corn on the cob

About two months ago, I was sitting with a friend at the A16 chef's bar. For me, it's really the only place to sit in the restaurant when you are dining solo or with one other person. From that vantage point, you can check out what the chefs are doing, and watch the rhythm of restaurant. My friend, Jenn, mentioned that she'd like to try the corn. "You can order it, but I won't have any," I told her. It's one of my quirks: I hate eating corn on the cob in public. In the privacy of my own home, maybe. But I avoid it when anyone is watching.

I should have known better than to think that the A16 chefs would give us a large ear of corn to gnaw on. Their preparation is usually rather elegant, and they had figured out the perfect way to serve it. Slicing each ear of corn into rounds about 2 inches in width made the corn into small bits that were easy to eat but didn't give up the flavor that you can only get from corn on the cob.


the A16 chef's counter

A serving of corn was placed into the brick oven so that each piece could cook and get a little charred. After a short while, it was taken out and placed into a large metal bown. Olive oil was added, along with salt and pepper. The corn was tossed around so it could be coated with olive oil, and it was served. Perfection.

I am in Southern California for a couple weeks, and we have had dinner parties at my mom's house for two weeks in a row -- last week a family barbecue and last night, a dinner party with about 12 friends. Both weekends we made a rendition of the A16 corn, and the guests devoured it. It's the simplest preparation and is delicious. I sliced it and mom put it on the grill with great results. We then tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper just like at A16. It was great for our parties because we could cook the corn earlier in the day and serve it room temperature with great results.

I know that this is a seemingly simplistic thing to blog about, but it was a revelation for me.

I entered the blogging community four years ago this month. It's almost trite to try and put it in writing, but I have really gained so much from this blog world. Aside from amazing friendships and tremendous personal growth that is a direct result of having my blog, I have had numerous food revelations -- too many to count -- from fellow food bloggers.

A few of my very favorite revelations? I started going to to My Tofu House on a regular basis after Brett posted about it last year. Every time I de-seed a pomegranate, I want to kiss Elise for mentioning that some people peel it under water. Earlier this summer, Stephanie wrote about Catherine's method of cooking okra, and I've repeated this recipe many times this summer. When Patrick and Holly posted their recipe for preserving lemons a few years ago, I tried it out and have done it many times since. I hope to have many, many more revelations in the next few years in this tremendous food blog world.

Labels: a16, jennifer maiser