First Corn of the Summer

I'll admit to a healthy skepticism - bordering on superstition - of early corn; in the Midwest, you just don't eat corn on the cob before August, and only heretics and madmen would be seen wiping butter off their chins in May.

So, when sweet corn began to show up in our farmers market in April, I ignored it. My regular corn guy - the surly one with the straw hat and machete, in the southeast corner of the market - didn't have it and was somewhat incredulous when I asked if he expected it soon. This past weekend, though, my curiosity finally got the better of me, and I took home three ears of not-very-large and somewhat pale corn. In May.

And it was good! Not great - not the sublime stuff we can't get enough of in the late days of summer - but worlds better than anything coming out of the freezer case at Ralph's.

I usually soak fresh corn in cold water, sometimes in their husks, and sometimes shucked. These just got a shuck and a rinse and a light coating of olive oil and salt before hitting a hot grill. I turned them a few times, allowing them to get just a little scorched in a couple of places, then brushed on a little cumin-lime butter, our house dressing for corn. (It doesn't take more than 60 seconds - really! Microwave a couple of tablespoons of butter for 30 seconds, toss in a teaspoon or so of ground cumin, squeeze in half a lime, taste for salt, and slather it on the corn.)

Served with steaks and grilled asparagus - fat ones - drizzled with a little sherry vinegar. Not bad at all, for May.