Grilled Corn-On-The-Cob with Smoked Salt Butter

The fresh corn last summer was less than wonderful. The heavy, unending spring rains drowned a lot of the fields nearby.  When we did buy some corn from a farm stand, it was, as my husband put it, “pig food.”

This year has been a different story.  The corn has been fabulous.  Juicy and sweet, just like it should be.  We’ve been picking it up by the baker’s dozen.

We had the grill out the other day, so we grilled the corn.  Why not make things easy on ourselves?

As you probably know, grilled corn is one of the best things about summer.  My first memory of grilled corn was at Lagoon.  I must have been about 7 or 8.  They had a booth in Pioneer Village and would grill it up to order and dip it into a vat of melted butter.  Holy moly.  You can see why I still remember it.

I don’t know if there’s a wrong way to cook corn-on-the-cob.  My mom showed me a trick for putting the whole cob–husk, silk, and cob–into the microwave.  A few minutes later you cut off the end and it slips out silk-free.  We’ve also been boiling water and barely cooking the cobs.

In my opinion, grilling is the best flavor.  So as long as the corn holds out, that’s how I’m cooking it. :)

The smoked salt butter was a last-minute thing.  I just thought it sounded good.  And it was.  That’s all.  Get a hold of some smoked salt and start using it STAT.  I love that stuff.  (FYI–if you can’t find smoked salt in your area, you can get great smoked salt at Caputo’s online and in their stores.)

Grilled Corn-On-The-Cob with Smoked Salt Butter

adapted from Martha Stewart Living Cookbook

Ingredients:

8 fresh corn cobs
1 stick (4 oz.) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 tsp. smoked sea salt
pinch of garlic powder

Instructions:

Carefully pull corn husks down, leaving them and the bottom as intact as possible.  Remove silk from cobs and carefully replace corn husks.  Soak corn cobs in cold water for about an hour.

In the meantime, stir together the butter, smoked salt and garlic powder.  Cover with plastic wrap and chill until ready to use.

Prepare a grill for direct grilling.  Grill the corn in the husks for about 10-15 minutes, turning a few times, until the husks are charred.  (The corn will steam in the husks.)

Remove from grill and allow to cool a little.  Use oven mitts to hold the bottom of the cob and pull husks down, leaving them intact.  (Careful, they will still be very, very hot and the steam will burn you.  Trust me.)  Smear each cob with a tablespoon of the smoked salt butter and eat.

Recipes using grilled corn that I’ve had my eye on:

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