Grilled Corn On The Cob

Nothing says summer like fresh ears of corn. Here’s an easy way to cook them on your grill. I have not specified which herb to use because, honestly, you can use any herb. Corn is one of the great blank slate foods, meaning it works well with almost any flavoring added to it. My favorites are dill, parsley, cilantro, and rosemary. 

Step 1-

4 Tablespoons Butter, softened

¼ teaspoon table Salt

¼ teaspoon fresh ground Pepper

2 Tablespoons of your favorite fresh or freeze dried herbs, minced

In a small bowl combine butter with the rest of your ingredients. 

Mix until herbs are well incorporated.

Step 2-

4-6 ears of Corn, shucked and de-silked

To remove the silk from your corn, use a paper towel to rub back and forth in a twisting motion.

Spread about 1 tablespoon of the butter mixture evenly across the corn. Getting butter on your hands is gonna happen, deal with it.

Wrap each ear of corn tightly in foil.

Prepare grill. Gas grill should be set to medium heat, place corn directly onto grill in the center. Charcoal grill, place corn just off center where the heat isn’t the highest but not all the way to the outside edges. 

Rotate corn a quarter of a turn every 5 minutes. You will hear lovely crackling and popping sounds coming from the corn.

When you have rotated the corn 3 times, let it cook on the last side for 5 minutes then remove from heat. The corn is going to be very hot and will stay nice and toasty for a while as long as you keep it wrapped in the foil. I usually cook the corn up first, then cook the meat since the corn will stay hot until I’m ready to serve it. And then at the end of dinner the corn is still warm. Also, keeping it wrapped means that any leftover ears are already to go in the fridge, and then can just be reheated in their foil wrapping. 

Serve the corn as is, no need for anything extra, it’s already got all the flavoring it needs. This makes it a great party food.

#grilling#corn on the cob#recipe#Julia's eats#Easy recipes

Waffles!

Just got back from vacation, I will not bore you with the details, the hotel we stayed at had a hot breakfast where you could make your own waffles. And while they were better than the ones you get in the freezer section, I still longed for a well made homemade waffle.

Now I know what you’re going to say to me, ‘But Julia, I have a mix for my waffles and pancakes.’ At which point I will give you a bland look then toss your mix out the window. 

First of all, Pancakes and Waffles are two different foods. Pancakes are poured out onto a flat top and carefully cooked until it is a light golden brown. Soft, light, and airy, these flat cakes have the same texture throughout. While waffles are cooked in a waffle iron, giving them a crisp golden brown outside, with lots of little pockets to hold the syrup. The unique waffle batter gives the inside a nice rich, chewy feel, not unlike custard. 

You want waffles now don’t you? Let’s go then-

Step 1

1 cup All-purpose Flour

1 cup Whole Wheat Flour

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

½ teaspoon Baking Soda

½ teaspoon table Salt

3 Tablespoons Sugar

Mix dry ingredients in a medium size bowl. Do Not substitute out the wheat flour! It adds a wonderful nutty flavor to the waffles. I suppose if you don’t have any wheat flour and you were desperate for some waffles,,,but it won’t be as good.

Step 2

3 large Eggs

4 Tablespoons Butter, melted and cooled for 5 minutes

2 cups Buttermilk, at room temperature

In a  small bowl, beat eggs until smooth. Pour melted butter into a medium sized bowl, then slowly add in the eggs while whisking constantly, 

This will emulsify the butter and eggs together in a smooth liquid. 

Whisk buttermilk into egg and butter mixture.

Pour egg mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture. Stir until mostly smooth.

Look it’s so easy a 4 year old can do it. Though I confess I did come in and finish it up.

 Do Not Over Stir! Flour contains proteins (gluten) that when agitated group together to form long chains. So the longer you stir the longer the chains. Great for bread, bad for waffles.

Allow the batter to sit for 5 minutes. This allows those gluten chains to relax and ease up, making for a lighter finished product. Meanwhile, heat up your waffle iron.

Step 3

Make some waffles!

All waffle irons are different, so you just need to learn how your waffle iron works. Those non-stick sprays are great for keeping the batter from sticking.

Ta Da! It turned in to a circle! I’m just kidding, I have 2 waffle makers, cause in my house there are more than two people who want waffles at once.

Serve right away, seriously, this is key to great waffles, hence my multiple irons.

Makes about 6 average sized waffles 

Today’s post has been approved by Donkey

#Waffles#Julia's eats#homemade#whole wheat#breakfast#recipe#not pancakes

Roasted Potatoes and Oven Fries

There is an easy trick to making flavorful roasted potatoes that have a creamy center. Do you want to know what it is? I thought so, let’s go..

Step 1

1 lb Potatoes, it doesn’t matter which kind, they’re all good

Move oven rack to the lowest position and preheat oven to 450.

Scrub potatoes clean, we’re leaving the skins on.

Cut into equal size pieces. 

See the little ones are just halved and the big ones were cut into cubes. 

Rinse cut potatoes to remove the starch, this will let the potatoes crisp up better.

Step 2

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground Black Pepper

Place potatoes in a microwave safe bowl, yup, we’re using the microwave, just trust me.  Toss potatoes the olive oil, salt and pepper. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 4 minutes. Keeping the plastic wrap on, gently toss potatoes to redistribute. Microwave for another 4 minutes. Carefully remove plastic wrap, there will be lots of steam, and drain potatoes. Spread potatoes, cut side down, out on a large sheet pan. I like to like my pans with foil, it speeds clean up later on.

Place pan on the lowest rack. Let cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the bottoms are a nice golden brown. 

Serve with ketchup, cause no matter how great they taste everyone wants ketchup with their potatoes. 

Par cooking the potatoes in the microwave does a few things.

1- It cuts roasting time down 

2- The potatoes get a nice creamy center 

3- Flavor gets cooked deeper into the potatoes. You can add herbs and spices to the potatoes before you nuke them. 

4- You don’t need as much oil. A thin layer is cooked in that ‘fries’ the potatoes in the oven. 

If you want to make Oven Fries, use russet potatoes and cut them into wedges.

Make the following spice mix-

4 teaspoons Kosher Salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground Black Pepper

2 teaspoons Onion Powder

1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

¼ teaspoon chili powder (optional)

1 teaspoon dried Oregano

Mix together in a small bowl then toss 1 tablespoon of spice mix with your potatoes along with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Microwave just like with the roasted potatoes, spread out on sheet pan with cut side down. After 10 minutes of roasting, flip each fry over and continue to cook for another 5-10 minutes until brown on both sides.

Again, serve with ketchup.

Alternate cooking methods- 

Grilling

Follow the directions for roasted potatoes. Once potatoes are finished microwaving, and have been drained, spread them out, cut side down, directly onto the grill top. Cook over medium heat until golden brown.

Ketchup.

Frying

Heat 2″ of oil in a deep pan. Follow directions for oven fries, except omit the Olive Oil (you’re frying them, what’s the point). After fries are done in the microwave and have been drained, lay them out on a paper towel and pat dry, very important, oil will boil otherwise from the moisture on the potatoes. Fry until a nice golden brown.

Ketchup!

Enjoy ~Julia

#cooking blog#roasted potatoes#oven fries#low fat#homemade#Julia's eats#easy recipes