fresh corn and basil oil risotto

    Oh man I have no idea how long it has been since I've shucked corn. What a great word -- shucks! I think I'll have to integrate "Aw, shucks!" into my usual rotation of favorite everyday phrases.  This was also the first time I've ever zipped the corn off of the cob. I think the last time I ate fresh corn off of the cob was when I had braces. As a result, I have a serious appreciation for my folks doing this for me when I was a teenage brace face. I had no idea it was so hard to do tidily! Does anyone have a slick way to shave off the corn without firing it all over the kitchen? I've been told I can't have a doodad for this purpose (and rightfully so -- I don't think I can manage to keep many more silly gadgets around for a task I only need to worry about a month or two out of the year).                          So yeah, sweet corn is great. It is even better when you meet the farmer and he looks you straight in the eye and tells you he picked it that very morning. I'm looking forward to finding new ways to enjoy it, particularly because of food52's recent Corn off the Cob Contest. I've also heard a rumor that one of the new foods for the Minnesota State Fair this year will include sweet corn ice cream! I am totally sold and my assumption is that it will taste like Corn Pops. Maybe I'll finally get the risotto on a stick this year too. :) 

Fresh Corn & Basil Oil Risotto

(adjusted from Cooking from the Farmer's Market to use the market goods in my pantry)

1/4 c. olive oil

1/4 c. fresh basil leaves, packed

2 T. butter

1 1/2 c. arborio rice

1 small white onion, diced

1/2 c. scallions, white and light green parts chopped

3-4 ears of fresh sweet corn

4 c. veggie broth

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Tear up the basil and soak it in the olive oil.

2. Heat up the broth in a saucepan with the lid on. You just want it to be warm, simmering at the most.

3. Melt the butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat.

4. Add the onions and scallions, stir to coat with butter, and cover for 4-5 minutes until translucent on medium-low heat.

5. Add the rice and stir for 3 minutes on medium heat (keep it there now). You'll see the rice turn clear around the edges.

6. Add 1/2 c. of hot broth to the skillet. Stir continuously. When the liquid is absorbed, but before the rice is dry, add another 1/2 c. of broth. Keep doing this for 10 minutes.

7. Add the corn (yay!), and continue adding liquid 1/2 c. at a time for another 10 minutes. I find the absorption rate of the rice decreases over the course of the 20 minutes of stirring (you may need a substitute stirrer at some point. Offer to trade with ladling broth; it seems fair!).

8. Turn off the heat and add the basil oil.

9. Serve and enjoy! 

southwest veggie burgers

So the plan is to start cooking new things. I picked out five new recipes and hit the grocery store. Project Try New Things! started off on a high note for sure! I picked out some delicious multigrain rolls from Breadsmith (also apparently following my trend of lavender-flavored baked goods! I was cool before they were cool! Harrumph. Also, why must they share a space with Jamba Juice? C'mon! Too irresistible! Double harrumph.) specifically to motivate myself to make this. 

No doubt, homemade veggie burgers aren't new around our place. We make a mean curry tofu burger. Alas, not terribly photogenic, so not yet incorporated into this here blog. This one, however, was unbelievable. And so very easy too! Another win for new recipes in our usual rotation, and another win for food52 stealing my heart.

I did tweak this recipe a bit, so here's the rundown:

Southwestern Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers 

(mildly adapted after MadisonMayberry's recipe on food52.com)

**makes 6 meal-sized burgers**

Ingredients:

• 1 medium sweet potato
• 1 (15-oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (8.5-oz) whole kernel corn, rinsed and drained (frozen is okay too, thaw first)
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 tsp. packed fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp. chipotle Tabasco 
• 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions:

• 1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
  2. Microwave the sweet potato for 5 minutes. Remove from microwave, split in half and scoop out the flesh. Discard the skin. Place the flesh in the bowl of your food processor along with half the black beans, half the corn, and then all of the flour, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, coriander, paprika, chili powder, and cilantro.
  3. Process until almost completely smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Transfer blended mixture to a bowl and add in the remaining beans, corn, and the crumbled feta cheese.
  4. Form mixture into six patties (mixture will be soft) on the prepared baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, flipping gently half way through baking and adding grated Parmesan cheese on top if desired. Remove from oven and allow to cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes. 

We served our burgers with baby spinach on top. I liked mine with lebni on the bun. If you are lucky enough to own a toaster oven, do toast the buns before serving. A good chipotle salsa would also be tasty. And, as it is a burger, a good beer goes well with this. I really like dark beer, so Abita's Turbodog was just perfect to me.

muffins: always a good idea

You know what's almost as good as soup?? MUFFINS. Well, actually, if we're going for the anything-other-than-mealtime category, muffins always win for me. Okay fine, they encroach the breakfast category too. They are better than cakes, cookies, bars, probably even ice cream if you ask me. The thing is, I sometimes forget how easy it is to throw a batch together (they do call them quick breads for a reason!). I made these on a whim one chilly night, and was pretty stoked to pack one up in the morning as my afternoon snack at work. They taste a lot like bran muffins, which is great, because I looove bran muffins. I think next time I'll throw in some frozen corn too, just to vary the texture a bit.

Also, check out how freaking photogenic these puppies are, even with my severely lacking photography skills:

Corn & Molasses Muffins

(a wee bit tweaked, from The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest, by Mollie Katzen)

Ingredients:

butter or Pam (if muffin pan is non-stick)

1 1/2 c. unbleached white flour

1/2 t. baking soda

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

1 c. yellow corn meal

1 1/2 c. milk (I used whole)

1 egg

5 T. melted no-salt butter

4 T. blackstrap molasses

3 T. brown sugar

1/4 t. ground cinnamon

dash cloves

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups, if need be.

2. Combine flour, soda, powder, and salt into a medium-sized bowl. Stir in the corn meal, and make a well in the center.

3. In a separate container, beat together the remaining ingredients. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients, and stir just enough to combine thoroughly.

4. Fill the muffin cups just up to the edge of the pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the pan right away, and cool on a rack for at least 10 minutes before eating.

More soup!: Jalapeno Corn Chowder

The following recipe is one of those oldies-but-goodies I mentioned. It is quite the crowd pleaser. Perhaps the biggest compliment was last Christmas when I made this for my mom at home and she downed three bowls because it was so good. I was so hell-bent on making it that I brought along my immersion blender in my checked luggage. Hey, if it is December, I can't go very many days without it!

There are many variations that you can try with this. The recipe is pretty low on spices, so you can ramp it up however you'd like. A little chipotle in adobo sauce is quite good now and then, or plain with bay leaf and S&P, or oodles of cilantro and Sriracha sauce. You could make it vegan or gluten-free, and it'd still be awesome. I'm notoriously bad at leaving things mildly spiced. When I made it for my mom, I held back as her palate is much more delicate than mine. She knows me too well -- she refused to buy red pepper flakes for me for fear I'd burn her tongue with them!

The cookbook for this is one of my favorites. None of the recipes have disappointed me. Well, the Chilled Avocado Soup totally sucked, but that was my fault on insisting when our avocados were totally unripe. Ew.

Here you go!

Corn Chowder
(adapted from A Beautiful Bowl of Soup)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 c. coarsely chopped onion
1 carrot, diced
1 bell pepper, diced (red is best, but green is fine too)
1 jalapeno, diced (I keep the seeds in)
1 celery stalk, diced (leaves too!)
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
3 c. vegetarian stock
2 c. frozen corn
2 yukon gold potatoes, 1/2 inch dice
1 c. milk
S&P to taste
shredded cheddar for garnish
red pepper flakes for garnish

1. Heat the oil in a dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, bell pepper, and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 10 minutes.
2. Stir in the vegetable stock, corn, and potato. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat; cover and simmer until the potato is tender, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the milk and blend soup to desired consistency.
4. Garnish with shredded cheddar.

To class up your soup experience, serve it with some freshly made crusty bread, and some vino. Last time we had it with this crazy Dry Pinot Noir Rose (I know, what?!), which was tasty and quite unique in color.