By MARY ANN LIENHART CROSS
Elkhart County Extension Director, Extension Educator – Health and Human Sciences, Purdue Extension

I often write about the challenges of the weather for those farmers who grow any kind of crop but especially for those growing produce. Mother Nature has provided too much rain and not enough warmth and sunshine.

I know that every vegetable and fruit has the best flavor when they are locally grown! Based on MyPlate we all need to eat more vegetables and fruits, half your plate should be vegetables and fruits and now is a grand time to improve your eating habits.

July is the beginning of many vegetables and fruits maturing for our consumption. More than once I have shared my raw sweet corn eating stories but it is worth repeating. I remember being with the late Herman Bullard in a field and he pulled an ear of corn, husked it and declared that his “corn was good enough to eat raw and if you did cook it, it sure did not need butter or salt.” Well Herman was a very smart farmer in many ways and I agree that good sweet corn doesn’t need butter, I personally just want to taste the wonderful corn flavor after it has been just cooked, and I for sure don’t want it overcooked.

I know that sweet corn growing is in full production as I have been receiving calls from clients wanting the how-to information on cooking and preserving. There is a lot of discussion amongst people about blanching before you cut off the cob or cutting it off first and then heating. I personally prefer to blanch it first then place the ears in very cold water. I then cut it from the cob and place the cut corn in freezer bags or containers and freeze. From my experience this makes the least amount of mess and the corn has the most flavor.

The most important fact that you need to learn from this column is that the corn has to be blanched/heated and then gotten very cold before you freeze it. This is because you want to stop the enzyme growth that allows the kernels to mature.

Corn, also called maize, is not technically a vegetable, but a grass native to the new world. Sweet corn may be yellow, white, or bicolor and in full-sized ears or baby corn that can be eaten in its entirety. When sweet corn is picked, the sugar it contains begins rapidly converting to starch, so it is advisable to cook corn as soon as possible after picking or purchasing.

Fresh sweet corn on the cob is best steamed, boiled, oven roasted, grilled, or microwaved. Fresh corn kernels may be made into soup or added to soup, used in salads, vegetable sautés, fritters, creamed, made into relishes or made into puddings or soufflés. In some countries chunks of steamed sweet corn are added to stews.

When selecting choose ears that feel full and heavy for their size; kernels should be relatively small and milky when pierced and silk should be moist, without any sign of drying or decay.

When it comes to storage try to keep fresh corn in the refrigerator in a plastic bag and prepare as soon as possible. The corn will keep a fresh flavor if you do not remove husk and silk until ready to prepare it. These natural wrappers will help keep the corn from drying out when exposed to the cold air of the refrigerator. Leftover frozen or canned corn may be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days.

When preparing, remove the husk and silk from fresh corn if steaming, boiling, or microwaving. To oven-roast or grill, peel back the husk but leave it attached. Remove silk and replace husk, tying it shut at the tip with string. Soak in cold water 30 minutes to moisten husk, then roast or grill. Alternatively, remove husk and silk, wrap ears in foil with butter, and roast or grill.