Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Roasted Corn with Manchego and Lime

In the last two weeks, I have cooked four pounds of plums into four jars of jam, I have boiled pretzels in lye and baked them into chestnut glossiness and I have turned nine lemons from my mother's companion's garden into creamy limoncello. I have made lentil soup and panna cotta and roasted cauliflower and pickled salmon. I have made three different batches of yeast dough - one to be rolled and filled with a poppyseed filling and baked into breakfast buns, one to be covered with marzipan cream and red currants and baked into a pie, one to be turned into doughnut rings and doughnut holes and plain old doughnuts, too, filled with puckery jam and fried to a sugary crisp. I am making liquor out of plum pits and vodka, there is a towel-wrapped bottle of milk being turned into yogurt wrapped in my oven right now and there are egg whites in the fridge waiting to be meringued.

I am also in need of a stiff drink.

Folks, I love my kitchen and being busy in it. But lately, when dinner rolls around, I just want to throw up my hands and take a hike. Living alone during the week means that I can at least get away with just eating buttered bread for dinner or a handful of cherry tomatoes while standing at the counter, hoping that by keeping very still, I won't lose my radio connection. But I feel guilty doing that, like I'm short-changing myself. I'm supposed my own best caretaker, but lately, I haven't been doing a very good job of it.

So yesterday at 4:00 pm, I pushed back from my desk and went outside. I took a long walk in the sunshine and stretched my legs. It felt so good to feel my muscles moving and to smell that clean Berlin air. I went back to TJ Maxx to buy the watercolor set I'd abandoned last week when the mean reds caught me off guard and I went to a nice organic grocery store that I should go to more often, where I bought really good tea and a nice, crackling loaf of bread and two ears of corn, still husked. Corn! Husks! That is a small luxury.

At home, I followed this recipe, roasting the unhusked cobs in the oven until the husks turned brown and papery and the corn beneath got all fragrant and sweet. After their pass in the oven, the yellow of the nibs practically glowed. I cut the nibs off the cobs and sautéed them until they started to pop in the pan, turning golden-brown and even sweeter still.

Once the nibs were done, I scraped them into the bowl and turned to the seasoning. I didn't have the jalapeño that the original recipe called for, so I used this potent Turkish red pepper instead. I left out the butter and the chives, but I used twice the amount of lime juice and didn't skimp on the Manchego cheese grated on top.

Then I took the bowl of seasoned, spicy, sweet-sour corn and I sat on the couch for dinner, alternating between watching the sky change color as the sun slipped below the horizon and watching 22-year-old footage on the tube of East Berliners charging through the border, whooping and hollering and weeping. That never gets old, never, ever, ever. (The Wall went up 50 years ago this weekend, hence the video retrospective on the television. Soon enough, the amount of time it's been gone will eclipse the amount of time it was up. How's that for the passage of time?)

The corn was sugary and super-spicy and the combination of the lime juice and the manchego cheese gave the whole thing these super-intense blasts of flavor, not unlike the ones you get when eating salt-and-vinegar potato chips. You know, when your whole mouth sort of suddenly puckers together or something, because of the intensity of flavor? I thought that kind of thing was only possible when engineered in a lab. Turns out that lime juice, Turkish red pepper and Manchego cheese can give MSG a run for its money.

This is best served as a side dish, maybe alongside a chicken thigh that's all sticky and charred from the grill. I bet it's even better when made with the local corn that you lucky ducks in the US can buy at the farmer's market, just-picked and still milky, husks soft and tender. But even with my tough old German corn, eaten out of the serving bowl all by itself while sitting on the couch, shoulders heaving at the sight of those cheering crowds, it was still pretty great.

Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Roasted Corn with Manchego and Lime
Serves 2
For the original recipe, click here

2 ears of sweet yellow corn, unhusked
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 lime, juiced and zested
1/2 ounce finely grated Manchego cheese

1. Preheat oven to 450°. Roast unhusked corn on a baking sheet, turning occasionally, until heated through and crisp-tender, about 15 minutes. Let cool. Shuck corn and cut kernels from cobs. Discard cobs.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add corn kernels and sauté until heated through and light-golden in spots, 3-5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Transfer corn to a large wide bowl or deep platter and sprinkle with crushed red pepper flakes. Pour the lime juice over the corn and sprinkle with cheese and lime zest. Mix quickly and serve immediately.

Comments

[Amy]

This was my dinner last night! I loved it and agree with you (way, way better than MSG), and hearing you talk about it makes me want to have it as my dinner tomorrow night, too.

[Sophie]

yum yum yum this sounds delicious.

[Maria]

I read your post before having breakfast. Now I am ravenous. All these wonderful things you talk about in the first couple of paragraphs have made my tummy rumble. I am moving house these days so, sadly, no time for cooking really! Thanks for sharing, it made me remember the beauty of food while shifting boxes and painting walls!

[Charlotte]

Yum! Sounds good but please please please can we have the recipe for yeast dough covered with marzipan cream and red currants and baked into a pie?! THAT sounds really good!

[Kathryn]

Beautiful colours and flavours, perfect for summer. Thank you!

[Shira]

I've been eating English corn the last few weeks, possibly better than what you can get in Germany but no match for the Delaware stuff I ate like candy during childhood summer vacations. Still, with cubed tomatoes, lime, coriander and chipotle paste, possibly some spring onions, it makes a fine salad. Looking forward to trying this variant too.

[Zeph]

Whoah! I'm on a diet now but this just looks so temptingly delicious. I've got to get up here and start making this or buy anything maize flavoured. Haha, but I swear I'm gonna try my hand (and taste buds) on this one. :)

[Sophie Delphis]

I've been meaning to make this since seeing it in bon appétit....

[Affordable Medical Insurance]

Yum! This sounds delicious! I love it, looks good too!

[Cat Soup]

I just made this over the weekend for my family as a side with grilled steak. I found the recipe a week earlier in BA and thought it at least a good excuse to buy Manchego. I didn't have the red pepper flakes either so subbed a smoky paprika with chipotle...I think I too doubled the lime juice. It was gorgeous and delicious.

[Tamsin]

That is my idea of heaven on a plate! I actually had all the ingredients for this at the weekend and have stupidly eaten them separately. I seriously think I'm going to have to bunk off work early to buy more corn.

Ooh, and I second the request for the marzipan/redcurrant pie recipe! The good people of Germany know what they're doing when it comes to rote Johannisbeeren.

[A Plum By Any Other Name]

Good god, you've been a mad woman in the kitchen! And it definitely sounds like you need that plum pit vodka. Stat. (I'm sure your efforts will be very much worth it.) Thanks for sharing this recipe!

[tara]

Reading your list of busy-ness, I am tempted to copy it down and make that my cooking project for the next week. My thoughts went something like "oooh, jam! Pretzels! Limoncello! Soup! ..." and so on.

We're crazy with local corn right now, I think first and foremost we'll be roasting ears in the oven. This looks like it deserves to be at the top of the list.

[Molly]

Oh, here I am, square in corn country, and I didn't even bother to snip this one.

Just polished off our pound-block of manchego. Time for another, obviously...

[Cali]

Ah you scooped me! This recipe looked amazing and is on my roster for later in the week.

[Bethanyp]

Made this last Sunday with corn bought at my local farmers' market here in London, along with bbq pork tenderloin and dill cole slaw. So good. Husking corn brings me straight back to childhood summers! Love that this recipe has lots of room to move and adapt as well.

Also, I second all the other comments asking to hear about the marzipan and redcurrant pie recipe, or really any of the three yeast dough recipes!

[Victoria]

This sounds delicious. I don't know if there's still local corn available upstate. I will have to check the farm stand out on Saturday.

I make two shrimp dishes that this would be PERFECT with. One is a Rick Bayless recipe for Chipotle Shrimp. It is tomato-y and smokey. The other is a Shrimp Mixed Grill from a recipe my friend found in an old Gourmet. It is shrimp skewered with mushrooms and andouille sausage nestled in the curl of the shrimp. It is very, very good, and easy because if you have access to a grill, you can have the skewers all ready in advance.

You have been a busy, busy girl. Everything sounds good. Have that drink and maybe a little rest?

[K Bossmann]

I'm with Charlotte....please give us the recipe for the yeast dough with marzipan and red currants!!! Since moving state-side I have been trying to grow currants of all kinds, but haven't been that successful yet. This recipe would keep me hopeful.....

[Kathryn]

Oh my gosh, I'm making this tonight. I have some fresh corn waiting to be put to use, and this looks way more exciting than what I had planned for it. Love the flavor combination!

[Jennifer Jo]

I made this, too! Like you, I didn't have all the ingredients so I subbed in some feta and green pepper. It was lovely. http://bit.ly/q0R4Qr

[amelia]

Luisa! we are on such similar pages... I just made the chicken with hot butter sauce, which is either right next to this recipe or on the following page of this issue's Bon Appetit. Alsoo, I completely get you on the existential angst that can happen in those giant big box stores. They are, in a (made-up?) word, uncozy.
And lastly, yes, Mozza delivers. It's crazy, right? Come to LA and I'll order you the Pizza alla Benno (Speck, pineapple, jalapenos, mozzarella & tomato!) ;) ;)

[Helen Kornblum]

Thanks, Luisa, for this posting. I was amazed at how the cornsilk retreated from the kernels, making it all so easy to remove. A much-needed corn fix.

[ki]

I've been feeling the love for my kitchen lately too (even though it's not aesthetically beautiful or even functional), but it's been great to feel that kitchen magic again. Great produce helps, I think or maybe it's something else at work, but I'm digging the feeling a lot. I made cherry pit vodka and it was incredible so I'm curious to hear about your plum pit vodka! Maybe I'll try an apricot pit one too. This corn does look amazing and it's going on my to-do list!

[kickpleat]

Ooops that was me - ki from above - my trigger finger was a bit itchy.

[Anita]

This sounds just lovely, I was drooling the whole time I read.
Please tell me that the delicious sounding items you mentioned in the first paragraph are upcoming blog entries? Especially the limoncello!

[doral real estate]

I think or maybe it's something else at work, but I'm digging the feeling a lot.I have some fresh corn waiting to be put to use, and this looks way more exciting than what I had planned for it.

[james]

These pictures have brightened up the day in overcast England, corn in the fridge too...

[Orla@thepremiumbutcher]

A perfect summer dish, especially since were finally getting some sun in Ireland! Looking forward to trying this recipe :)

[Lexi]

Can't wait for fresh sweet, sweet corn to make this! YUM!

[Jennifer]

As a Californian who has spent most of the past 10 years in Berlin (and this is the most miserable summer I can remember in that time), I often feel as if you're writing about my life (except in the past two weeks, I've only thought about all of the cooking I'd like to be doing!) I'm constantly faced with that feeling of being home here, while simultaneously craving pieces of that other home....like corn. I MISS CORN (and fresh CA produce in general)!! In fact, I never miss my friends and family, just food. :-) My German friends and students are always baffled by my corn longings and I've tried to explain to them that if they'd ever had edible corn, they would understand without a problem.

So, if you found this tasty even with German corn (a farmer told me the growing season is too short for non-cattle feed varieties)maybe I'll have to give this a try, but only if I can find some of that precious corn in the husk (I cry every time I see a plastic wrapped package of naked corn.) I guess it's time to search all of the Bio-Laeden.Wish me luck.

[The Magic Pie]

I love corn :)

[Luisa]

I promise that some of the recipes I mentioned in the first paragraph will make an appearance either here or in the book, but sadly a lot of those things I cooked were duds! Sob. It's rough going sometimes in the kitchen. The red currant-marzipan tart was sort of one of them, but you know what? I'll tell you about it anyway. Stay tuned...

Jennifer - Yes!! Corn! So sad that we can't get the good stuff here. I'm glad you can relate ;) For unhusked corn, yes, check Biomärkte but Turkish grocery stores, too. Also, I saw some today at Karl-August Platz... Good luck.

[Sasha Gora]

What I miss most about summer in Ontario, Canada is how the month of August ends with corn roasts where it is not frowned upon to see how many peaches n'cream cobs of corn one can eat in a single sitting. i love corn, lime and Manchego and cannot wait to try them together. thanks for sharing!

[Telebrands]

This roasted corn with manchego and lime sounds wonderful. Thanks for the recipe.

[Patty Sherry]

I'm definitely going to try this recipe...I'm one of those lucky ducks who will take advantage of the yummy Jersey fresh corn. Thanks for sharing a really interesting recipe!

xo

[Katie]

I think if the recipe didn't call for serving this quickly and immediately, I would just eat it all first. I can't wait to get some corn from the farmer's market this weekend and give this a try!

[Katie@Cozydelicious]

I have never double cooked corn... interesting! But I can totally eat a big plate of corn for dinner. And this version, all dressed up with spice and acid and cheese.... yum!

[jif]

MMMMMM, have to try this. I just made this no-cook corn recipe from Food 52 -http://www.food52.com/recipes/12928_dilled_crunchy_sweetcorn_salad_with_buttermilk_dressing - delicious and summery, even when northern Germany is NOT so summery!
And i hear you on the needing a drink... 4 more weeks....!

[Ulrike]

Just reading this and looking at the plate made my mouth water. I have some sweetcorn in my "green box" delivered from an organic farm every Wednesday and (being German and not so accustomed to dealing with corn) was wondering what to do. Now I know...
I came across your blog on the Brigitte website, and this is my first ever blog comment. I love what I have read so far and will now prune my out-of-hand sage in the garden knowing what to do with all those wonderful sage leaves. So sad that our rosemary plants don't seem to be doing quite so well.
Thanks for the inspiration.

[multikulinaria]

Boah, wie fleißig Du warst. Hut ab! Kein Wunder, dass dann keine Kraft mehr zur genussvollen Selbstversorgung übrig bleibt ;-)

Wie machst Du den Joghurt???

Dein Maisrezept liebe ich schon, ohne es bisher ausprobiert zu haben. Fragt sich nur, wo ich verhüllte Maiskolben finden kann. In unserem Supermarkt gibt es immerhin Maiskolben blank. Mal Ausschau halten. War da nicht irgendwo ein Maisfeld in der Nähe?...

[Stacie D.]

My 4 year old, just popped over and said "Let's make that!". Wish we could beam you some of our California farmers' market corn, but instead we will enjoy this recipe and give you a little toast for sharing the inspiration with us.

[katy]

This looks both heavenly and simple. I don't feel I've done justice to corn this year and this might be the perfect recipe to rectify this!

[Stonehead]

Sigh. If only I lived somewhere warmer where I could grow my own corn. We used to grow corn when I was a child. Even after 30-plus years I still missed picking corn and eating it immediately.

[Hande]

did really want to make this yesterday, but unforeseen circumstances hindered me. But today is the day!

[Julie]

I, too, live alone and when all is said and done, some weeknights I'll settle for organic yogurt (out of the container, of course) with cinnamon and honey and call it a dinner. This is why I try to make obscenely huge portions of food when I cook on weekends, so I have leftovers to reheat when I get home at night. And thanks for posting this recipe, it's almost the end of my beloved sweet Jersey corn season, so I've got to make it happen very soon!