I love corn, don’t you? 

There are many ways to prepare it. There are hardly any ways to wreck it. BUT, there is one way to really catch it’s culinary potential. . .

Roasted Corn on the Cob

This week I was camping with my family near our home in Victoria. Now, let me be clear, camping food for me is tricky. I do not consider eating a hot dog on a stick ‘good food’. (Although I know that many hot dog are ‘good food’ and the industry has changed dramatically in their offering of healthy wiener offerings!) Actually, I consider that one step above dog food. So, my idea of food when camping is not all that different than my approach to food at home. 

With that said, here’s a menu for 1 day of this last trip:

Breakfast – organic pancakes with butter and real maple syrup, roasted chicken sausage and french press coffee

Lunch – chopped chicken Ceasar salad with green onions, celery and apple in wrapped in tortillas, chilled carrot sticks and fresh cherries

Dinner – grilled flank steak with Chimichurri sauce, red, white and blue new potatoes in butter and salt and roasted corn on the cob.

When I was a kid, corn was always boiled. I remember attending many corn roasts but there was never any corn actually roasted! The definition of a corn roast was a pot of water, over an open fire, with cobs of corn swimming in the pot. That is NOT a roast! So, I like to really roast the corn.

I remember serving corn like this to people a few years ago, and they seemed to think it was a mistake. Like I didn’t know that the kernels were slightly burnt. HA! What many of us don’t realize, corn loves open flame. The sugar content of the corn caramelizes in it’s kernel and the flavour intensifies and sweetens.

Now, some people like to keep the corn in its husk while they roast it. That is an option, although it can be tricky to remove all the silk from the cob without husking it entirely.  And, you don’t want to roast the corn with the silk intact. Yuck! I also find that the husk protects the kernels so much from the fire that the flavour doesn’t develop as well. 

Your best bet is to oil it up and throw it right on the grill. Then, serve it hot with a pot of flavoured butter and a paintbrush. (Using a paintbrush to apply the butter makes it quick and easy.) Enjoy! 

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