Found on K. Rool’s pirate ship.
Author Archives: mamster
The corn of our lives
People, I have neglected you. Is the magic gone? Can’t we work this out? Let me answer that in five beautiful words:
*Corn will also be served.*
Every summer, and on into fall, I buy corn from Alvarez Farm on Sunday and cook it up the same night. This year I came across two best-ever corn recipes, one on the cob and one off, both Mexican-inspired. Iris prefers plain corn on the cob, so I always boil half an ear for her and she skewers it with corn holders–or, as she calls them, Niblet Nabbers. This is a brand name for some corn holders that I probably bought at Archie McPhee.
First up, Mexican street corn. If someone set up on our street selling this, I would stand outside our house eating corn at all times.
**ELOTE (Mexican Street Corn)**
Adapted from The Best International Recipe
Serves 2 to 3
*Broiling the corn totally makes it taste like popcorn.*
6 ears corn, husked
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons minced cilantro
1 tablespoon juice from 1 lime
1 medium garlic clove, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 ounce queso fresco or farmers cheese, or feta, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 lime, cut into wedges (for serving)
1. Preheat the broiler. Brush the corn with olive oil and place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Adjust the oven rack to the top position. Broil the corn until well browned and slightly charred in places, about 20 minutes, turning once.
2. Meanwhile, stir together the mayonnaise, cilantro, lime juice, garlic, chili powder, cheese, and salt. Slather the broiled corn on all sides with this mixture. Return the corn to the oven and broil 1 minute. Serve immediately with lime wedges.
Next, in this week’s New York Times, Melissa Clark said the magic words: bacon, chipotle, corn. A squeeze of lime would not hurt, but otherwise it’s perfect.
Tomorrow, I suggest you serve Mexican street corn with spicy fried corn on the side. Smoove out.
Peanutty
The rise in food prices has been mostly annoying, of course, but the other day I was at QFC and said, “Hey, that’s cool.”
I was in the cooking oil section. The price of canola is way, way up. The price of peanut hasn’t changed. (Yet.) I keep good Hong Kong peanut oil in my fridge at all times, but when I need to use a couple of cups of oil, I reach for canola, because I’m a cheapskate.
Now, however, I’m going peanut all the way. I bought a bottle of Planters for $5 and used some last night for pan-frying smelt. Crispy and fabulous. Probably when peanut oil goes up again, I’ll be too hooked on it to switch back.
In another price distortion, King Arthur flour now costs over a dollar more than the fancy local flour (Shepherd’s Grain). I say “distortion,” but I suppose this actually makes sense. So I’m buying the local.
I love shopping.
O! Cha!
I asked my parents for tea for my birthday, and yesterday a package arrived in the mail from Fukushima, Japan.
Iris is a born aesthete. Sure, she can be impressed by gaudy princess gear, but I have never, ever seen her more excited about a package than this one, which is odd, since (a) it was not for her, and (b) she doesn’t like tea.
The package, from [o-cha.com](http://www.o-cha.com/), contained a packet of tea (printed with Japanese calligraphy and a color drawing of growing tea leaves), a washi paper tea canister, and a polished cherrywood teaspoon. Iris was especially blown away by the canister, which looks like this:
You can order your own, but it won’t look like ours. They’re all different.
As for the tea, it’s fukamushi sencha, probably the greenest and strongest of all Japanese teas. I love it. “It’s like spinach tea,” said my mom, and she’s right. If you don’t already love green tea, this is not the place to start. It would be like going out to sushi for the first time and ordering a bunch of uni. You can probably tell when someone is opening the canister in the other room.
O-Cha’s stuff is not cheap, but everything they sell is high quality, and this box only took four days to arrive from Japan.
Iris is going to be waking up in a few minutes, and I’m sure she will ask to open the washi canister. Based on this experience, I predict that when we actually go to Japan, Iris’s head is going to explode.
Signed, Carnivorous in Vancouver
If you should find yourself in Vancouver BC and wanting to pony up for large quantities of meat and conversation, this series looks unbeatable:
Everyone involved is a certified expert, and there’s even a butcher shop field trip. (Have you ever seen _So I Married an Ax Murderer_?) One of the presenters in Jennifer McLagan, whose new book Fat is wonderful and I’ll have more to say about it in a few days.
The downside is, it’s $700, but it sounds totally worth it, plus today is my birthday and gifts are accepted.