This is a recipe I plucked off of Food and Wine's website (it was attributed to a chef named Kevin Gillespie). It forced a memory from childhood of the best creamed corn I ever had because it was the first creamed corn I'd ever had that didn't come out of a can. It was made in the same way as this recipe--the 'cream' was scraped out of the cobs. I tried to duplicate it once or twice to no avail because it never occurred to me to sacrifice a cob or two to the grater! But it was plain home cooking with just butter, salt and pepper, where this recipe brilliantly calls for shitake mushrooms, shallots, garlic and lemon juice and zest--a terrific combination. I halved it, cutting three ears off the cob and grating two, and served it as a meatless Monday meal with egg-battered zucchini 'schnitzels' and quick-grilled green onions.
CORN WITH SHITAKE MUSHROOMS AND LEMON
6 medium dried shiitake mushroom caps
Boiling water
10 ears white corn, shucked
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium shallots, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1. In a bowl, cover the shiitake with boiling water. Let stand for 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, set a box grater in a large bowl. On the coarse side, grate 5 ears of the corn all the way to the cob. Using a serrated knife, cut the kernels from the remaining ears of corn. Using the dull side of the knife, scrape the juices from the cobs into the bowl.
3. Drain and mince the shiitake. In a saucepan, heat the oil. Add the shallots, garlic and shiitake and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until very soft, about 10 minutes. Increase the heat to high and when the oil sizzles, add the corn and its juices. Cook, stirring, until the corn is thick and shiny, 3 minutes. Add the lemon zest and juice, season with salt and pepper and serve.
Notes One Serving 273 cal, 10 gm fat, 1.4 gm sat fat, 32 gm carb, 6 gm fiber.