Recipe of the Week: Grilled Corn with Tomato Butter

Local chef, author and urban gardener, Amy Pennington lets us peek into her new deliciously healthy new read: Fresh Pantry: Eat Seasonally, Cook Smart & Learn to Love Your Vegetables for a mouth-watering variation on this old summertime favorite. Only 27 more days left until the Autumnal Equinox brings the fall season upon us (I’m already having sun withdrawal). So fill your grocery bags with juicy husks of corn and fire up those grills one more time as you try this easy-to-follow recipe. Bonus: you can refrigerate and keep the leftover tomato butter to smear later on sandwiches or just about anything!

Ingredients:
½ pint cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 ears of corn

Method:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place the cherry tomatoes in a single layer in a shallow baking dish and toss with the olive oil. Make sure the tomatoes are not overlapping and that there is a bit of room between each. Roast until the tomatoes are split and juices are condensing, about 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely.

When the tomatoes are completely cool, put them (and all of the juices from the baking dish) in a large mixing bowl. Add one stick of the butter to the bowl and, using a hand-held electric mixer or a stand mixer, mix on high until the butter and the roasted tomatoes are well incorporated. Don’t be worried if the butter looks chunky. Add the second stick of butter and continue mixing on high until the tomatoes emulsify into the butter and there is no separation between the fat and the liquid. Put the tomato butter in a small bowl and place in the fridge until ready to use.

Prepare the corn by peeling back the husks, removing as much of the corn silk as possible. Pull the husks back up over the corn and wrap the entire husk in tin foil. Do this for all ears of corn, until each is individually wrapped in foil.

Preheat the grill to high and arrange the corn ears directly over the heat. Cover and cook for 10 to 12 minutes before rotating the corn a quarter turn. Continue in this fashion—you will turn the corn three times and cook it for about 30 to 35 minutes total. Remove the ears of corn from the grill and set aside to cool. When they are cool enough to handle, remove the foil and the husks. Serve warm corn alongside the bowl of tomato butter (let people help themselves).

Bon Appetite!