This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
Finally, the Longmont Farmers Market looks—and smells—the way I remember it when I landed in Longmont last August. Last Saturday, Pope Farms resumed sentinel duty at the entry closest to Boston Avenue and their revolving roaster was once again perfuming the air with the irresistible aroma of roasted peppers. Soon the winter squash and pumpkins will be piled high but for now the table in front is loaded with sweet corn. Last week it was the popular Peaches ‘n Cream bi-color variety. It’s time to eat corn, folks; those peppers are just starting to come on and we can get to them later.
Susan Pope explained that it was their first week of the season to be at the market because the early hail damage did a number to their crops. “We’ve been at the market for 35 years, at various locations. We are glad to be back.” Stacking bags of roasted peppers, Pope multitasked, speaking to a woman ordering a case of corn for next week. “We should have sweet corn through the end of September—if it doesn’t freeze,” she added cautiously in a phone conversation on Wednesday. “We planted a second crop after we lost the first one to hail so we will have a longer sweet corn season this year. This week we will have Incredible, which is a super-sweet yellow corn variety.”
Miller Farms also sells corn at the market, and the popular “Fill a bag for $10” is an especially busy vendor. Blue Sky, the third corn vendor at the Longmont Saturday Farmers Market, also suffered with the hail and has yet to resume Saturday Longmont market sales but is eagerly anticipated.
Corn, Zea mays, of the Gramineae family, is one of the treasures of summer, celebrated daily by those who appreciate the annual treat. The most famous Colorado corn is Olathe sweet corn, shipped commercially across the country by the Tuxedo Corn Company who started growing the hybrid in the 1990’s. The town of Olathe, located in Montrose County near the San Juan mountains in the western part of Colorado, celebrates the crop that brought the town back from a financial depression with a corn festival on the first Saturday of August. The festival is over, but I’ll be on the lookout for Olathe corn in larger grocery stores through September.
All those cornfields that we see on the edge of Longmont, on the way to Union Reservoir and the dog beach, grow field corn for cattle, which accounts for nearly 90% of the Colorado corn crop. Almost another 10% goes to ethanol production, so that sweet corn you see for sale at the market is just a kernel. Don’t miss it this year.
Corn is best when prepared as soon as possible after picking—which is difficult when it is grown far away. To cook corn at home, place shucked ears in boiling water for 3 minutes. Corn can also be cooked in the microwave for those hot days when you want to conserve energy and temperature. Place 1 to 2 ears in a microwave in the husk and cook on high for 3 minutes, turning them over midway. For 3 to 4 ears, let them go an additional minute. Allow the ears to cool for a couple of minutes before trying to shuck them. The interior will be very hot. But the silk comes off completely with this method and the true corn flavor—and vital nutrients, i.e., folate, thiamine, phosphorous, Vitamin C and magnesium, about 10% of each--are maintained.
Most people have their own take on the best way to eat corn. Our friend Andy Shulman, a Baltimore native consumes ear after ear with butter and Old Bay. Or you can eat the corn like my 6-year-old granddaughter Lilah does. Having three of her front teeth missing barely slows her down. She likes it plain, without even butter or salt, and just grabs the ear and draws it across the side of her gums. Corn is her favorite vegetable and she is not letting a lack of teeth keep her from enjoying it this summer. Bon appetite!
Cuban Corn
When you have eaten your fill of corn the simple way, you can venture further with dishes like succotash, Macque Choux or Cuban corn, where you cook it on the grill in the husk until the leaves are blackened, about 15 minutes or so. Husk the corn and brush with mayonnaise or a mayo and sour cream or crema blend, and roll the slathered corn in crumbled Cotija cheese (or feta or Parmesan) and sprinkle with ancho chile powder or Tejin seasoning salt and chopped cilantro. Serve with lime wedges. Yes, it’s a lot of trouble but it is so worth it.
