If you love the flavor of sweet corn, you'll find dozens of ways to tuck these spunky, corn micro greens into your summer dishes.
When one of our trusted farmers says, "Try this," with a big smile on his face, we often discover a new something spectacular. Scott Hurwitz from Silverbrook Farm convinced us to try what he was calling "micro popcorn" last week. They are actually young corn shoots. And as you nibble your way from the tip of the leaf to the stem, the pure corn flavor intensifies.
These tiny corn plants were tucked among the more traditional micro greens that many farms are producing now for area chefs. In fact, if these are still around next week, we may buy them as thank you gifts for some of our favorite chefs. There's nothing like a new ingredient to make a chef smile.
Here are a couple of descriptions from other people who have tasted these little flavor bombs.
- "…sweet corn shoots, those are my favorite. They have a really sweet flavor that almost masks the corn flavor. It kind of explodes on your palate," says Eric Longhmi, a chef at the Boulder Country Club." from here.
- Scott described them as tasting like kettle corn.
How would you use a micro green that tastes like corn intensified and has a flavor that lingers?
We see it sprinkled on a taco to reinforce the corn flavor. Or, adding a second hit of corn to our summer corn and potato salad.
You may remember that it was the team at Silverbrook that started us eating cucumbery cat tails. Here's the report on that adventure that Penny wrote for Serious Eats.
Here's where you'll find Silverbrook Farm this week.
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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino