Do you find yourself sometimes asking: why does Chef so-and-so repeat the same or similar recipes in their books? The answer must be because the recipe is so popular it is worth repeating. There is a salad I make often using fresh sweetcorn, but I cannot find the recipe on my blog. It’s probably best to make and write about it here. In going through previous posts I found a recipe using fresh sweetcorn with Asian flavourings which I will make again with the next batch of sweetcorn.
For lunch today we* had toasted tuna melts: bind together some tinned tuna with Kewpie mayonnaise, add some black pepper, chopped chilli and sliced spring onions. Spread onto one slice of seeded sourdough bread, top with some firm cheese like Red Leicester, top with another slice of bread. Heat some olive oil in a large pan, place the sandwich on it with the cheese side down first. When this side is browned and crispy, turn it over and repeat, adding a little more oil if necessary. Cut the toastie in half before serving. We had this with the last bit of Kohl-slaw.
I recently took delivery of some boxes from Riverford which contained some delightful seasonal vegetables. Some last longer than others so I started with the sweetcorn. The sugar in sweetcorn turns to starch as soon as they are picked so it is essential to eat this as quickly as possible.
The rest of the salad ingredients are easy to find: lime, spring onions, chilli, walnuts, parsley/ coriander/ mint and olive oil. In the case of the latter, prices have gone up so much it’s more expensive than wine. I was going to add: but then again you can’t dip your focaccia in wine. Brain in overdrive: of course you can dip your bread in wine, Christians do it all the time when they remember Jesus’s last meal with his disciples.
For the Salad:
2 fresh corns on the cob
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 spring onion, sliced thinly
1 sliced red chilli
30 g fresh parsley (or coriander/ mint), chopped
50 g walnuts, toasted and chopped
Flaked (Maldon) sea salt and black pepper to taste
How to Make:
Place the oil, lime juice, spring onion, chilli and parsley in a mixing bowl and whisk together. Leave aside.
Place the sweetcorn directly on to a hot pan and keep turning as they brown/ grill.
When they are charred all over, remove from the pan.
Slice off the corn kernels by running the blade of a sharp knife down the husk. Turn the husk round as you continue to slice the kernels off.
Stir the corn kernels into the dressing and place into a serving bowl. Check for seasoning and mix in the walnuts just before serving.
The griddled corn: you can see why people have nicknamed Malaysia’s Petronas Twin Towers ‘jagung’ (Malay for sweetcorn)
* There is a royal We in this house because Mr Gochugaru works from home a few days a week. He likes working, and not having to take the tube in to the office saves time. We have one hour for lunch, where we play as many puzzles from the New York Times as possible. We start with Connections, go on to Strands (which I always mistakenly call Spangram), head towards Wordle and The Mini (crossword) and then try to make as many words as possible in Spelling Bee. Most days we finish Spelling Bee over dinner.