To everyone new here, welcome. I’m Elizabeth, the writer of The Delicious Bits Dispatch, a weekly missive for the curious, blending discovery, reflection, and musings, always wrapped up with a seasonal recipe worth lingering over.
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Corn stock
Deep Run Roots, Vivian Howard
The autumn equinox quietly arrived today, even as this most beautiful of Septembers continues to grace us with summer-like warmth. When the sun is shining, the basil still green and the impatiens abloom, we can be forgiven for thinking that the season isn’t quite over.
Yes, it’s true that sweater weather is just around the corner. But if you’re lucky enough to have the last of the season’s corn at hand, might I suggest you save those precious cobs and spin them into gold? This deeply flavoured corn stock is remarkably flexible and an ingenious way to enhance the taste of vegetable-based dishes. Consider using corn stock in place of water in any savoury recipe, or as a lighter alternative to chicken stock for more nuanced and concentrated flavour.
Note: You may not have the requisite 20 corncobs this recipe calls for, but make a corn soup, pudding, bread, fritters, and host a backyard barbecue, and before you know it, you’ll be swimming in cobs. With corn at its peak flavour in August, why not turn them into a hands-off stock that will carry you through the long winter months ahead? Even if you only manage to collect 10 cobs—over a few days or from a couple of meals—making a half batch is still well worth it.
Ingredients:
Inner husks from 10 ears of corn
20 corncobs, kernels removed (see Note)
1 medium onion, diced
3-5 garlic cloves, smashed
2 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
When you shuck your ears of corn, remove the outside layer of husk and throw it away. Reserve the inner husks, minus the silk, from roughly 10 ears and place them in the bottom of an 8-quart stockpot.
Lay 20 corn-less cobs, the onion, garlic, thyme, and bay leaves on top of the husks and add water to cover by one inch. You can use cobs that have already been blanched as you would for putting up corn. What’s important is that corn was cut from the cob recently.
Bring the stock up to a boil and cover. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 1 hour. Strain and reserve the liquid. Return the stock to your pot and reduce by half. If you’d like to freeze it and space is an issue, reduce the stock further and freeze for up to 4 months.
Great post. :) I'd really like to try the corn stock now too--sounds lovely!
Lovely Elizabeth! I didn't know you could make stock from corn cobs. Thanks for sharing.