Sweet Corn

Its the time of year that sweet corn is ready to devour- in this part of the world, anyway. I love corn. There are people in our family who will make a meal out of just fresh corn. We also freeze it (off the cob) to enjoy all year long. There is nothing like home grown sweet corn with your Thanksgiving turkey or Christmas ham!

To cook your sweet corn for eating right away:

Remove the husks and silk from the corn. Bring 5 to 6 quarts of water to a boil; add 1 cup of sugar to the water. Gently place corn in water and let boil for 8-10 minutes. Remove and serve with butter and salt.

Alternately, you can roast your corn on the grill. Stephanie gives great directions on this at Stop the Ride.

To cook corn for freezing:

You only want to par-boil corn for freezing because you will be cooking it fully later on. Clean your corn and prepare water as listed above. If you are freezing large amounts, you'll want to boil much more water and sugar. Fill one side of your sink or another large container with ice water. Gently place corn in boiling water and boil for 3 minutes. Remove and immediately place into ice water for 3-5 minutes; drain. From here you have two options:

~Place whole cobs of corn in freezer bags (you can even place a pat of butter on each cob) and freeze.

~Remove corn from the cob and place in freezer-safe bags. Freeze flat.

TIPS:

~To make cutting corn off the cob easier, place a cereal bowl upside down inside a larger bowl. Place corn cob standing up on its stem end on top of cereal bowl. Using large knife, cut from the top down. When all corn is removed, you can take the back of the knife and "milk" the cob. This adds a lot of juiciness and flavor to your corn. There are also many gadgets available to help with this.