Prepping the Corn for Winter

Instead of a recipe, here's a seasonal how-to post. This is exactly how I prepped the corn to freeze for winter. We'll keep buying sweet corn at the market as long as it's in season and it'll be the theme ingredient for meals. Meanwhile, I approached the guys in the worn-out brown van and asked for five dozen ears of corn. Here's the bag, sitting outside on the deck making friends with the potted herbs.

Then we went to Milwaukee to visit La Petite on Sunday. On Monday, Amigo and I got up early for an appointment and the day just flew by. Tuesday, I had training all morning and an appointment in the afternoon. Wednesday, I had another appointment, one that dilated my pupils for the remainder of the morning. All this time, the big burlap bag sat on the deck. I really should have prepped it immediately, but it just didn't happen. Thursday it rained. Friday afternoon I finally got the corn out of the bag, let it dry in the sun, and then husked the entire batch.

Below you'll see about half of the result.

Then I used my nifty gadget to cut the corn kernels off the cob. This is potentially a messy job, but I learned a trick from Kristin at Blackrock. Standing up the corncob in the center of a Bundt pan keeps the corn steady and directs the kernels to an awaiting bowl.

Next step: blanch. A few minutes in hot water followed by a few minutes in cold water stops the ripening process so the corn will taste fresh when I pull it from the freezer in January. I spread the kernels as evenly as possible on a wax-paper lined pan and insert the pans in the freezer. What you see beside the sink is about one third of the entire batch.

I was too worn out to take pictures of the final bags. Rest assured, there are plenty of freezer bags full of corn (the vacuum kind with the air pumped out) in the freezer along with the beans, peas, and asparagus.

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