Skillet Corn Instructions
This is a truly luxurious summer weekend breakfast , and if you serve it to another person, with say, some boiling hot, fragrant coffee, steamed milk, and a large bowl of beautifully firm, sweet dark bing cherries which were on special for $1.99 per pound, and if that person does not love you forever as a result of your kindness in this matter, then you might just think "good riddance", because who needs someone like that around the house? But it won't happen. Because who do you know who doesn't love all these things to bits? A screened porch would be a nice spot for this breakfast, which is best enjoyed in a bathrobe of some kind.
So, the corn thing- you don't even have to make it correctly to win the prize. If it doesn't come out of the pan as a cake, you just scrape it out, mix in the crusty bits, and serve it in a bowl. It was created by Jean Halberstam, wife of writer David, written about some time ago in the NYTimes magazine, and inspired, JH said, by a Lee Bailey recipe. This is a recipe from a woman who deep fries peaches, so you can see it is not simple out of any sort of laziness, but rather because it is best.
This is what you do:
Preheat the oven to 450F. When the oven is hot, pour 2 tbsps of a mild-tasting vegetable oil into a 9" cast iron frying pan, and swish it around so that the sides and bottom are well coated. Put the skillet in the oven for 30 minutes. Set the table, make the coffee, wash your nice cherries, and put them in a bowl.
With a sharp knife, cut the kernels from six ears of corn, catching the kernels and the juices in a bowl. Add one tsp salt, 2 tbsps cream, and 1/4 cup of flour, and mix it up. Pour the contents of the bowl into the scalding hot skillet, flatten it judiously with a spatula, and cook until it is brown around the edges, and a little bit browned on top, too. Meanwhile, drink the coffee and eat the cherries, while this goes on- it takes about 40 minutes. Make another pot of coffee to go with the corn.
Remove the pan from the oven, and let it sit for 5 minutes. Loosen the edges of the contents with a knife, and invert the pan onto a plate. There should be a beautiful, golden corn cake there, on the plate. Cut and share. If it falls to bits, follow procedure suggested above, no problemo. Consume, in that case, with a spoon.
Total cost to feed 4 people in high style, $3.09, not including the coffee and milk.
Batter fried peaches, rolled in cinnamon sugar. Well. Yikes.
Oh yes, I'll be trying that! I've got just the skillet, too: my great-grandmother's German pancake skillet, which my mom passed on to me with much love and some reluctance. (It's really just an ordinary cast-iron skillet, but perfectly seasoned and previously only used for the German pancake.)
Thanks for the recipe. And happy Fourth!
Posted by: Kitt | July 04, 2007 at 12:17 PM
i wish i had some corn so i could make this in the morning! it sounds awesome.
Posted by: candy | July 05, 2007 at 02:36 AM
Lindy,
Corn is now on my shopping list! Good grief that sounds out of sight good!
Posted by: Tanna | July 05, 2007 at 12:58 PM
Oh yeah. Fresh corn, corn pudding, corn bread -- this are all serious favorites in our household, so your fresh corn bread/pancake/pudding/fritter thingy sounds just about perfect, as soon as corn hits its seasonal height in our neck of the woods. Thanks, Lindy.
Posted by: Julie | July 05, 2007 at 01:09 PM
And we loved Ratty!!
Posted by: Tanna | July 05, 2007 at 01:15 PM
i'm tagging you (but won't be offended if you don't do it). check out "8 things you didn't know about me" over at eatheregetgas.bravejournal.com.
Posted by: candy | July 06, 2007 at 10:53 PM
It's not local-ish corn season here, so I'll have to wait a little while yet to try this. However, we've been all about the cherries recently - and strong coffee and steamed milk are year-round staples, aren't they?
Posted by: Kimberly | July 07, 2007 at 02:50 PM
Yeah- This corn was decidedly not local, and I do generaly wait. It wasn't half bad either- very sweet,despite having come (at 10 cents an ear)-from somewhere well south of here. But somehow these new super sweet varieties are (likely this memory is colored by imagination and sentiment) missing something compared to the older types that had to be picked while the pot was boiling to be sweet.
Posted by: lindy | July 07, 2007 at 10:01 PM
I remember that article! There was also a great recipe for cherry tomatoes with pasta which I still make, and while I'm never going to fry peaches I will be thrilled if someday someone will fry one for me.
The corn looks wonderful and is definitely something I'd make. I'll bet all those crispy bits are beyond delicious.
Posted by: Julie | July 11, 2007 at 07:46 AM
I was browsing food blogs today and came across yours; I tried the corn skillet thing tonight. It was VERY GOOD. I used it as a dinner side dish, and added a little melted butter to the mix as I was feeling indulgent (cut down on the veg oil to compensate, sort of). Really, really good, and I will definately use this again.
on a side note...my cat really likes corn, which amuses me. he liked this too.
Posted by: Jen | July 16, 2007 at 07:43 PM
Sounds so satisfying! I'm nervous about the skillet in the oven -- how about heating it on top of the stove? My pot holders aren't that good!
Just found you and "Hungry Tiger" tonight! Great blogs: Thanks.
Posted by: Susan G | July 29, 2007 at 10:39 PM