As winter, or as it is sometimes known, the sad times, draws closer up here in Minnesota, and Southern states become more appealing, a vegetable appears to remind Minnesotans it is still the warm third of the year and to be grateful they don’t get their corn from a jar, in the words of Dolly Parton. 

As one of the more famous Minnesotans Garrison Keilor once wrote:

O that fresh sweet corn that the Lord sent down
So we know how heaven will be,
No grief, no tears, just the young golden ears
Plenty for you and for me. 
Though the road be hard and deep is the night
And the future we cannot see
Take my hand, dear Lord, and I’ll be all right
If you’ll save a few ears for me. 

You may be thinking, Oh that Garrison Keilor, please… but it’s true. Minnesota sweet corn is as good lookin’ as Minneapolis’ Mayor R.T. Rybak, as slammin’ as the guitar solo at the end of Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy,” as classic as Judy Garland and as golden as the heads of the many Swedes that populated Minnesota many moons ago. 

To give myself a break from pie and jam making, I decided to make two different recipes that included sweet corn * . One from Bon Appetit’s August issue, Roasted Corn with Manchego and Lime, and the other, Chilled Corn Soup from Everyday Food’s article about Aran Goyoaga of Cannelle et Vanille.

The first step in making the manchego lime roasted corn is to go cheese shopping, undoubtedly one of the more enjoyable kinds of shopping. So find yourself a decent hunk of manchego and a mess of limes. 

Specifically, you will need:

• 6 ears of sweet yellow corn, unhusked
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Salt n’ pepa 
• 1 jalapeño, seeded, finely diced
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 lime, cut into 4 wedges
• 1 cup finely grated Manchego cheese
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced chives
• 2 teaspoons lime zest

Rev up your oven to 450 degrees and roast the ears for 15 minutes, turning occasionally to promote even roasting. Shuck the corn and cut the kernels off the cob. While doing this, heed the magical, life-altering tip from Bon Appetit’s prep school department, which I will now show you in visual format. 

I know, right? 

Heat oil in a skillet and sauté the kernels for 3-5 minutes. Add butter, stir until melted and season with salt and pepper. 

Place corn in serving dish, squeeze lime wedges over the corn and sprinkle with jalapeño, red pepper flakes, cheese, zest and chives. 

It turns out like a more sophisticated, worldly version of the Midwestern favorite, cheesy corn. I thought it was so tasty, I added it to my binder of favorite recipes, which is starting to look more and more like Kenneth Parcell’s dream journal. 

The chilled corn soup turned out just as good. 

Rustle up:

• 8 ears corn, husks and silk removed
• 2 cups whole milk
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 medium shallots, roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 red bell pepper, diced small
• 4 scallions (white and light-green parts only), thinly sliced

Cut the kernels off the cobs, and put them in a bowl for safekeeping. Place the cobs, I repeat, the cobs, in a pot with milk and 6 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. 

While your yes indeedy corn cobs are cooking, heat oil and butter in a large skillet and cook the shallots and garlic until soft and translucent. Add the corn and cook for another 4 minutes, season with salt and pepper and add to the milk mixture after you have discarded the cobs. 

Bring the mixture with the corn to a boil again, then reduce to a simmer and cook until the corn is soft or around 15 minutes. 

Get your safety goggles out, and pour mixture into a blender or a food processor out and puree until smooth. Like really smooth. We’re talking smoother than whatever lady Carlos Santana was playing guitar for. Follow all hot liquid safety precautions, lest you receive a very not hardcore burn injury. “Oh yeah, this scar? Well, that’s from when I crashed my bike racing at Sturgis. Oh that one? Um, yeah that’s when I was making some chilled corn soup.” Don’t be this person. 

Pour the liquid through a fine mesh sieve and press on the solids withe back of a spatula. Discard the solids, season the soup with salt and pepper if necessary, refrigerate until cool and pour into soup bowls. 

Top with bell pepper slices and scallions. Delight in the praise and admiration of your dinner companions. 

* Recipes contingent on sweet corn not being eaten straight from the field/store/farmers market.