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Corn
Green corn should not be husked until shortly before cooking. If it is to be kept from one day to another it should be put in the refrigerator or in some cool place, but to be at its best it should be picked just before it is to be used. Remove the husks and carefully take off all the silk. Put the ears in rapidly boiling water and boil five minutes. Remove at once from the water and serve on a napkin, throwing the corners over to prevent the escape of steam. Corn must never stand in the water after it is done; it becomes watery and discolored and loses its flavor. It may, however, be kept hot for a time by taking it out of the water in which it was boiled, putting it in a pan that will allow it to lie flat, and covering it with hot milk and keeping it hot in the over or on the back of the range.
A method rather than a formula: the whole point is speed from pot to plate. Modern supersweet varieties hold their sugar far better than the corn this was written for, but the timing advice still stands.
- The hinge: get it out of the waterCorn left sitting in its cooking liquid turns waterlogged and dull, exactly as described. Lift the ears the moment they are done, even if the rest of the meal is a minute behind.
- Five minutes is rightFreshly picked corn needs only 3 to 5 minutes in water at a full rolling boil. Older supermarket ears may want 5 to 7, but longer boiling toughens the kernels rather than softening them.
- Do not salt the waterNot mentioned here. Salt in the cooking water was in some quarters thought to toughen the kernels, and a pinch of sugar was sometimes suggested instead. Salt at the table.
- "Green corn"Simply fresh sweet corn in the milk stage, as opposed to dried field corn. Nothing to do with colour.
- Serving on a napkinA folded linen napkin in a basket or on a platter, with the corners flipped over the ears to trap steam. A clean tea towel does the same job and is worth the trouble for a crowd.
- The hot-milk holdEars laid flat in a single layer, covered with hot milk, kept hot in the oven or at the back of the range as the recipe directs. No temperature is given. It is a short-term hold only; beyond that the kernels soften and the milk skins over.
- FreshnessLeaving the husks on until cooking time helps the ears hold their moisture, and sugar loss slows under refrigeration, so an unhusked ear in the crisper drawer will keep for a day or so, as the recipe allows.
- QuantityAllow two ears per person as a side dish, three for anyone who considers corn the main event.