So corny

LOCAL DISH | SHELLEY HANDLER

The longest relationship in my life has been with corn. Milk and I started very early on, but we parted ways after one too many Carnation Instant Breakfasts in my senior year of high school. But corn, we’ve been tight since I had the teeth to chew it.

My mother, not Mormon but Utah-born and raised, brought a no-frills approach to getting it on the plate: cover the kitchen table with a couple of pages of last week’s newspaper, shuck the corn on the paper, roll the excess up neat and tight, toss that in the trash, and the corn into a large pot of fiercely boiling, liberally salted water. Give the corn five minutes or so, and deliver it dripping to the dinner table, where my sisters and I would go at it with margarine, and salt, using handy little corn-shaped holders. (I discovered the joys of actual butter after I left home.)

I also learned, once I was on my own and working in “don’t mess with perfection” kitchens, that less is more. And at 12 cents an ear at that Marina supermarket once known as a great place to meet singles, I can splurge on the other elements that make this corn-forward salad, salsa, gazpacho garnish, or whatever you might call it, irresistible. On your nachos? Scrambled eggs? Straight out of the fridge at 3 a.m.? It’s your call, my friend. Only you can say what, if anything, is too corny.

Fresh Corn, Peppers and Mint “Salad”

2 cups raw corn kernels, cut from the cob
¾ cup long sweet pepper, orange, cut in ¼-inch dice
¾ cup long sweet pepper, red, cut in ¼-inch dice
1/2 cup red onion, cut in ¼-inch dice
1 ½ tablespoons fresh mint leaves finely minced (use kitchen scissors)
2-3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar, or freshly squeezed lime juice
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste

Shuck corn, making sure to remove all visible cornsilk. Holding the stalk end of the cob upright, with the other end touching the center of a wide and flat bowl, cut the kernels from the cob, using a downward sawing motion, making sure to avoid cutting into the cob.

Cut the peppers in half lengthwise, removing the pith and seeds. Cut the peppers widthwise into ¼ inch wide strips, and cut those into ¼-inch squares. 

Slice the red onion into ¼-inch cubes.

Add the cut peppers and sliced onion to the corn. 

Gently wash the mint and pat dry between several paper towels. Stack the leaves, and holding them in one hand, snip them in to very small pieces using kitchen scissors over the corn mixture. 

Add the vinegar or lime juice, oil and salt, and stir very gently and thoroughly until all the ingredients are well mixed. Adjust for taste and spoon it in or on anything that suits your fancy.

Shelley Handler, a longtime local who was the first head chef at the legendary Chez Panisse Cafe in Berkeley and an instructor at the California Culinary Academy, now teaches her neighbors, in their own kitchens, to cook better. Contact her through her website.