Black Bean, Corn and Spinach Enchiladas

This is one of those recipes, that now having made it for the first time, I can't believe that I've never done is before. Enchiladas were always something for the local Mexican restaurant to handle and it never really occurred to me that it would be such a simple thing to make them as home. Of course, any recipe can be made complicated, and I've sure there are ways of making enchiladas that would require a dozen more ingredients and half a day of work, but having tasted these I see no reason to do much more than what I've got here. 

The only thing I will probably try net time is to add some shredded chicken or beef to see what these are like as a non-vegetarian version. I suppose the one thing I did do here to make things a bit more complex was making the sauce from scratch (could have just bought a can of it at the store) but in truth it was not that much more work and I always prefer to serve a homemade sauce over store bought.

As for the filling, I had spinach to use so I googled "spinach enchiladas" and ended up on the recipe linked below. The beans give a nice meatiness to the dish and combine very well with the spinach. The addition of corn (I used some of the kernels I had frozen from fresh ears several weeks back) adds a bit of sweetness and crunch. 

I do think the ingredient that really brought it all together was the cheese. Choose that well and you will be well rewarded. I went for a blend of cheddar, pepper jack and mozzarella. Top these off with a spoonful of salsa, or better yet do what we did and use the salsa verde I made a few days ago. Cook a big batch, these make great leftovers!

Corn and Lobster Chowder

With summer coming to a close and the abundant sweet corn with it, I wanted to make up for the corn ice cream debacle and share something with you all that I would actually make again. This time I thought I should stick with something a bit more mainstream as far as corn recipes go. Chowder came to mind right away because, like the corn, seafood chowders are something that I associate with summer. I know that hot, creamy soups are generally not high on the menus during the summer, but for me the association has more to do with summer beach trips. The taste of chowder brings memories of the sounds of the surf and smell of the salt in the air. The result of this recipe was truly excellent, and the only thing that would have made it better would be cooking it at a beach house while watching the waves. Ah well...there's always next summer.

Sweet Corn Ice Cream

When I was a kid, sweet summer corn was always such a treat because it tasted like dessert and yet there it was on my dinner plate! To this day, I look forward to the few weeks each year when its REALLY good and eat it as often as I can. I see that same enjoyment from my daughter as well when we give her a piece of an ear to chew on (once we finally convinced her to try it that is...). So if we already feel like we're eating dessert, why not make it official? And since fresh corn can be as good cold as warm, why not try to make ice cream with it? Lucky for me, a food writer for the New York Times had the same idea and provided a great looking recipe that you see here. The only difference is that I skipped the sauce and instead used some raspberry puree we had left from another project.

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Sweet Corn

Ingredients
4 ears as fresh as you can get sweet corn
1 1/2 cups milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
6 large egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sour cream

Preparation

Shuck the corn then slice the kernels off the cobs and place them in a large saucepan along with the milk, cream and 1/2 cup of the sugar. Put the cobs in the pan as well (breaking in half if you need to). Bring the mixture to a boil, then remove from heat, cover and let stand for 1 hour to allow the corn flavor to infuse into the milk. When the hour is up, discard corn cobs. Using an immersion or regular blender, purée the corn kernel and milk mixture then return mixture to a simmer for 1 minute and turn off heat.

In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks together with 1/8 teaspoon of the salt and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Add a cup of hot cream mixture to the yolks, stirring constantly to prevent them from curdling, then add the yolk mixture back into the pan, stirring well to fully combine. Cook the mixture over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, 4-5 minutes. Do not let it boil.

Strain the custard through a fine mesh strainer, pressing down on the solids to extract as much of the custard as possible. Discard the solids. Whisk the sour cream into the custard until smooth then place the bowl with the custard into a larger bowl filled with ice water and let the custard cool, stirring occasionally. Be careful not to get any ice water in the custard. Once cooled, remove the custard bowl from the ice bath, cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

When the custard is full chilled, pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s directions. Transfer to a freezer-proof container and freeze for 3-4 hours before serving. The raspberry puree is simply frozen raspberries that have been thawed and briefly pureed in a food processor with a bit of sugar added to taste.

Full disclosure time here: I did not like this ice cream, and neither has anyone else I've tested it on. I'm confident that I made it right because it tastes very much like sweet corn and has a nice smooth texture one expects with ice cream. In the end, the corn flavor just didn't work in an ice cream for me. Even though there is plenty of sweetness, this really is a savory ice cream, which I guess is a bit more Iron Chef than I was expecting. I imagine there are lots of people out there that would like it, and I am not saying this to discourage you from giving this a try, but I wanted to be honest with you all. I guess for now the sweet corn in our house will stay on the dinner plate. 

Vegetable Stuffed Zucchini

Prior to being overrun with various summer squashes from my CSA, I had thought of stuffed squash as a winter dish when the acorn, butternut and other winter varieties are plentiful and your choice of fresh local produce is severely limited. Its not just the squash, but the fillings as well with combinations of breads, sausage, dried fruit and other hearty flavors that one associates with cooler weather. However, with 2 pounds of week 11 zucchini still in the fridge when another 3 pounds of yellow squashes arrived with week 12, I was going to have to get past my seasonal preconceptions. 

Since I'm using a summer squash, it only makes sense to fill it with other summer ingredients, and the recipe I found not only accomplishes that, it does it with several other items I have from recent shares! The combination of sweet corn with spicy jalapeno is fantastic and black beans add a slightly meaty texture that really ties everything together. All the colors in this dish really shout summer as well, the bright greens, red and yellow along with a earthy brown from the beans truly make this dish as pleasing to the eye as to the taste buds!

Stuffed Zucchini, adapted from Spark Recipes

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Zucchini

Jalapeno pepper

Onion

Corn

Ingredients
2 medium sized zucchini
1 tsp olive oil
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 cup corn (cut off the cob of a fresh ear)

1/3 cup chopped tomato
1/3 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained

Salt and pepper
2 tbs grated parmesean cheese
2 tbs chopped fresh parsley

Preparation
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash and dry the zucchini and then cut in half lengthwise. Using a  spoon, scoop out and discard the seeds and surrounding pulp. Place the prepared zucchini shells, cut sides up, in a shallow baking pan. If they are not sitting flat, you can use a vegetable peeler to take a strip of two off the uncut side to create a flat surface.

In a large skillet heat oil over medium heat then add the jalapeno and onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, corn, tomato and black beans and continue to cook for 3-5 minutes until everything is heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper to taste then remove from the heat and stir in the parsley. Spoon the bean mixture evenly among the four zucchini halves then sprinkle with the cheese. Bake, uncovered, about 20 minutes or until zucchini is cooked through and the cheese has started to brown. Serve immediately.