Monday, August 31, 2009

A Corn-centric Feast!

For last night's Family Dinner, I decided on an all-corn theme! It's almost the end of fresh corn season here in Santa Cruz, and I wanted to celebrate the sweet, crunchy yumminess. I got a bajillion ears of corn, and got to work. As is usually the case, all the produce was from the farmers' market, except the tomatoes from our garden. As a year-round dedicated farmers' market shopper, these really are the good ol' days!

First up, Pan-Roasted Corn and Tomato Salad from a recent Mark Bittman article in the paper. WOW! I loved this salad so much, and it was quite easy. Instead of bacon, I made a recipe of Tempeh Bacon from "Vegan Brunch," and then used a touch of olive oil instead of bacon fat (ew!) for the rest of the recipe. I 1000% recommend this salad - a lovely combination of fresh, seasonal flavors: tomatoes, sweet corn, savory tempeh bacon, creamy avocado, and spicy peppers... mm! Lucky for me, I made a HUGE amount, and there's some waiting for me in the fridge right now.

Also, I made a huge pot of the Roasted Corn Soup from "Voluptuous Vegan." This is one of my favorite corn soup recipes ever. I love the flavors and colors, and the creaminess from the potatoes in the soup. It's got some poblano peppers in there too, for a little bit of flavor and a touch of heat.

Then, I made a big batch of "Hot Tamale Burgers," from an old recipe from Vegetarian Times (July/August 2007). I made this recipe when the magazine first came out and have never forgotten it. Here, they are ready to go on the grill...

...and all grilled up! These are SO good. Maybe my favorite homemade burger ever! They are totally non-traditional: full of corn and smoky chipotles and super tangy lime juice, but MAN! are they tasty. Check out the recipe, and let me know what you think! (Also, they are gluten free) I sprayed them with a little spritz of oil so they wouldn't stick to the grill, which seemed to help. Also, letting them rest in the fridge for a few hours really helped them firm up. The crazy-cool thing was that some corn kernels were falling off the patties to the bottom of the grill and POPPING like pop corn. It was loud and crazy!

Lastly, I got creative for dessert and made some corn sorbet with lime zest. My loving family was totally game for this crazy experiment, but let me just say that I will spare you the humiliation of having your whole family laugh at you, and NOT share my recipe. Well, actually, it wasn't a *total* disaster, and some folks managed to finish their (small) servings, but suffice it to say that nary a soul asked for seconds! Sigh! You win some and you lose some.

Next post... more delicious ways to use up late summer tomatoes!

15 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:16 AM

    Burgers look awesome! I've been experimenting with finding a nontraditional burger recipe. The sweet summer corn is an awesome idea. Look forward to trying my own variation soon. Thanks!

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  2. Ooh corn sorbet - that is brave. Those burgers look fantastic, I will try them soon.

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  3. awesome ideas! we are happy and overwhelmed with corn. currently going through 14 ears...

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  4. I've only gotten corn on the cob once this summer, I can't even believe that! I need to go out and get some ASAP!! Those burgers look AMAZING :)

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  5. Wow, that's alot of corn! I love all the different things you made with it. It kinda reminds me of the Japanese version of Iron Chef, where they used the same savory ingredient for everything including dessert. Well done! BTW, their desserts weren't exactly a hit either. :-)

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  6. Damn, I love fresh corn. I need to start using more too before it's all gone. :-(

    The tamale burgers look amazing. I really need to dig out my old VT issues! I hate how they get buried after a while.

    And corn sorbet! You're a brave woman for trying!

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  7. Anonymous4:14 PM

    corn sorbet actually sounds really good to me!

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  8. So much corny goodness! The burgers look fabulous and how funny they made popcorn! The soup and salad both look spectacular. Roasted corn is so yummy. The sorbet was very creative and seems like a good idea.

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  9. Ooo, that soup and those burger patties look divine. Love the idea of corn sorbet although I'm not totally sure I'd be game enough to try it!

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  10. Yay for your all corn theme - very creative! I love it.

    And wow, those tamale burgers look and sound amazing! Wowww!

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  11. Anonymous5:15 PM

    All looks good, especially those hot tamale burgers!

    The corn sorbet sounds like a good idea -- sorry it didn't work out :( I have heard of corn ice cream but not sorbet so I imagine it was a challenging recipe.

    :-) jen e.

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  12. Emilia4:40 PM

    Mmmm, all the things you made sounds scrumptious and healthy! I'm not adding 3 more recipes to my "to make list" =)

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  13. Your corn sorbet sounds...interesting, to say the least! You've gotta try everything once I suppose. Great idea for a meal!

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  14. This is my dream meal! I love corn!

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  15. Anonymous7:52 PM

    Amey, I thought I remembered you were interested in trying to make corn sorbet and I was correct... I am intrigued by this idea as well, so was excited to to see a recipe for corn ice cream in Viva Vegan. I'm sure you will be getting this if you haven't already, but letting you know just in case. Of course, it will be awhile before corn season, so we will have to wait awhile to try it :-) jen e.

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