Sweet Corn Season Arrives
Sweet corn has reached its peak, and cookbook author Beth Dooley is encouraging home cooks to make the most of it. In a feature carried by the Hartford Courant, The Denver Post, the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, and the Reading Eagle, Dooley shares her personal connection to the crop and offers practical advice for preparing it at its freshest.
Dooley recounts her first experience picking sweet corn on a friend's farm in Wisconsin, where the morning temperature was at least 80 degrees and she spent hours snapping ears off stalks to fill sacks. That experience, she writes, was a revelation — one that taught her the value of truly fresh corn.
The Case for Organic Corn
Dooley describes fresh organic corn as intense, complex, nutty, mildly sweet, and creamy. She notes that it relies on wind and insects for pollination and produces what the French call "terroir" — a taste of place shaped by sun, rain, and rich soil. This stands in contrast to commercial corn, which she says is bred to be sugary sweet and simple.
Because corn is the highest-risk crop for GMO contamination, Dooley explains, organic varieties such as "Who Gets Kissed," "Golden Bantam," and "Country Gentleman" can be hard to find. She suggests looking for them at local farmers markets and co-ops.
Simple Cooking Methods
With corn this delicate and fresh, Dooley advises cooking it as little as possible. The simplest method, she writes, is to place shucked cobs into a pot of rapidly boiling salted water, turn off the heat, and let them sit for 3 to 5 minutes until bright and plump. After removing the cobs, she recommends setting them on a clean dish towel or paper towel to drain fully before serving with plenty of butter.
For those willing to put in a bit more effort, Dooley offers a grilling method that she says comes close to the State Fair experience. Remove the silk, replace the husks, and grill over a medium flame, rolling the cobs back and forth until the husks are fully charred — about 15 minutes. The husks protect the corn from burning and drying out while imparting a smoky flavor to the kernels.
Recipes to Try
Dooley's feature includes two recipes designed to make the most of the season's corn. The first is a Corn, Tomato and Pasta Salad, which she describes as "summertime in a bowl." The salad serves four and can be enhanced with diced cooked chicken or ham if desired. The second recipe is a Cool Coconut Corn Soup, also serving four.
Dooley suggests using leftover cooked corn in pasta salads and cooling soups, and freezing it for winter. She is an award-winning cookbook author with more than 15 titles to her name; more of her work can be found at bethdooleyskitchen.com.
As corn reaches its peak, Dooley's advice is simple: hurry and buy as much as you can.