sweetcorn recipes
Here's a collection of sweetcorn recipes from our weekly newsletters, and some lovely ones you've sent in. If you'd like more please have a look at our recipe index!
Spicy Fried Corn Cobs
Spicy Steamed Corn
Corn and Chilli Mashed Potatoes
Sweetcorn and Sirloin with Smoky Chilli Butter, Roasted
Red Pepper Salsa
Sweetcorn with Spiced Butter
Antipodean Sweetcorn Fritters
Sweetcorn and Cheddar Scones
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Sweetcorn with an edge. Serves 2.
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cobs sweetcorn, cut into 2 inch pieces
- 1 onion, chopped
- fresh coriander, chopped roughly
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1/2 inch piece of root ginger, peeled and grated
- 80 ml (3 fl oz) natural yoghurt
Heat the oil in a pan and fry the pieces of corn for around 10 minutes. Make sure you turn them often to avoid sticking. Remove from the pan. Add the onion and garlic and fry until soft. Stir in the garlic, coriander and ginger and continue to mix. Add the yoghurt, stirring all the ingredients together before adding the corncobs. Poach them gently in the sauce for 20 minutes before serving.
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Serves 2
- 2 corn cobs
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh red chilli
- 1 tablespoon water
- optional: 1 tablespoon fish sauce
Remove the husks and silk from the corn cobs. In a bowl, combine the ginger, garlic, chilli and water. Roll each cob in the spice mixture and place in a steaming basket lined with baking paper. Place the basket over a wok or pan of boiling water, cover and steam for 10-20 minutes, or until the corn is tender. Drain and sprinkle with the fish sauce if desired.
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Serves 4 as a side dish - excellent served with the above sandwich, or try with sausages.
- 800 g potatoes, peeled and cut for boiling
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 green chilli, seeded and chopped
- 1 medium onion, any colour, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, or 1/2 tablespoon fresh
- 1 teaspoon salt, and extra to taste
- 180 ml milk
- Kernels from 2 ears of cooked corn
- Hot sauce to taste
Boil the potatoes until cooked through and drain. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the chilli, onion, cumin and oregano and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the mixture to the warm potatoes along with the salt and milk. Mash and add the corn and hot sauce and salt as needed. Mix well and serve.
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I have stacks of cowboy cookbooks. There are tons on the
subject as a number of chefs in Texas are modernizing the rustic cuisine of
the old cowboy and ranch hands - there's even a posh cowboy restaurant in Manhattan
now! This recipe is inspired by contemporary cowboy cooks. Serves 2.
For the roasted red pepper salsa:
- 1 red pepper
- 2 vine tomatoes
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
- 15g parsley
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- A good squeeze of lemon or lime juice
- Sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
In a dry frying pan, roast the whole red pepper - skin
on - over a medium-high heat (you must heat the pan before adding the pepper)
until blistered and blackened on all sides, top and bottom. This will take a
bit of time and rotating but it really produces the most wonderful flavour and
aroma. Once cooked, place in a paper bag or in a pot with a lid to steam it
(this will make it easier to peel the skin off). Remove the skin, deseed the
pepper and cut into 1cm ribbons. Dice these. Then, dice the fresh, vine tomatoes
into 1cm pieces. Finely chop the parsley and the garlic clove. Fold the ingredients
together. Add the olive oil and lemon or lime juice (lime is better, if you
can get one). Season and refrigerate until ready to use.
For the smoky chilli butter:
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- ½ tsp chilli powder
- ½ tsp sweet paprika
- 2 sprigs of parsley, finely chopped
- Sea salt
In a food processor, blend butter with spices, parlsey
and a pinch of sea salt. Place in a little tub or container and refrigerate
until ready to use.
For the sweetcorn and sirloin:
- 2 cobs of sweetcorn
- 2 sirloin steaks (about 250g each)
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
- 2 tsp extra virgin oilve oil
- Sea salt
Shuck the sweetcorn, place in a pan, cover with water
and bring to the boil. Lower heat, cover and cook until tender - about 20 minutes.
Preheat oven grill or start up the barbecue. Finely chop the garlic clove. Rub
into the steaks along with the olive oil. Once the sweetcorn is cooked, drain
the water off. Start cooking the steaks: 2-3 minutes on each side (for rare),
4 minutes on each side (for medium) or 6 minutes on each side (for well done).
Add the sweetcorn along with the steaks, just to give it a bit of colour - roate
the corn when you flip the steaks. Once both are cooked, pat both the sweetcorns
and the steaks with a bit of the smoky chilli butter - i.e. ½ tbsp on each steak
and on each sweetcorn. Serve with fresh lettuce leaves filled and a mound or
little pot of roast red pepper salsa.
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English corn is sweet with butter, but even sweeter when the butter has a little kick.
Prep time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 30-45 mins
Serving size: flexible
- Corn on the cob
- A slab of soft butter soft (room temperature)
- A pinch of chilli powder
- A pinch of ground cumin
- A pinch of ground coriander
- Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Mush the spices into the butter. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
You can slip the butter in under the skins, wrap back up (quite loosely) and roast in a hot oven (200°C/400°F/gas 6) for 35-40 mins.
Or, boil or grill until the kernels are soft and juicy and then slap a bit of butter onto them.
This butter is also heavenly on a steak. Or stirred into rice, cous cous or dobbed on steamed veg.
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This is a classic brunch dish in New Zealand. It's a fun alternative to classic butter-slicked cobs.
Prep time: 5-10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Makes 4
- 1 cob of sweetcorn, corn kernals sliced off
- 2 medium eggs
- 50ml crème fraiche
- 30g polenta
- 15g (or a heaped tbsp) cornflour
- 2 spring onions, finely sliced
- A pinch of sea salt
- A little grinding of pepper
- A few glugs olive or sunflower oil for frying
Mix the sweetcorn, eggs, crème fraiche, polenta, cornflour and spring onions together. Season.
Heat a large frying pan over high heat. Add a little oil. Spoon a quarter of the fritter mixture into the pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes, or until it's golden underneath. Using a wide spatula, flip it over carefully and cook it on teh other side for a minute. Then, remove to a warm plate while you cook the rest.
Repeat three times, using the remaining mix. Serve with bacon and maple syrup as a sweeter breakfast treat, or pair with cherry tomatoes and avocado slices for tea.
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Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 10-12 minutes
Makes 10
- 2 sweetcorn cobs
- 350g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- a pinch of finely chopped chilli (or chilli powder)
- 1tsp salt
- 50g cold butter, cut into cubes
- 150g grated cheddar, plus extra for tops
- 175ml milk, plus extra for brushing
Cut the kernels off the cobs, place in a pan, add enough water to just cover. Simmer 5 minutes. Drain well.
Heat oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. Mix flour, baking powder, chilli and salt. Rub butter cube into the mix until it looks like fine crumbs. Add grated cheddar and the corn. Drizzle in the milk. Fold in to make a slightly sticky dough. Don't over-work.
Gently knead on a floured surface until smooth. Divide into 10 balls. Shape each roughly with floured hands. Put onto an oiled baking sheet. Brush scones with a little milk. Scatter grated cheese over the top. Bake for 10-12 mins or until the scones are risen, golden and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Delicious with butter.
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