Grilled Corn
by Cindi Sutter, Founder of The Spirited Table® - Recipe by Sam Sifton and Image by Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
You can grill corn with the husks on. You can strip the husks partly off, remove the silks and re-wrap the ears, then grill. You can soak the corn in cool water before grilling. Or blanch it in hot. I blanch, occasionally following the lead of the celebrity chef Bobby Flay, who adds a cup of milk to his blanching liquid. “I have no idea why I do it,” he said. “It’s like adding corks to the liquid when you’re poaching octopus. Who knows if it works? But it’s a foolproof way to get perfect corn.” Serve with butter, as in this recipe, or dab with mayonnaise and sprinkle with cotija cheese.
Featured in: Mixed Grill, The American Way.
Ingredients
10 ears fresh corn
1 cup whole milk, optional
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
Kosher salt, to taste
Instructions
- Build a fire in your grill, leaving one side free of coals. When coals are covered with gray ash and the temperature is medium (you can hold your hand 5 inches above the coals for 5 to 7 seconds), you are ready to cook. (For a gas grill, turn all burners to high, lower cover and heat for 15 minutes, then turn burners to medium.)
- Meanwhile, shuck the corn, removing both husks and silks.