Make It a Sweet Corn Summer

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I just counted, and we have 47 sweet corn-centric recipes here at Milk Street. I plan to make at least 20 of them this summer. (You can find the most popular ones here.) Join me, as I make it a Sweet Corn Summer.

I will probably start with our newest — Grilled Corn with Miso Butter and Sesame Salt. To keep things streamlined, we husk the corn and steam it in a disposable aluminum pan, along with the melted miso butter, which is emulsified with a healthy portion of sake, lime juice, sesame oil and white pepper. (White pepper is one of my favorite savory flavor boosters; fermenting the peppercorns really does make a difference!)

Once the kernels are tender-plump, we move the ears over the direct heat to give them some char, then roll them in even more miso butter and finish with homemade sesame salt (gomashio) and fresh scallions. If you have any gomashio leftover, you’re going to want to save that. It’s good on pretty much everything.

Really though, you can’t go wrong with any of our grilled corn recipes. I made the Taiwanese Grilled Corn last summer, and it was a revelation. The kernels were plump, crisp and sweet, the perfect contrast to the sticky, deeply savory exterior coating made with fermented oyster sauce, gochujang and tangy rice vinegar. Plus, it was just really pretty.

Then there are all of our corn pastas. We’ve got fettuccine (with sweet-tart tomatoes and salty bacon), bucatini (which is creamy, with a slight kick from fresh chilies) and campanelle (which makes good use of the starchy corn “milk” we get by grating the kernels off the cobs).

We’ve also got two pasta salads: one inspired by Mexican esquites, with pickled jalapeños, cilantro, Mexican crema and salty cotija; and one with creamy avocado, fresh tomatoes and basil.

And if you’ve never had a corn in a dessert, you should make that your number one priority this summer. The Mexican Sweet Corn Blender Cake is our most popular — its texture lands somewhere between cake and cornbread while hinting at custard — but my personal favorite is our Yelapa-Style Sweet Corn Pie. My friend/co-worker/gym buddy made it a couple of years ago for Thanksgiving and it was incredible, but it’s even better with peak, in-season corn.

But if I’m being completely honest, the first serving of summer corn I eat will be completely raw, because it doesn’t need heat to be great. Sliced directly off the cob and seasoned with a little salt, it’s pretty perfect.

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Claire Lower

Claire Lower is the Digital Editor for Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street, with over a decade of experience as a food writer and recipe developer. Claire began writing about food (and drinks) during the blogging boom in the late 2000s, eventually leaving her job as a lab technician to pursue writing full-time. After freelancing for publications such as Serious Eats, Yahoo Food, xoJane and Cherry Bombe Magazine, she eventually landed at Lifehacker, where she served as the Senior Food Editor for nearly eight years. Claire lives in Portland, Oregon with a very friendly dog and very mean cat. When not in the kitchen (or at her laptop), you can find her deadlifting at the gym, fly fishing or trying to master figure drawing at her local art studio.