Don’t throw out those cobs. For summer stock, make it with corn
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I love making use of food that otherwise might be considered trash (the bones of a roast chicken for broth or stale rice for fried rice), so imagine my excitement when I learned that I could take my raw corncobs out of the compost bin and transform them into a golden stock so rich in corn flavor that it was like giving corn a second life.
I discovered this secret to extending the magic of my favorite summer food during a short internship at Chez Panisse, the venerated home of the farm-to-table movement, in Berkeley, many moons ago. On the evening of the last day of my weeklong internship, a few of the cooks invited me for a drink in the upstairs Chez Panisse Café.
They were a no-nonsense bunch. They didn’t make jokes while they worked or even chat much. Nestled in a comfortable cubby in the Arts and Crafts home that comprises both restaurants, they got right down to business: “So, what did you learn during your week at Chez?”
I majored in intellectual history at U.C. Berkeley and wrote my thesis on how Ralph Waldo Emerson became the patron saint of the middle class. I was a good student and a fast learner.
“I learned that there are no secrets or tricks to this kind of cooking,” I said, proud of my analysis. “It’s all very accessible to the home cook.” Boom! Had I been on my toes, I might even have posited that Alice Waters was the patron saint of home cooking. But I would have been wrong.
“You’re wrong!” the cook replied. “We have a million little secrets and tricks that we use all day long to coax every bit of flavor out of each ingredient.” He was right. I was wrong. My mind immediately went to the corncobs.
After a week of peeling onions, shelling beans and shucking corn, I was put in charge of making a stock of the corncobs, which consisted of stirring the cobs in a big vat of water for a couple of hours until a cook came over and told me it was done. We strained the stock and added it to a giant pan of sautéed onions and corn, then pureed it all, and that was it: silky, corn soup, so creamy, so corny and so rich and delicious, I could hardly believe the cook when he told me it was made of nothing but the corn I’d shucked, the stock I’d stirred, the onions I’d peeled, the butter those onions and corn kernels had been sautéed with, and salt.
Making the stock hardly took any work: Fill a pot, let it boil. (We did throw some onion scraps and a bay leaf in there.) And it essentially gave the corn a second life.
Since then, I don’t think I’ve tossed a single uncooked corncob — except into a stockpot. I use the stock to make that memorable soup, and also to cook rice, quinoa and polenta. It gives the grains so much flavor that the finished product tastes like it contains corn before I add the kernels to it. I also use it in place of chicken stock to make a delicious summer risotto and farrotto (risotto made with farro).
What I don’t need right away, I freeze for later, extending the essence of sweet summer corn long after the days have shortened and summer — and summer corn — is but a dream.
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Fresh Corn Stock
When making a stock from corncobs, starting with flavorful corn is essential. I did a taste test, making stock with Chino Farm corncobs and those from a popular grocery store that shall go unnamed. The Chino stock was delicious; the grocery store stock was barely worth the effort. Farm-stand corn is not cheap, but being able to extend the flavor by boiling the cobs makes it as if it’s like half the price. This recipe calls for 6 ears of corn, but I’ve made it with as few as 2 or 3 and as many as a dozen ears of corn.
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Cooking time: 1 hour. Makes about 2 quarts.
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Summer Corn Farrotto
Farrotto is like risotto but made with farro instead of riso, which is Italian for “rice.” It’s a traditional Italian dish, not a whole-grain stand-in for risotto. This farrotto is made from stock cooked with corn cobs, which makes for an intense corn experience.
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Cooking time: 2 hours 15 minutes. Serves 4.
Sweet Corn Soup
This recipe calls for pureeing half the corn kernels and leaving the other half whole. I prefer it made with all the corn pureed. And resist the temptation to put fresh herbs on top. All it needs to finish is a few turns of freshly ground black pepper, or nothing at all. Also, no need to measure the onion. Use a sweet summer onion, such as California Sweet onions, Vidalias or Walla Wallas, and use the whole thing. Last, don’t tell anyone, but I’d use at least twice the butter called for here.
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Cooking time: 2 hours. Serves 6.
Quinoa Salad With Grilled Corn, Tomatoes and Cilantro
Quinoa makes for such flavorful, refreshing salads; the grains (technically seeds) absorb the dressing and chopped herbs and vegetable add-ins — in this instance corn and tomatoes — give them an all-around flavor. Use corn stock instead of water to cook the quinoa to take the flavor to the next level.
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Cooking time: 1 hour. Serves 6 to 8.
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