Corn

Cous Cous with Peaches, Sweet Corn and Bacon

September 2, 2016 by biz.w.harris@gmail.com Leave a Comment

This week at the store I had a little freak out. I looked around and noticed that watermelons, peaches, and corn were on sale. BIG time sale. For Labor Day.

Know what that means? Summer is ending, officially. No more seersucker. No more white dresses. No more white shoes (do people even wear white shoes?) I know everyone is getting excited about the advent of pumpkin-spice deodorant and pumpkin-flavored cheeseburgers and what not, (Before you get offended, know that I’m VERY excited about this, too) but still, I can’t help but feel like my toddler when I just told him that no, he can’t eat the entire bag of cheetos by himself (he’s started hanging his head, poking his lip out, and mumbling sadly). I HATE summertime hot weather, but I LOVE summertime produce.

…

A little ice cream adventure: Sweet Corn Ice Cream

August 23, 2015 by biz.w.harris@gmail.com Leave a Comment

Let me tell you about something wonderful and a little crazy. Last summer (i know…but i had a 6 month old baby. and a full-time job!) our friend John Mark– who is btw, literally the nicest, most wonderful, most thoughtful guy in the whole Delta– brought us a giant paper sack of sweet corn from his farm. He’s also the friend who supplied us with a raised garden bed full of the best soil for growing things ON EARTH, but I digress.

After we’d eaten enough corn on the cobb to turn us yellow on the outside, I decided I should try something a little adventurous. I mean, I love making ice creams, and I had Jeni’s ice cream at home cookbook full of savory flavors and creams mixed with alcohol and herbs, so why not attempt a sweet-corn version? Luckily, there were some recipes out there that I could draw on to get the sweet-corn flavor while I used my favorite custard base. Also, I made an AMAZING blueberry sauce for this (I mean, seriously, blueberries and sweet corn…what’s MORE summer than that?) The recipe’s not on this blog but if you want it, leave a comment. But back to the ice cream…

…

Crawfish Bisque

April 21, 2013 by biz.w.harris@gmail.com Leave a Comment

I LOVE LOVE LOVE boiled crawfish and it’s FINALLY the time of year when you can get them EVERYWHERE. (see tomorrow’s post). but just BEFORE crawfish season, I got a taste for some and decided to try my hand at a bisque. I mean, obviously I prefer fresh ones just out of the pot on a springtime afternoon, but sometimes that’s just not possible.

During the months of about July- February you can enjoy this little delicacy by way of the freezer section of your grocer, and honestly, if you’re going to make a soup, bisque, or etoufee’, why on earth would you want to go through the trouble of boiling THEN peeling enough of the little guys for everyone at your table? trust me, you wouldn’t…which means the little frozen packages are a godsend, if not as juicy and fresh as the ones you’d cook yourself.

My bisque was a pretty basic attempt, but it hit the spot for me and told my tastebuds spring was on it’s way. Here’s how you can replicate it (and make it even better with your own additions) if you’re interested!

Crawfish Bisque

Serves 4 (or 3 if you’re like me and have a portion control problem)

What you need:

1 tablespoon of oil (or less..just enough to saute’ the vegetables)

one red bell pepper, diced

one white onion, diced

two ribs of celery, diced

1 or 1/2 lb of frozen, cooked crawfish, roughly chopped

1 can of corn, drained

1/4 cup of white wine

1 1/2 Cups of chicken stock (OR 1 cup of chicken stock and 1/2 cup of lobster/seafood stock)

3/4 Cup of heavy cream (or whole milk if you’re cutting calories)

1 bay leaf

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp of cayenne pepper

1/2 bunch of green onions or parsley for presentation

What to do:

Chop the celery, bell pepper, and onion. Saute’ the the onion until translucent, and add in the celery and pepper. Saute’ for 1-2 minutes. Add in the cayenne, salt, and pepper. I feel like the heat releases more flavor and cooks into the vegetables more evenly than when you add it in afterwards.

Drain the corn and add it with the crawfish into the pot. stir for 1 minute. Pour in the white wine and let that cook down for about 3 minutes.

Pour in the stock/broth and add the bay leaf and let simmer for at least 30 minutes (but longer is usually better for flavors to meld together)

Just before serving, add in the cream. this will lighten the color and give it a really lovely richness… viola’! you’ve got a southern seafood bisque that tells you spring is on the way (or already here!) serve with crusty bread and sprinkle it with green onion for a little color… and your good silver if you want it to feel like more than a regular old soup. I did.

Corn

Footer