Corn on the Cob with Lime Salt

The only sad thing about the transition to fall is the near immediate loss of corn at the famers' markets.  The loss of tomatoes makes me sad, but it's a little more gradual.  Corn just disappears one day and that is that.  So I have decided to take advantage of whatever corn remains and make as many corn recipes as I can using fresh corn from the farmers' market for as long as I can.  I am determined to make Ad Hoc's Creamed Summer Corn this weekend because it would be an absolute travesty not to, but I want to try some new recipes too (tonight the plan is to make quesadillas with fresh corn in the filling).  So I picked this one, which is also a Thomas Keller recipe, but is a much simpler alternative to his creamed corn.  Actually, it might actually be the simplest recipe in Ad Hoc at Home.  The best thing about this corn is how the emulsified butter really coats the corn with just the right amount of buttery goodness.  I don't know about you but I hate trying to butter corn on the cob - the spray butter is easy but doesn't taste as good and trying to evenly coat it with a pat of butter is impossible.  So I am going to use this method for buttering corn a lot in the future.  The lime salt was pretty tasty too.  I would like to try it with some mango and see how that goes...  Yum.  As for the chives, they were pretty but I'm not sure they added a ton of flavor.  We actually tried sprinkling a variety of different dried chili flakes that John gave us on the corn - I went for banana pepper and cayenne, Alex tried out just about all of them.  They gave the corn some kick in the best of ways.  So if you like spicy (and have some nice chili flakes on hand, or just some ground cayenne from the supermarket if that is all you have), you should definitely consider sprinkling a little pepper on your corn for some added flavor!

Recipe after the jump!



Corn on the Cob with Lime Salt
Ad Hoc at Home
By Thomas Keller

INGREDIENTS:
6 ears supersweet white or yellow corn, shucked
6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces, at room temperature
2 tbsp finely chopped chives.
1/4 cup Maldon sea salt or fleur de sel (kosher salt works too in a pinch)
grated zest of one lime

Put the sea salt and lime zest in a jar; shake until combined.  Set aside.

Cut off both ends of each ear of corn and cut each ear in half.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Boil corn for 4-5 minutes, or until corn is tender.  Meanwhile, transfer about 2 tablespoons of the cooking water to a large bowl.  Add the butter and swirl the bowl over the heat to emulsify. Add the lime salt to taste, swirling the bowl to maintain the emulsification.  Set aside.  Drain the corn well and add to the butter.  Sprinkle in chives.  Swirl the bowl to coat evenly.  Sprinkle with additional lime and salt to taste.

Serve with remaining lime salt.