Even after all these years in restaurants and on TV, Tyler Florence is still making new culinary discoveries.
While writing his latest book, "Inside the Test Kitchen: 120 New Recipes, Perfected" (Clarkson Potter, $35), he wanted to make an all-corn (and no cornmeal) "grits" recipe, and in the process realized that he could make it creamy and rich without any kind of dairy, including butter.
By skipping the step of rehydrating the dried cornmeal, Florence relies entirely on the corn itself, including the cob, which he uses to make stock. That’s a trick you can use any time of year, but especially as the last of the summer corn is still in grocery stores.
Fresh Corn Poblano “Grits”
4 ears of corn
1 large onion
3 bay leaves
8 thyme sprigs
4 garlic cloves
1 Tbsp. black peppercorns
1 poblano pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Cilantro sprigs
Coarse sea salt
Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Pull back the husks from the corn to expose about 3 inches of the cob. Place the corn on a sheet pan. Quarter the onion, and add to the sheet pan. Roast about 20 minutes, until the husks start to brown and the corn is just cooked.
Remove the husks and silks. Stand each cob on its end in another sheet pan, and holding the top, slice downward along the cob to remove the kernels. (Doing this over a sheet pan catches the kernels for you.) Set the kernels aside. Place the cobs, roasted onion, bay leaves, thyme sprigs, garlic and peppercorns in a pot and cover with water. (If you need to, snap the cobs in half to fit into the pot.) Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a gentle simmer for 45 minutes to make a stock. Place half of the kernels in a blender with one ladle of the developing stock, and puree until smooth. Now you have fresh corn “grits.”
Transfer the remaining kernels to a cutting board. Take the seeds out of the poblano pepper and chop the pepper to roughly the same size as the corn kernels. Then chop the pepper and corn together until very fine. Coat a large sauté pan with some olive oil and set over medium-high heat. Add the chopped corn mixture to the pan and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, just to sweat and soften. Scoop up some of the roasted onion pieces from the stock and add to the corn mixture. Pour in the fresh corn “grits” and 1 cup of the corn stock. Cook for another 5 minutes or so, until the grits thicken to a porridge-like consistency. If they are too thick, add more stock; if too thin, cook them a bit longer. Season with salt.
Place the grits in a serving dish and garnish with a few segments of the roasted onion from the stock along with a few cilantro sprigs, a sprinkle of coarse sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil.
— From "Inside the Test Kitchen: 120 New Recipes, Perfected" (Clarkson Potter, $35) by Tyler Florence
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