Sweet corn is close to my heart. There were summers on the farm that sweet corn was growing out our ears, or so the saying goes. I did have a traumatic corn summer once. Our crop had been so successful, and the farmer’s almanac had predicted that there would be a big storm coming through so we had to get this multitude of corn in (picked, shucked, and canned) before it was ruined. We had blisters and cuts all over our hands, and by the middle of it I was sick and tired of sweet corn.
In our home, my bedroom was closest to the living room and one night during corn-week-from-hell, after going to bed and promptly passing out, my parents heard me talking in my sleep. They came to investigate and I was mumbling “corn, corn”. I think I had had enough, don’t you?!
Well now days, it irks me when I go to the supermarket and I want to buy sweet corn and all that is available is “CORN”. Well, is it Sundance, Jubilee, Country Gentleman, Silver Queen (my first fav!), Butter & Sugar (my other fav!) or some other monstrosity? Then I have to open up an ear looking for the sweetest of the sweet and try to guess its nature like a litter of newborn kittens. I have the same reaction when I go shopping for peaches? Is it a clingstone, or a freestone, or a semi-freestone (which just get me annoyed because for a second there you think you have a freestone until it’s not), and even then what variety is it?
Well no matter what kind of sweet corn you find at the supermarket, even if it’s not the sweetest variety available, you can coax the sweetness out by roasting it. This is even possible with frozen sweet corn. The following is my recipe for a Shrimp, Roasted Corn and Avocado salad that I have been working on. It was a hit at the going away party this weekend. I hope you love it too. It’s perfect for summer.
