Dear Chef Kathleen,

How do you know which corn is best to buy and eat? I see corn in the stores but not at the stand near my home.

Rachel


Dear Rachel,

The corn season in Michigan is still months away. The good news for Michigan consumers is that the corn fields of Florida and the South are up and running. Right now, Florida is producing some 50 million ears of corn a week for the fresh market. Florida is the leading producer of sweet corn for the United States mainly due to the state's long growing season that stretches from October though June but peaks around now in time for the spring super-sweet corn.

As the season progresses we will find the corn coming into our markets is from farther and farther north until our own Michigan crops are ready sometime around mid-July. When this finally happens the best corn will be the ears that have been harvested and brought to our table in as little time as possible.

With the many farm stands in our area, that time can be well below 24 hours. If you are lucky you can eat corn that was in the field just an hour before your table.

But for now, we have the super-sweet corns of Florida headed our way.

What is super-sweet corn?
The difference between "super-sweet" corn varieties and sweet corn varieties is not always as obvious as it should be. The super-sweets have been bred to contain more sugar than standard corn. They also have been produced to have a longer shelf life before the sugars begin to break down and the corn loses its sweetness.

Typically, regular corn's sugar content is in the 5 to 10 percent range. Sweet corn has 12 to 20 percent sugar content while the super-sweet or extra-sweet has more than twice the complex sugars of the standard corn with 20 to 30 percent sugar.

The texture of this super-sweet corn is generally crisper than the more creamy standard and sweet corns.

The real advantage comes in the increased shelf life of super-sweet corns. At room temperature, the glucose in corn will convert to starch in as little as 24 hours.

Many of the super-sweet varieties convert their sugar into starch much more slowly after the corn is picked.

This is ideal for a crop that may need to be shipped all the way across the country for distant fresh markets.

Choosing corn

• When choosing your corn in the market, the color of the corn matters much less than the look of the ear. All types of corn can come in white, yellow or bi-colored.
• Select ears with medium-sized kernels. Very small kernels are immature, and large kernels can have a starchy taste, rather than a sweet one.
• The outer husk of the ear should be green and moist and the silk should be dark.
• It is a good idea to leave the husks on when storing corn to better preserve the flavor. Also, sweet corn should always be refrigerated in order to slow down the process of the sugars converting into starch. The sooner you eat it, the sweeter it will be!

Using corn
There are endless things that you can do with corn. There are corn chowders and soups, salsas, salads, corn muffins, omelets and frittatas. Once you start experimenting with fresh corn, you will find that it fits in fine for breakfast, lunch or dinner and even dessert.

I recently had dinner at my mom's. She'd made a salad that included roasted corn. I couldn't imagine how she'd had time to fire up the grill and get the salad on the table along with everything else she served.

Her secret? She threw a few extra ears of corn on the BBQ the previous night. For our salad, she cut the kernels off the cob and tossed it in a large bowl along with vine ripened, diced tomatoes, thinly sliced carrots, freshly chopped basil, and tossed it with a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil. It was really great. I thought she had lost her mind.

Whenever you're cooking corn, cook a few extra ears. Later you can cut off the kernels and use them in a variety of different dishes. They can be the main ingredient in soup, salad, pasta or salsa. Add fresh sweet corn kernels to your favorite corn muffin recipe to really up the flavor. Add them to pancakes for a new breakfast treat. You will find that it's an easy way to help you get in your "five a day" without any extra effort.

Corn Cakes
These simple corn cakes are easy to make and delicious to eat. The recipe stands on its own but feel free to add other ingredients such as fresh mint, basil or even cheese such as feta or Parmesan.

I like to eat them plain, but they're a wonderful backdrop to grilled shrimp topped with Mango Papaya Salsa.

To prepare, preheat oven to 200 degrees. In a large bowl, beat 6 large eggs until blended. Stir in 4 cups fresh corn kernels (about 8 ears of corn), 1/4 cup minced onion, 1/2 cup flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1 tablespoon melted butter.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Place 1 teaspoon olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When oil is hot but not smoking, ladle batter into pan, using about 2 tablespoons batter for each corn cake. Cook 2 to 3 minutes per side, or spoon to cook second batch of cakes.

Keep batch warm in oven until all corn cakes are cooked.

kd@chefkathleen.com