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Dan Kluger’s Fresh-Corn Polenta with Butter and Herbs

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Credit: Evan Sung

Fresh corn polenta

This plain-sounding yet transcendent recipe is from chef Dan Kluger’s book Chasing Flavor , my IRL cookbook club’s pick this past month. Kluger is chef at Loring Place, a lovely restaurant in New York City that is beloved by the Kitchn team, and he is especially known for his thoughtful, interesting takes on vegetables. His 2020 cookbook is very Classic Chef, truly a Project Book, as some serious prep is required for many of the recipes, and his liberal use of butter and salt is in places eye-popping.

As I was paging through looking for something I could manage on a Monday night I saw this Fresh-Corn Polenta, which on a deeper read turned out to be actually quite simple, even on a weeknight. It goes like this:

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Zip all the corn kernels off a few ears of corn, then puree them in a food processor. Cook this pureed corn in a little oil, stirring all the while, until it thickens, like traditional polenta, into a thick and creamy porridge. However, unlike cornmeal polenta this happens fast — about 5 minutes for me. The result is an intensely silky, creamy corn porridge you want to just spoon straight into your mouth. The texture is thick and rich in a way I associate with a very luxurious custard, and mostly smooth with some delicious nubs of corn. It’s like the most pure and rich creamed corn you’ve ever had, but with no cream to get in between you and the sweet corn.

There are no winners at cookbook club but if there were, this would have been a strong frontrunner. It was simply magical. If you finish it as Dan does with a topping of more pan-seared corn with a huge knob of butter and a handful of jalapeño and herbs, I think could very reasonably be called The Corn of the Summer. The topping is truly optional however (even the butter). The corn porridge on its own is immensely satisfying and you could serve it with nothing more than a grind of fresh pepper, squeeze of lemon, or flurry of chives.

Credit: Faith Durand

Fresh-Corn Polenta

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Fresh-Corn Polenta with Butter and Herbs

• wheat-free
• fish-free
• peanut-free
• vegetarian
• shellfish-free
• pork-free
• pescatarian
• gluten-free
• tree-nut-free
• soy-free
• egg-free
• red-meat-free
• alcohol-free

Per serving, based on 8 servings. (% daily value)

• Calories 221
• Fat 14.2 g (21.9%)
• Saturated 5.0 g (25.0%)
• Carbs 24.1 g (8.0%)
• Fiber 2.7 g (10.6%)
• Sugars 8.0 g
• Protein 4.3 g (8.6%)
• Sodium 334.3 mg (13.9%)

Ingredients

Fresh-Corn Polenta

• 8 ears

  corn, shucked

• 3 tablespoons

  extra virgin olive oil

• 1/4 teaspoon

  turmeric

• 1 tablespoon

  kosher salt

For Serving:

• 2 ears

  corn, shucked

• 1 tablespoon

  extra-virgin olive oil

• Kosher salt

• 4 tablespoons

  unsalted butter

• 1 tablespoon

  finely chopped jalapeño chile

• 1 tablespoon

  chopped chives

• 1 tablespoon

  roughly chopped mint

• 1 tablespoon

  roughly chopped basil

• Lemon wedge

Instructions

Fresh-Corn Polenta:

1. Working over a large bowl, cut the kernels from the corn, then use the blunt end of the knife to scrape any milk from the cob into the bowl. Discard the cobs or save for making corn stock . Add the contents of the bowl to a food processor and puree until as smooth as possible.

2. In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the pureed corn, turmeric, and salt and cook, stirring constantly, until the corn has thickened into a polenta-like consistency, 8 to 10 minutes (the corn should be thick enough to hold its shape when spooned onto a plate). Season to taste with salt and keep warm.

For Serving:

1. Cut the kernels from the corn into a bowl. In a large skillet (preferable cast-iron or nonstick), heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the corn and cook, stirring, until well browned, about 5 minutes. Season with salt. Add the butter and cook until it begins to brown, about 4 minutes. Add the jalapeño and cook for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the herbs. Squeeze the lemon over and stir to combine.

2. Transfer the corn polenta to a serving bowl. Top with the charred corn mixture and serve.

Recipe Notes

From CHASING FLAVOR: Techniques and Recipes to Cook Fearlessly © 2020 by Daniel Kluger. Photography © 2020 by Evan Sung. Reproduced by permission of Mariner Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.

Faith Durand

Editor-in-Chief

Faith is the Editor-in-Chief of Kitchn. She leads Kitchn's fabulous editorial team to dream up everything you see here every day. She has helped shape Kitchn since its very earliest days and has written over 10,000 posts herself. Faith is also the author of three cookbooks, including the James Beard Award-winning The Kitchn Cookbook , as well as Bakeless Sweets . She lives in Columbus, Ohio with her husband and two small, ice cream-obsessed daughters.

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Source : food