How do you serve Sweet Corn (corn on the cob)?

[cjzimmer1]

My husband and I disagree about the "correct" way to serve corn on the cob.  So Is corn on the cob served as a side event to the meal or is fresh sweet corn so good that it IS the meal.

 

 

To further clarify, I'm referring to fresh picked today sweet corn most likely bought from a the local farmer/farmstand.

[Cinder]

I generally serve it as a side but dd chooses to make it her whole meal. I think dh would make it a meal too but he limits himself due to blood sugar issues. I voted other.

[Jayne J]

Obligatory other.

 

If is fresh--off the stalk ten minutes ago kind of fresh-- it is a meal in itself. Butter, salt, just barely cooked. Yum.

If it is shipped, off-season corn, eh, I'd rather not serve it at all, but if I must it is a side for a more inspiring main dish.

[Χά�ων]

Both

[maize]

Growing up, fresh picked corn on the cob and homemade bread often made a meal.

[LibraryLover]

A side-- with butter! :)  A real treat!

[Mama Geek]

I voted other, sometimes I do it as a side but the perfect meal is sweet corn and fresh tomatoes.

[freeindeed]

I say it's a side.

[Loowit]

I see it as a side, DH eats it as a meal.

[umsami]

Normally, we serve it as a side.

 

But pretty much the entire family would be fine having it for  meal.  I agree with Mama Geek about fresh picked corn and tomatoes.  

 

 

[redsquirrel]

In season sweet corn? I could go either way. We might serve something else, but no one is going to eat much of anything but the corn. Maybe a bean salad or something, but they are the sides, the corn is the main event. And I could eat two ears and call it dinner.

 

FWIW, we are not much of a 'main entree and sides' type eaters. We are more likely to have just one thing or a couple of small things put together.

[Ellie]

I have never heard of serving corn on the cob as a meal all by itself. :blink:

[cjzimmer1]

I have never heard of serving corn on the cob as a meal all by itself. :blink:

 

I have no idea how common this is but where I grew up nearly every small town had a summer festival that included free corn roasts.  So when you went to them corn was the meal as it was the only thing served.  Obviously times have changed and serving free corn to the entire community is no longer financially feasible for most towns but I wonder if the traditional had anything ot do with the way it's served around me.   Most families I knew served corn as a meal, DH grew up in a major city and views corn as a side.

[Annie G]

I haven't served corn on the cob in years. I will cook it and cut it off the cob to serve...we're weirdos who don't enjoy eating it off the cob. 

 

My father eats an ear of corn for lunch every day while it's in season. That's all he eats for lunch. Every day all summer.   He's kind of turning into a 5 year old. 

[Farrar]

Good grief.  I've never heard of it as a meal by itself either.  I really like fresh sweet corn, but as a whole meal?  I need a little protein too.

[Annie G]

I have no idea how common this is but where I grew up nearly every small town had a summer festival that included free corn roasts.  So when you went to them corn was the meal as it was the only thing served.  Obviously times have changed and serving free corn to the entire community is no longer financially feasible for most towns but I wonder if the traditional had anything ot do with the way it's served around me.   Most families I knew served corn as a meal, DH grew up in a major city and views corn as a side.

 

 

We lived in Normal, Illinois for a couple of years back in the early 90's and they had a corn festival. It wasn't free but really cheap and it was all you could eat corn. Raised in Atlanta, that was the weirdest thing I had ever seen.  I could NOT believe how many people ate 10 or more ears of corn. 

 

Then we moved father north, and a nearby town has a Turkey Testicle Festival. 

 

Illinois is a weird state. 

[Jayne J]

Do those of you who haven't heard of having it as a meal live in a place where you CAN get it ten minutes off the stalk? It is a different creature when it is fresh. Ok, it doesn't have more protein. But around here, the protein would get cold while everyone ate the corn anyway. :tongue_smilie:

[Carrie12345]

All of the above!

[stripe]

Good grief.  I've never heard of it as a meal by itself either.  I really like fresh sweet corn, but as a whole meal?  I need a little protein too.

Didn't you read up-stream thread, you need bread to make it a meal.

 

Okay, I'll weigh in.

 

Corn by itself = nice snack. Especially when bought off the street, roasted.

 

Never have been served corn as a regular meal. I like corn, but... ? 

 

Modern corn has been bread bred to have tons of sugar. It doesn't need to be cooked seconds after being picked. Have any of you ever had corn that WASN'T supersweet? That's the real question, I think.

[Farrar]

Bread is not a protein!

 

Good grief, it's worse than mac and cheese for an all carb meal.

[AHASRADA]

I grew up with farm stands along the road selling fresh-picked corn through the end of the summer. Super yummy! But no, not a meal. Definitely needs burgers or hot dogs, grilled chicken, etc. to call it a meal.

[maize]

I have never heard of serving corn on the cob as a meal all by itself. :blink:

Hmm, have you ever had just-picked-fresh corn on the cob smothered in butter? It doesn't really matter whether it is intended as a side, once you taste it anything else on the table becomes irrelevant.

 

 

Sadly, I no longer have access to the fields full of sweet corn of my childhood...

[KrissiK]

As a side. Although if it's really good, I probably wouldn't need too much more!

[Chris in VA]

Funny, we just had corn and garden tomatoes as a meal in NC while at my mil's house!

Later, she made steak and cheese hoagies for the three of us who were hungry....

 

I never had corn as a meal growing up, but my mom gets a few dozen ears from a farming friend (N. Hampshire) and has a CotC meal a few times in the summer.

[umsami]

When we lived in Brooklyn, there were these great elote ?sp stands which served roasted corn that was covered with mayonnaise or creme, cotijo cheese, and some cayenne pepper.  I could have eaten that for a meal. :)

 

I've tried to duplicate it at home, but for some reason, it's just not the same.  Kind of like a Nathan's hot dog.  Always tastes better from a street cart.

[stripe]

Bread is not a protein!

 

Good grief, it's worse than mac and cheese for an all carb meal.

See, we're on the same page! Corn on the cob with bread, and mac and cheese. It's the thick layer of butter on the bread that's your protein. Mac and cheese has your dairies and your proteins. And with corn, your vege. Perfect. 

[swellmomma]

my first thought when I read the title was "on a plate"

Corn on the cob is a side dish

[PrairieSong]

It's usually a side dish for us but I admit I've had it for breakfast before!! Yum.

[shawthorne44]

I have never heard of serving corn on the cob as a meal all by itself. :blink:

 

My dad grew up on a corn farm and we still have corn farmers in the family.  When good corn is still warm from the sun while you are husking it, you decide you really don't want anything else.  

[bobbeym]

I can certainly eat sweet corn as a meal by itself, but usually we will serve it as a side.

[Ellie]

Do those of you who haven't heard of having it as a meal live in a place where you CAN get it ten minutes off the stalk? It is a different creature when it is fresh. Ok, it doesn't have more protein. But around here, the protein would get cold while everyone ate the corn anyway. :tongue_smilie:

 

Yes, I do. Still never heard of it.

[Ellie]

Hmm, have you ever had just-picked-fresh corn on the cob smothered in butter? It doesn't really matter whether it is intended as a side, once you taste it anything else on the table becomes irrelevant.

 

 

Yes, I have. I must still have protein. :-)

 

[Amira]

I think it's a meal, but dh doesn't. So he ends up making more food after I made dinner.

 

It's usually more like a snack here in Mexico. I don't think I see this much in Guadalajara, but here in Mexico City, freshly cooked corn is smothered in mayonnaise and then rolled in powdered Cotija cheese. Cotija is very good, but the powdered stuff is like eating "Parmesan" cheese from a can. And I still can't get past the mayo. But it's an interesting snack.

 

ETA that Umsami beat me to it. Should have read all the comments. :)

[stripe]

It's usually a side dish for us but I admit I've had it for breakfast before!! Yum.

No, no, a slice of pie for breakfast, the corn's for lunch! ;)

[chocolatechip]

For most of my life I thought mac & cheese was a meal (like a helping of the blue box. I don't usually like homemade)... but I later realized most people see it as a side. But if you watch the commercials they never eat it as a side! lol

We eat homemade mac & cheese as a meal.  :drool5:

[stripe]

For most of my life I thought mac & cheese was a meal (like a helping of the blue box. I don't usually like homemade)... but I later realized most people see it as a side. But if you watch the commercials they never eat it as a side! lol

I'd see it as a side in a soul food restaurant or a family reunion or something, but I am not sure what exactly it goes on the side of. Personally, I serve it with lots of veges. But it's kind of the main attraction here.

[Joker]

It's always a side here and we do get it fresh. I have a weekly delivery of fresh, local produce and we have had corn quite a bit lately but it is never the whole meal. This week it was served with grilled chicken and oven roasted veggies (eggplant, peppers, and sweet potatoes). Last week it was served with chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes.

 

Mac & cheese is also always a side dish here. I serve it when I make homemade chicken nuggets. I usually always save it for a Saturday night so that we have leftovers for Sunday. It makes the weekend meals easy.

[stripe]

I'd think it would be a side to something like chicken. Of course, I do live in the South so I'm sure many of the times I've seen it offered it was part of a soul food lineup lol.

Here's an interesting quote

http://www.npr.org/2013/11/20/246334552/soul-food-mac-and-cheese-red-drink-and-more-for-thanksgiving

 

On how mac and cheese became a soul food staple

 

Mac and cheese used to be royalty food. So it goes back to the 1300s. [it] wasn't the goopy thing that we love today. The earliest iteration of it was pasta with some Parmesan cheese on it. ... It was royalty food and then it becomes elite food. ... It crosses the Atlantic as a rich person's dish, and so when it made its way to the South, it was enslaved African-Americans who were cooking this dish, often in the big houses. [A recipe for macaroni and cheese with butter is found in the Forme of Cury cookbook (circa 1390), which was used in the royal kitchens of England's King Richard II and Queen Elizabeth I.]

[Jayne J]

Snipped, since I can't change fonts on my iPad....

 

I don't really consider the yumminess of a food what makes it a meal. Because if that was the case then chocolate cake is a meal, watermelon is a meal, ice-cream is a meal.

 

I know, I know... what's wrong with cake as a meal? :D

Ok, see, there's the difference. Those things have all been meals in my house...

(Not often, mind you. But yeah.). We try to eat healthfully for the most part, but there it is.

[Jane in NC]

In my Midwestern childhood, a typical summer dinner consisted of corn on the cob, tomatoes, cucumbers and deviled eggs.

 

I love to cut the corn off the cob, add red or green pepper, black beans, cilantro, lime juice.  Now that is a meal!

 

[Jane in NC]

Here's an interesting quote

http://www.npr.org/2013/11/20/246334552/soul-food-mac-and-cheese-red-drink-and-more-for-thanksgiving

 

On how mac and cheese became a soul food staple

 

Mac and cheese used to be royalty food. So it goes back to the 1300s. [it] wasn't the goopy thing that we love today. The earliest iteration of it was pasta with some Parmesan cheese on it. ... It was royalty food and then it becomes elite food. ... It crosses the Atlantic as a rich person's dish, and so when it made its way to the South, it was enslaved African-Americans who were cooking this dish, often in the big houses. [A recipe for macaroni and cheese with butter is found in the Forme of Cury cookbook (circa 1390), which was used in the royal kitchens of England's King Richard II and Queen Elizabeth I.]

 

Here in the South, mac and cheese will be listed as a "veg" in small town diners that have a daily plate of "a meat and two veg".  Vegetables in the list here in in NC will be green beans, butter beans (limas), cole slaw, applesauce or stewed apples, collards...and mac and cheese!

[marbel]

Good grief.  I've never heard of it as a meal by itself either.  I really like fresh sweet corn, but as a whole meal?  I need a little protein too.

 

Yeah, corn as the whole meal wouldn't fly around here.  Where's the protein?

 

[AndyJoy]

As a side. DH and DS and I adore sweet corn, but as DS once remarked at age 3 while surveying his giant breakfast of toast, yogurt, fruit, juice, and eggs, "Where's my meat, Mommy?"

 

Though I guess by volume, sweet corn does end up being the main dish with meat on the side because they will gnaw through as much corn as they possibly can.

[TammyinTN]

My grandmother used to serve fresh corn right out of the garden as a meal--she would prepare it and cut it off the cob put it on top of fresh hot biscuits with butter and fresh sliced tomatoes.  Best meal ever!!!  I make it and our kids devour it as well. 

 

[Crimson Wife]

Butter isn't a protein, but a fat. That is why people who are intolerant to lactose (dairy sugar) or casein (dairy protein) can have clarified butter/ghee.

 

Buttered corn is yummy, but it isn't a complete meal as it doesn't have protein.

[Kalmia]

Both! All! Fresh sweet corn, newly picked, is ambrosia and should be consumed in all ways possible during its short season. The very first week it ripens is the best. When I was a child I would eat a dozen ears for lunch! Now I could make a meal of four. I also eat it as a side dish, the difference being that there would be fewer ears. If I was serving it to guests, I would only serve it as a side dish to guests, as a heaping plate of corn on the cob would be too unusual to those who didn't grow up with a cornfield in the yard.

 

And I will say it with pride: Fresh sweet corn is better than a cupcake any day or night!

[Ellie]

For most of my life I thought mac & cheese was a meal (like a helping of the blue box. I don't usually like homemade)... but I later realized most people see it as a side. But if you watch the commercials they never eat it as a side! lol

 

I don't think I ever had mac & cheese until I was a grown-up-and-married person. :-) Although maybe I did but it was so infrequent that it hasn't stayed in my brain cell, lol. Southeastern Virginia/northeastern North Carolina (Outer Banks).

[swellmomma]

For most of my life I thought mac & cheese was a meal (like a helping of the blue box. I don't usually like homemade)... but I later realized most people see it as a side. But if you watch the commercials they never eat it as a side! lol

crap dinner is a meal not a side, apparently it is a more rounded meal if you cut up hot dogs and toss them in.

[Annie G]

I don't think I ever had mac & cheese until I was a grown-up-and-married person. :-) Although maybe I did but it was so infrequent that it hasn't stayed in my brain cell, lol. Southeastern Virginia/northeastern North Carolina (Outer Banks).

 

 

Really? Wow. My mom made mac and cheese every Friday because of the whole 'no meat' thing.  It wasn't GOOD mac and cheese...but it was mac and cheese. 

[KatieJ]

I serve it as a side as I need some protein with all those carbs.

 

However, I have fond memories of going to extended family "corn boils" when I was young.  There would be several  huge gunny sacks of fresh picked corn ( as in from the field across the road) and huge pots of boiling water.  We just ate corn as I recall, nothing else.