Farm Tour and Hands Off Way To Cook Corn!
Oh merciful Heaven! This corn is so good that it doesn’t even need butter, and I am one of those people who ALWAYS adds butter and salt to my corn! What did I add to this? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. There is no prep work involved, either. None! It really is a Hands Off Way To Cook Corn! Before I give you this recipe (if you can even call it that), let me show you a little from my recent field trip!
This past Monday I has the pleasure of joining some other bloggers in my area on a Family Farm Tour of Miller Farms in Boaz, Alabama. This is a farm that has been in the Miller family for over 100 years, and has therefore earned the designation of “Century and Heritage Farm” from the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries.
This is the view of a beautiful peanut field. The Miller family grows cotton and peanuts in addition to raising chickens. While I’m personally familiar with farming from my childhood days spent on Papa Reed’s farm in Toney, Alabama, I was unaware of how high tech it has all become. In my mind, folks are still driving around on red Farmall tractors like Papa had, tilling up potatoes while the grandkids walk behind putting them in buckets. At least, that is my experience. Pretty much like the video below, this is actually very much like his farm appeared to me as a child:
But nowadays more tractors are the big green guy and equipped with GPS technology so that the farmer can actually track exactly what part of a field has been fertilized, treated, and harvested. Lance Miller said that some tractors are even capable of operating on their own, without a driver in the seat!
But then who would sing “Howdy Neighbor!” and wave at folks?
Speaking of tractors, here is Conni, fitting comfortably inside the wheel of one. Conni blogs over at Cosmopolitan Cornbread and is my local blogging partner in crime. She has only lived here 2 years and even though I have lived here all my life, Conni knows more people and more about what is going on any given day than I will ever know. She has a gift, that one. Plus, she gets out more. I’m a cave dweller :).
and just so you know, in my dreams, I drive a truck that has tires this big….
These are some of the peanuts Lance Miller’s family is growing. They aren’t ready just yet but he pulled some up to show us what was going on underground.
This is my friend, Paula, of AKA Jane Random standing looking all beautiful in 200˚ weather in the middle of a cotton field. Cotton fields are very dear to me because they feel like a connection to my ancestors. I’m sure my fond memories of them are vastly different from my ancestor’s memories of them, though. If I ever leave Alabama, the thing I will miss about the land the most are the cotton fields, especially when they are in full bloom.
This is Conni with a baby chick from the chicken houses. They were surprisingly cool and comfortable, the coolest place on the farm!
One of the saddest things for me is knowing how hard American farmers work and how much of what little income they earn goes to taxes. Logic would dictate that our government would want as much of our food as possible produced on our own soil, but logic doesn’t seem to be a factor in much these days. I’ll end my little commentary there.
Used to, whenever I went out to blog, I’d take my phone and use whatever camera it had. But this is what I’m up against these days…Conni doubles as Inspector Gadget! Knowing this, I brought a video camera and my big camera. Of course, I ended up using just my phone camera but hey, I put the thought into it at least.
This is Lance explaining to us how some of the machinery works. It’s amazing how all of this stuff works. I asked Lance if any training was offered when you purchased the equipment but he said he just sat down with the manual.
Man, I want a tractor.
We ended the tour with a wonderful lunch of fresh, seasonal food and that is where this corn recipe comes in. Stephanie Miller (the wife behind this operation) served this amazing corn and told me how she made it. I have never made corn in such a hands off way before and I gotta tell ya, it’s pretty amazing. I’ve had it twice in my own home this week so far. I’m usually one to add butter and salt to my corn but making it this way, I add nothing!
We left with lots of fresh picked corn, goodie baskets, and an even greater appreciation for the American Farmer. They really are a rare breed that, in many ways, have to swim upstream in order to be able to provide us with the simple resource of food in this country. If at all possible and as much as you are able, it is always wise to support your local farmer and try to build a relationship through buying person to person on a local level. I encourage you to seek out local sources and let me know what you are able to provide for your table in this way!
Ingredients
- Corn. Fresh unshucked, untouched just like it comes from the field.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚.
- Place corn on a baking sheet or directly on the oven rack.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Special thanks to my friends at Alabama Farmers Federation for inviting me to this wonderful tour! We’ve been members of ALFA for as long as I can remember and they have taken good care of us.
“Know your food, know your farmers, and know your kitchen.”
~Joel Salatin
Disclaimer: I was not compensated for this post and all opinions written by me are my own.
Wonderful. I do the same by putting it in my gas grill on the very top rack above the burners. My son likes it a little burnt so he moves his direct above the heat. It’s so sweet this time of year it really needs nothing.
If there is any left over I cut it off the cob the next day and mix it in with pancake batter. It’s such a little thing but such a great treat.
What a great idea Tom!!! I am going to have to try your pancakes!!
If you don’t want to heat up the kitchen take the corn and put it in the microwave for about 3 minutes per ear of corn and you have the best tasting corn. I cook it that way all the time. Leave it in the husk. Yummy!!!!!
I like it that way as well Linda!!
Brought back good memories. When I was a kid we had a team of horses, Danny and Tommy, to do the hard stuff. To do the planting my job was to ride on the piece of equipment that dropped the kernels in the ground, had nothing to sit on but a metal seat. OOOWEEE was my little hiney sore by the end of the day. As we started down the row I pulled the trigger to let the kernels drop, at the end of the row let go of the trigger until the “boys” turned down the next row. They didn’t need any direction at all, had done it so long that it was second nature.
Riding them was a trip, put a bridle on one and he would only go to the end of the driveway, had to turn around and let the other one loose to follow. They had worked as a team so long one wouldn’t go anywhere without the other. Must have been quite a sight, me riding one horse with another following closely behind.
Used to get the water boiling, run out to the field to gather the fresh corn and pop it in the water within just a few seconds, so sweet and good that it didn’t need ANYTHING, sure nothing like what we get in the supermarket these days.
I cook my corn a little differently, cut the stem end off, microwave 3 minutes, grab the silk really tight and shake it like crazy. The corn drops right out leaving the husk and all the silk in my hand.
Unfortunately we don’t have anyone growing corn around here, sure would love a nice, fresh, right off the stalk corn on the cob like we used to have, don’t know what you have ’till it’s gone….
You are so right LadyJane!! We don’t know what we have until it’s gone.
Lord sugar, where you bin? My momma did this all the time, and her momma is the one who taught her, grammy was born in Missouri and emigrated to Canada with her parents in the early 1900s. We even froze them whole and baked them from froze, pretty good tasting in mid January with 3 feet of snow and minus 20. I now trim the sharp end chop off some of the other end, pop them in the microwave for a minute, dump in ice water to cool, drain in dishrack, and bag and freeze. It lasts a bit longer if you blanch it a bit, otherwise use a vaccum bagger and its fine frozen from one season until the next. Takes a lot of room to freeze enough for the winter. I never eat corn without butter no matter how good it is. I take that back, when its very young and under ripe and you eat it raw right off the stem, no butter, because its raw and butter is not to hand. My fav wsy, is pull the shuck back, silk the cob, wrap it in bacon sprinkle with spice genrrally a TexMex blend and put the shuck back, roast on the grill. Oh yum!
Ohhh yum is right Eva!!! I like to eat the young right out of the field too!!
and at the age of 69 I found out that I am allergic to corn and corn products…I go into a coma like sleep and nothing wakes me but time…who knew…I was raised on a farm and I am also allergic to dust from a coal furnace and weeds all of which are farm staples…
My father in law farmed with horses as a young man. He used to talk lovingly of a team of black Morgans that were used at harvesting corn. The dried ears were pulled by hand from the stalks and tossed into the wagon pulled by the Morgans. They kept pace with the pickers without a driver and at the end of the row, they pulled out, turned around and entered the rows at the proper place for the next rows to be picked. The horses were the ultimate GPS system. We use the microwave for green corn and after cooking for 3-4 (depends on your microwave) minutes, cut off the stem end and the shuck and silk pull right off very easily.
When cooling for one or two I prefer the microwave and do like Dianne, cutting off stem end and squeezing out corn with no silks. No heating of house and ready in 4-6 minutes (1 or 2 ears)
Four score and seven minutes ago, I read a sweet arlctie. Lol thanks
How do you shuck and silk it while it’s so hot?
If you’re asking about shucking after cooking in the microwave, it’s simple. Hold the corn steady, wrapping a dishtowel around the small end. Then, cut off the big end, near the stalk, but make sure to cut just above the end of the ear to cut through the husks and silks.
Next, just squeeze the corn out of the husk from the top of the ear. Usually, the corn comes out easily. Sometimes you may need to help it along by pulling it out with your towel.
I just grab it with a paper towel.
Hey yall,
Some of you have probably done this but you can also soak your corn in water husk and all for a while. Then if you just happen to be grilling out (beats a hot kitchen) put it on the grill 20 min. before everything else is done and wa-la great corn on the cob also.
Thanks for sharing Greg!!!!