Popcorn on the Cob

Did you know that popcorn actually came from cob? It's probably one of the many foods you don't often think about how it's made, but you just know it's delicious and a great snack. Popcorn on the cob is just dried corn on the cob! Pretty simple, right?

To make popcorn on the cob, just place a cob in a paper bag (to prevent the kernels from exploding all around the microwave!), and pop it in the microwave for approximately 2 minutes. Let it cool, and then enjoy!

This popcorn was not as fluffy as the store-bought variety, and it kind of reminded me of corn cereals. Not all of the corn popped off the cob, and it was a little hard to pick off the popped kernels from the cob when it was done. Two cobs yielded probably about half as much as one normal sized bag of popcorn - but that's probably a real serving size. It would have been great with a little bit of butter and salt, but I couldn't stop eating it long enough to melt some butter. I was hungry!

This has definitely been one of the more unique finds at the farmer's market. When I signed up for the CSA, I was expecting to bring home some new and different produce, but I never thought there would be popcorn available! It was a really nice surprise. I wonder what will be at the stall tomorrow!

Best Thing SHE Ever Made

The view from the side

A few weeks ago, my husband and I were watching TV and we flipped to "The Best Thing I Ever Made" on Food Network. The episode's theme was Family Dinners, so everything the chefs made were big dishes that can be served family style and are pretty comforting to eat. One of the chefs, Marcela Valladolid, host of "Mexican Made Easy", featured her Corn and Poblano Lasagna. It sounded sooooo delicious and relatively simple! Instead of a traditional Italian lasagna, hers is stuffed with poblano chiles and zucchini, and the sauce is a blended corn/cream mixture (which I probably could have eaten on its own as a soup). After we saw this episode, we couldn't stop talking about how much we wanted to make and eat this meal. As fate would have it, what did I find at the farmer's market that week?? POBLANO CHILES! We were destined to make this meal, and it was oh so yummy! The recipe calls for Oaxaca cheese, but she said you can substitute mozzarella, which is all we could find in our local grocery store.

And the view from the top - look at that melty cheese!

The lasagna was really easy and delicious and it will definitely be made again, but this post also comes with a cautionary tale:

Be careful when you slice spicy peppers! Only recently have I started to experiment with peppers, and so I never really knew much about peppers or their oils. A few weeks ago, we made jalapeño poppers, and later that night, I felt as though I had burnt my finger. I just assumed that I accidentally hit the side of the oven or pan while I was taking out the peppers, and although it really hurt, I just brushed it off as nothing. Doesn't every good cook burn themselves once in a while in the kitchen? A few hours after we had finished the lasagna, my hands were in excruciating pain - tingling and burning. At first I thought I might be dying; I had never felt this type of pain before in my life! I quickly typed in my symptoms into Google and I found out that, no, I was not dying, but my hands were burning from the capsaicin in the peppers. A quick search for remedies led me to pour rubbing alcohol over my hands and then coat with a thick lotion. Although the pain didn't go away completely, it was lessened enough so that I could fall asleep. Lesson learned. Next time - GLOVES!

Summer Veggie Tart

Considering fall is about to start, it only seemed appropriate to finally post this summer veggie tart...that was made almost a MONTH ago. Have I mentioned that I've been busy this summer? Anyway, this tart was made with 100% vegetables from the CSA - remember those six ears of corn? Well, I didn't eat them. Instead, I froze the kernels and then defrosted them so that they could be a part of this delicious meal. The tart was based on Smitten Kitchen's Burst Tomato Galette with Corn and Zucchini. I used frozen pastry crust, as a shortcut, since it takes a while to make fresh dough. While Deb @ Smitten Kitchen molded the dough into a circle, pleated the edges, and overlapped the filling, I just left the dough in a rectangle and folded up the corners to make a crust. I don't think my changes made much of a difference (although, fresh dough is always better than frozen), but it was just a bit easier and faster this way. I can't seem to remember if this was served with a salad, but if it wasn't it should be in the future! This was a healthy, quick, and easy dinner - it was light yet filling. Perfect for a summer evening.