onion, garlic, peppers, turmeric and liquid in a large soup pot and simmer for 20 minutes or until the mustard leaves and stems are just tender. Add the corn and black beans and cook for another 10 minutes. Add the tomato, ground coriander and lemon or lime juice, if using, and serve in wide soup bowls. Serves at least 8.

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Dark Days 15 Vegetarian Challenge: Pumpkin Polenta with Kale

A continuing series on weekly meals that use sustainable, organic, local and ethical food during the challenging winter months. For more information, go here to the DDC section of Not Dabbling in Normal’s website: Dark Days Challenge.

In which I serve a satisfying pumpkin polenta on a bed of kale, another in a series of vegetarian winter meals

My discovery of cornmeal from Cayuga Pure Organics, the same outfit that supplies dried beans to our neighborhood organic food market, has opened new doors for the Dark Days. Since corn can readily be grown here and in many other parts of the country that don’t support other grains like wheat, grist mills used to dot many local landscapes. It will be interesting to see what happens with the resurgent interest in growing and processing grains locally.  I’m thinking about growing some corn myself next season, but obviously not in my shady in-town yard. Alternatively, since I may take a road trip to western New York in the fall, maybe I can visit Cayuga and stock up.

For this meal, instead of making plain polenta from cornmeal and water, I used an Italian method of cooking the cornmeal in milk and pureed pumpkin, which I read about in Sylvia Thompson’s Kitchen Garden Cookbook, the companion volume to a gardening book that I am consulting while I plan my own kitchen garden.  Planting will start in a couple of weeks!

This couldn’t be simpler to make, but you do have to plan for the two-hour baking time.  Basically, you stir cornmeal into pureed pumpkin, add milk and spoon the mixture into a baking dish. Sprinkle with onions sautéed in a little olive oil and bake it in a slow oven.  You can add grated cheese on top at the end, or not.

I was pleased to use up some of the large volume of pumpkins and squash that I still have from the fall, and I found a volume of fresh greens at a Slow Food winter indoor farmers’ market.  A local organic farmer has been growing kale and other greens in an unheated hoop-house all winter, with great success.  As we heard at the winter conference of the Northeast Organic Farmers Association, this is an increasingly popular way of growing and farmers are lining up to apply for aid to serve local communities. I’m all for that.  

Pumpkin Polenta adapted from Sylvia Thompson

1 c pumpkin puree

½ c coarsely ground cornmeal

½ tsp salt

1 c milk (I used non-fat)

Butter or oil for the pan

1 onion, finely chopped

1½ tsp olive oil

1 tsp finely chopped rosemary

Optional: finely grated hard cheese, such as Parmesan

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Combine the pumpkin puree, cornmeal and salt. Gradually add the milk and spoon the mixture into a buttered or oiled baking dish (with 4-6 cups capacity).

Cook the onion slowly in the olive oil until translucent, adding the rosemary toward the end. Spoon over the pumpkin-cornmeal mixture.

Bake for 2 hours until golden brown. Remove from the oven and top with the grated cheese.  Serve immediately (best) or refrigerate and reheat in the oven.

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Sautéed Corn with Pepper and Tomato

What? Still serving fresh corn on the cob in New Jersey in October? You bet. No killer frost yet. Our local farm stand has a crop of corn in peak condition and another waiting, though we don’t have high hopes for the last one because the nights are getting too cold for the corn to ripen. This corn sauté, similar to a Louisiana “maquechoix” served for Thanksgiving, usually finds its way onto our table late in the summer or early fall when the corn becomes ripe and dense. The farmers who run our local corn stand plant successive crops so we rarely get any corn that’s over-ripe. So if you have access to fresh corn at any time of year, this recipe’s a winner. It was inspired by Bert Greene, whose Greene on Greens cookbook is an oldie but goodie. This year, the corn sauté was a convenient way of dispensing with the last of the cherry tomatoes, stray bits of peppers and basil, but not the corn, which continues to grow. At least for now. We’re so lucky.

Sautéed Corn with Vegetables

4 ears of corn

1 slice of extra-thick bacon

4 scallions, reserving the greens (or ½ of a small onion plus chives)

1 small red bell pepper, diced

2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped, or a handful of cherry tomatoes, halved

½ tsp fresh thyme

1 tsp fresh basil

2 tbsp heavy cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Scallion tops or fresh chives

Fresh basil if available

Cut the kernels from the corn. Cut most of them close to the core and a few halfway, scraping into a bowl he remaining corn flesh and juice with the back of a knife.

Cook the bacon slowly in a large pan until crisp. Remove the bacon to drain.

Add the scallions or onion and the red pepper pieces to the bacon fat and cook slowly until tender. Add the tomatoes and herbs and cook until well combined, 5 minutes or so. Add the corn and cream and cook for another 5 minutes or until the corn is tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with scallion tops or chives and tiny basil leaves.

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Timbale of Collards, Red Pepper and Corn

A savory custard envelopes seasonal vegetables to make a simple but satisfying vegetarian meal. (It would also welcome a few cubes of smoked ham if you’re so inclined.) Like quiche filling without the crust, this is a riff on one of my standbys, extended by adding corn and red pepper to the collard leaves and stems.  I posted a cheesy and collards-only version of this during last winter’s Dark Days challenge.

Unlike the long-stewed collard greens common to Southern cooking, this dish cooks collard stems with onions just until tender and then adds the greens, cut into ribbons. Cooked to an al dente consistency, the collards give the custard a lot of body and spunky flavor. The addition of corn, red pepper and seasonal herbs makes this quite different – lighter and more festive – than the winter version. Since this timbale takes nearly 1½ hours to assemble and bake (1+ hour of baking and resting time) I usually make the collards in advance.

Timbale of Collard Greens, Red Pepper and Corn

1 bunch of collard greens (8+ leaves)

1 small onion, chopped

1 tbsp butter

½ red pepper, diced

Kernels cut from 1 ear of corn

Salt and pepper

5 eggs

½ c milk

¼ heavy cream

Herbs such as basil or parsley

Slice the stems of the collards from the leaves. Chop the stems into ½-inch pieces and the leaves cross-wise into ½-inch ribbons.

Melt the butter in a large pan and add the onions, cooking over medium heat for about 2 minutes or until they begin to look translucent.  Add the collard stems and cook, covered until tender, about 10-15 minutes. (This will vary by the age of the collards. Mine were fresh and cooked in about 8 minutes.)

Add the collard greens, corn and red pepper, and continue to cook, covered for about 3-4 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool. (May be made ahead to this point and refrigerated.)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and put a kettle of water on to boil. Butter the inside of a 2-quart baking dish. Set out a roasting pan large enough to hold the baking dish and water to come about halfway up the sides.

Lightly beat the eggs, and add the milk, cream and herbs. Stir in the cooled collards, corn and pepper mixture and pour into the prepared baking dish. Place the dish in the roasting pan and add boiling water to come up 1-1½ inches up the side.  (It’s best to do this in the oven.) Bake for 45-60 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the mixture set for about 10 minutes before serving.

Makes 6 servings.

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