- Grilled corn on the cob is a quintessential
summertime side dish.
It's sweet and juicy
with that delicious smokey char.
And it's so darn easy to make.
I'd say it is a requirement
for any summer barbecue,
but I always get asked
if you should grow corn
with the husk on or off.
So today, I'll walk you through both methods,
and the pros and cons of each.
And then, since I'm going to have
so much grilled corn leftover today,
I thought I would walk you through
a super easy, farm to table style corn salad
with juicy tomatoes, cucumber, red onion,
and a whole bunch of fresh herbs.
I've got a lot to show you today,
so let's dive in.
When you buy corn at the market,
the husk should look fresh and bright green,
and the harry silks or tassels at the top
should be golden in color.
You can always pull the husk back
a little bit at the market
to make sure the corn kernels are nice and plump,
but I do most of the shucking when I'm at home.
So to remove the husk,
just grab a portion from the top
and peel it down towards the bottom,
repeating this until
all sides of the husk
are at the bottom.
And then, you just snap the bottom right off.
You might have a few stringy
bits of silk on the cob
and you can peel those off,
but if you're grilling the corn naked
straight on the grill,
they're gonna burn off anyway.
So you really don't need to worry about them.
No matter if you're grilling the corn
with or without the husk,
you'll want to preheat your grill
to medium high heat.
If you're removing the husk,
rub or brush a little bit of avocado oil
or other high heat oil
all over the corn cob.
Not only does this enhance the flavor,
but it helps to prevent it
from sticking to the grill.
If you plan on grilling the corn in the husk,
you really don't need to do much of anything
except remove any loose outer leaves,
and tear off any extra long silks
or tassels at the top
as they'll just go up in flames anyway.
And while some people soak the corn
that's in the husk in water,
I found it has a negligible effect.
So don't think it's worth the time.
I just add it straight to the grill.
In terms of timing,
the corn in the husk
will take about 15 minutes to cook
and the corn without the husk
will take about 10 minutes to cook.
And you'll just want to rotate the corn
every few minutes with tongs
for an all over char
as I've been doing here.
At this point,
it's been about 10 minutes
for the corn without the husk.
So I'll remove that
and keep grilling the corn in the husk
for another five minutes
until it's pretty blackened
and charred on the outside.
All right, so let's talk about
the pros and cons of each method.
The corn in the husk
is essentially steamed on the inside.
So the kernels will be juicy and plump,
and have a slight smoky flavor.
This is similar to grilling corn in aluminum foil,
but I didn't add that as an option
as the end result
is so close to grilling in the husk,
so I figured, why waste a whole bunch of foil?
The corn grilled without the husk cooks faster
and has a much more smokey, charred flavor
with those delicious grill marks.
It won't be quite as juicy,
but the flavor will be off the charts.
The corn without the husk,
you can eat right away.
But if you grill with the husk,
you'll have to wait a few minutes for it to cool
so you can peel it.
And then, as you can see,
it does create a bit of a mess.
Though, I would normally peel this
straight over a trashcan.
So, which is my preferred method?
I'd say 80% of the time
I grill without the husk
because I'm all about the most
robust smokey flavor.
Though, if you're celiac,
like I am,
grilling in the husk
is the perfect solution
for public grills
to eliminate any gluten cross-contamination.
Grilled corn on the cob
doesn't need much to be tasty.
I just add a simple pat of butter,
and a sprinkle of a sea salt
and freshly ground black pepper.
And that, my friends,
is how you grill juicy, fresh corn on the cob.
But before I chow down on
this entire piece of corn,
let me show you how to make
a fresh corn salad,
which is the ultimate summer side dish.
You'll need four grilled corn on the cobs.
And I'll just quickly toss
a few more on the grill.
And once those are cool enough to handle,
hold the corn upright
and use a knife to shave off the kernels.
There's lots of tips and tricks
that you can find online to do this,
like shaving the cob
in a bowl or in a Bundt pan
to catch all of the kernels.
But to be honest,
I just do it on top of my cutting board.
The goal is to shave
as much of the corn kernels off as possible,
but it certainly doesn't have to be perfect.
And once that's done,
transfer all of the corn to a large mixing bowl.
Next, slice up one cup of cherry or grape tomatoes.
I like to quarter the tomatoes,
but you can just slice them in half as well
if you prefer larger chunks.
And then, add those to the bowl.
One of the most refreshing vegetables
during the summer is, of course, cucumber.
And it's perfect in this corn salad.
You'll need one English cucumber,
which are those cucumbers
normally wrapped in plastic at the market,
at least in the US,
as they have more fragile skin.
But they're fragile skin also means
they don't need to be peeled.
So just slice an quarter the cucumber,
and then add it to the bowl.
Now, normally I'd say
you need half of a medium red onion,
but this gigantic red onion
was honestly the smallest one
I could find this week.
So I'll be adding a little less than half today,
but you get the idea.
Finally, dice half or about half of the red onion,
and then add it to the other ingredients.
And when it comes to herbs for this salad,
you can choose your favorite tender herbs
including cilantro, parsley,
basil, dill, mint, and tarragon.
They all work just fine
and help to give it that fresh
farm to table vibe.
Today, I'm adding cilantro and parsley
as I have both of those in my fridge.
And you'll need a quarter cup total of chopped herbs,
no matter which ones you choose.
For the dressing,
it's incredibly simple.
It's just two tablespoons of olive oil,
two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar,
half a teaspoon of kosher salt,
and a quarter teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper.
And I was so excited to dig into this salad,
I accidentally started stirring
before adding the salt and pepper,
but here you go.
And that's it.
That's how you make the best grilled corn salad.
To serve it up at a party or barbecue,
just transfer it into a pretty serving bowl.
And if you do dairy,
it tastes amazing
with a little crumbled feta on top.
I hope you guys found this video
on grilling corn helpful,
and I can't wait to see you
whip up this corn salad recipe.
It's definitely one to have on repeat
during the summer months.
And with that,
I'm going to dig in
and I will see you guys again
in the next video.