This easy summer dish is a taste explosion: a mix of sweet juicy corn, tangy dressing and a hint of smokiness. The squeeze of lime at the end adds another dimension of zesty goodness.
It comes from the River Cottage Australia host’s book Homegrown: A year of growing, cooking and eating, which is part cookbook, gardening guide and DIY projects. It’s divided into seasons and, as the name suggests, gives you things to grow and make throughout the year.
Corn is a summer vegetable, and West says his favourite way of cooking it is on the barbeque. He grows his own but you can buy yours from a grocer – just get the ones with the husks on.
“The way that some of the kernels turn brown and sweet, others become a little charred and pop, and the rest are yellow and juicy ... it’s hard to beat,” he writes in the recipe introduction.
There’s not much to this recipe. You’ll need smoked paprika rather than sweet stuff, which will give it an instant smoky flavour. If you cooked it over coals rather than on a gas barbie, you could also add another taste dimension, but it’s not essential at all. Serve as a side.
Barbequed corn with tangy sour-cream dressing
Serves 4 as a side
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
4 sweetcorn cobs, husks on
Olive oil
Small handful of coriander leaves
Salt and pepper
Lime wedges, to serve
Tangy sour cream dressing
125g (½ cup) sour cream
1 tsp full-cream milk
1 lime, juice and zest, finely grated
½ tsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika, plus extra to serve
Method:
Preheat a barbeque grill to medium–hot. If you don’t have a grill plate, a flat barbeque plate will also work, or you can use the overhead grill on your oven.
Shuck the corn, leaving 5cm or so of the stem to use as a handle. Pour a good glug of olive oil onto a baking tray and roll the corn around in the oil until evenly coated. Lay the corn on the grill and cook for about 15 minutes, turning frequently.
While the corn is cooking, combine the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk with a fork to bring them all together.
The corn is ready when the kernels are tender and have started to char a little. Once cooked, transfer corn to a serving platter.
Spoon the dressing over the corn, scatter the coriander leaves over the top and finish with a little salt and pepper and extra paprika. Serve with lime wedges for squeezing over.
This edited recipe is from Paul West’s Homegrown: A year of growing, cooking and eating, published by Plum, $44.99. Food photography by Chris Middleton; garden and produce photography by David Rogers. Buy it here.
Looking for more recipe ideas? See Broadsheet’s recipe hub.
