Corn on the cob and messy hands

Option: remove husks to char the corn...

While pounding drum sets, blowing out my lungs on any number of wind instruments, and conducting fellow music students at the University of Western Ontario, I decided to have my first adult dinner party.

In 1979, tacos were a novelty and seemed like great fun to me, albeit a surprise for my selected group of dinner guests. As they stared at their place settings, void of eating utensils, my friend Ted, a clarinet major, repeated numerous times, “You expect us to eat with our hands?”  It’s easy to visualize this if you think, “Felix” from the Odd Couple movie and add a goatee…

Our foray into eating sans utensils resulted in a mess in our laps and on the floor, and an ensuing search for straws with which to finish our wine – the glasses kept slipping out of our greasy hands. 

Thirty-two years later (argh) I have no qualms about serving my guests a meal which may not require forks and knives. In fact, as the corn from Taber Alberta appears at roadside stands right around this time of the year, one of my favourite menus includes BBQ ribs, potatoes in foil, raw veggies, and this thoroughly messy, lip smacking, never- can –eat- enough corn- on- the- cob recipe. I found it years ago in a Gourmet magazine, but I can’t remember which year or month. 

It’s been so long since I read the recipe, I don’t even remember the name of the dish; I call it “Corn with Feta and Lime” It’s so easy you can just memorize the ingredients and method. Grab a pile of napkins; roll up your sleeves – here goes.

                                             Corn with Feta and Lime

Serves 4

4 – 8 cobs of corn with husks on – I usually count 2 cobs for each guest, but I still often run out…

2 cups crumbled Feta cheese (or more)

½ cup Yogurt or mayo

3- 4 Tbsp. hot sauce – or to taste

4 limes quartered

1.      Mix the yogurt or mayo with the hot sauce in a couple of small serving bowls – place the bowls so that two people can easily share one bowl.

2.      Put the feta cheese into a couple of small serving bowls – place the bowls so that two people can easily share one bowl.

3.      Put the limes into a couple of small serving bowls– place the bowls so that two people can easily share one bowl.

4.      Soak the corn in warm water in the sink for about 30 minutes. Remove from the water, shake off the excess, and put on a hot BBQ.

5.      Grill corn for about 20 minutes or until done – the corn steams in the husks. If the kernels become a bit charred, even better.

6.      Test for doneness. Shuck and serve the corn hot.

7.      Now, to eat:

a.      Spread a bit of the mayo hot sauce mixture on the corn.

b.      Smoosh some feta onto the corn.

c.      Squeeze lime juice onto the feta.

d.      Eat with gusto.

I find it easiest to prepare small sections of the corn at a time – the feta sticks better.

Over the past decades I’ve lost touch with all of the guests at my first dinner party. Sadly, Ted died a number of years ago but every time I eat with my hands, and there’s a mess all over, I recall Ted’s voice at the end of that meal, “This was really a fine idea, Wendy.” And I smile – sweet, sweet memory.

In the meantime, if you can get your hands on some Alberta corn, do it. It really does seem tastier having been grown out on the Canadian prairie.

Warmly,

Wendy

Wendy's Summer Chop Chop

I just had my favourite summer lunch. I created this dish based on something I ate at some deli, at some place and at some time. It's one of those things that we all eat - something which will likely never find its way into a cookbook, or maybe even onto the table for friends and family: maybe it's something like, jam on your ham and cheese sandwich, or pancakes with peanut butter....naw, I don't eat those things, but I do love this recipe. I think it's yummy enough to share.

Wendy's Summer Chop Chop

Ingredients

 Mix together in a medium bowl:

2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped 

1 large celery stalk chopped

1 apple, cored and chopped

1/2 medium red pepper chopped ( any colour will do)

1 can drained solid tuna ( salmon would work, too, and so would leftover cooked chicken I imagine, although that would make it chicken salad...)

Dressing

Mix together in a small cup:

2 generous tbsp. fat free yogurt

1 small tsp. mayo ( added fat for satiety - you could easily leave it out...)

generous sprinkle of celery seed

generous grind of pepper

scant shake of salt

generous tsp. curry powder ( or more to taste)

Chopped cilantro for garnish

Add the dressing to the other ingredients, mix well, and serve. I like to eat this with Frank's hot sauce, and chopsticks.

The best thing about this recipe is that you can add or change ingredients everytime you make it - it's always "to taste".

I don't have a picture of my Summer Chop Chop, and the bowl I used looks messy with splotches of curry and Frank's, so here's a picture of summer laundry drying at the wonderful cottage we rented on PEI a couple of years ago...

Near Montague PEI - http://www.vrbo.com/247931

In the meantime, I had a fitness trainer who said the perfect meal or snack should include a protein, carb and fat. This dish has them all, and it's so easy-peasy to make. A little bit of kindness for me.

Warmly,
Wendy

Rhubarb Blueberry Cake makes for new friends

Make a dinner reservation at a restaurant, or make a dinner party at home? That is the question.

Hubert keeps a Beck's for himself!

Well, if meeting Adrian's family for the first time, I’m going to choose, “come for dinner at the house.” Why, you may ask, would I take on the preparation of a Sunday dinner for my partner's daughter's boyfriend's family at home instead of choosing the ease of ordering in a restaurant? Sun stroke?

It could be that I think that the stress and excess energy that often accompany first meetings may be more easily dissipated in a house than a restaurant. It’s all about movement; moving from the living room to the patio to enjoy the sun, from the patio to the kitchen to pour some drinks, from the kitchen to the garage to get lawn chairs, and so on. Movement in a restaurant? Really, how many times can you excuse yourself to the restroom before others name off their favourite urologists?

Then there’s the flexibility of time. If all’s going well at a house dinner party, people can stay late into the evening until everyone is talked out – not so at a restaurant. However, if the gathering is becoming a colossal flop, no need to wait for your server to appear at the table; dessert and coffee can be brought to the table as soon as graciously possible.

Finally, there’s the gift of your time and effort. Even if some of the dinner dishes include take-out from your local Costco, (such as the 9-grain Salad in the cooler section – so yummy), the smell of a grilling BBQ, or the sight of a home-baked cake, sends that vital message “You’re important enough to go through this extra effort.” Kindness goes a long way.

So, back to the Adrian's family: the choice made, an invitation went out for dinner at our home: we’d BBQ, weather permitting. Having a beautiful Sunday summer evening, warm enough to sit outside after dusk, is a relatively uncommon event in Calgary; contingency plans included a brightly-flowered tablecloth draped on the dining room table with an extension leaf, and extra chairs were fetched from the corners of the house. But on this night, they would all be shunned in lieu of the balmy late night air.

The family arrived. We greeted each other, traded deep-red Shasta daisies for cold, thirst quenching bottles of Beck’s, moved to the patio, moved from chairs to the garden swing, laughed, posed for, and shot photos, and devoured the tasty appetizer tray prepared by Logan and Adrian. 

Hours later we ate: Costco’s 9-grain salad, Hubert’s famous homemade German potato salad, perfectly grilled BBQ salmon, and juicy charred chicken. Finally, along with coffee and liqueurs, the home baked rhubarb blueberry coffee cake was served with thinly-sliced sweet fresh strawberries and cold refreshing vanilla ice cream. Groans of delight – and I think not just for the delightful sweet/sour, warm/cold taste sensation, but maybe also for the gift of a homemade cake. 

Such a fun first meeting. Easy too, as you’ll see from the cake recipe. The only downside – Adrian’s mom returning to BC much too soon. Hurry back, Sooz – no more first meetings – now you’re all friends.

Here’s the cake recipe from an old neighbour out in Millarville ranching country:

                         Bill’s Rhubarb Kuchen (Cake)

Ingredients

 

1 ½ cups brown sugar – don’t pack too tightly

½ cup butter

1 or 2 eggs (if the moisture of the fruit is excessive, add the second egg)

1 cup buttermilk (or mix one cup of milk with 1 Tbsp. of vinegar and let sit for 5 min.)

2 cups all-purpose flour

Heaping tsp. baking soda (I usually use about 1 ¼ tsp.)

2 cups fruit –whatever fruit you have handy. Cut the fruit into smaller pieces that will bake well i.e. I cut my rhubarb into 1 “pieces.

½ cup walnuts or pecans finely chopped

½ cup white sugar

1 tbsp. ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, and grease a 9x13 baking dish.

In a large bowl, cream together the brown sugar, butter and vanilla. Add the egg(s) and beat well. Add the milk and carefully beat on a slow speed until worked in.

In another bowl, mix together the flour and baking soda. Add to the butter mixture and mix well – there shouldn’t be any lumps. Add and stir in the fruit and pour batter into the baking dish.

Mix together the walnuts, sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle the mixture over the top of the batter.

Bake for 35 minutes. Check with a cake tester for doneness.

The result? A crunchy sweet and tart, homemade wholesome-looking light cake which is absolutely perfect with ice cream!

In the meantime, 

Here’s a tip I learned at a Dinner Party Etiquette class in which I was a voluntary participant. When it’s time to call an entertaining event a wrap, a friendly, “Thank you for joining us for dinner. We’ll have to do this again.” is always just a little kinder than, “Here’s your coat, and what’s your hurry?” That being said, in desperate situations, I’ve gathered coats while saying what a pleasure the evening has been….a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do…

Warmly,

Wendy