Let the Grilling Begin: Corn!

Last week, I traveled to Pittsburgh for Mother's Day. I've blogged about all the wonders of Pittsburgh food before, and I will again later this week. But for today's post, I'm going to write about the way my family always ate. Which is pretty healthy when you consider all of the starches upon starches upon meaty goodness that most people experience when eating "Pittsburgh-style."

I grew up on a lot of grilled meats, and my dad is a master at the grill. No matter what the weather is doing, he is always up for grilling. Snowstorm? Just wheel that grill a bit closer to the door. But for this trip, we were lucky to have wonderful weather and could even sit out and enjoy our dinner.

For one particular meal, we enjoyed chicken and steak kebabs with fresh corn on the grill. Here are some basic instructions for grilling corn, for the novice.

Corn on the Cob on the Grill

Ingredients:

• Fresh ears of corn
• Olive Oil
• Butter
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions:

If the ears of corn have many layers of husk on them, peel off only the first couple of layers. Do not remove all of them. Then, soak the whole cobs in a pot of cold water for 15 minutes. Be sure the ears are completely covered with water. While soaking, preheat the grill to a medium temperature.

After soaking, remove the corn from the water and shake off excess water.

Begin by pulling the husks of the corn back. Remove and discard only the silk.

Brush the kernels with olive oil or butter.

Place the prepared ears of corn on a medium heat on the grill, rotating the corn as needed to keep it from getting charred too much on one side. After a couple of turns, place the corn husk on an indirect heat (moved to the side of the grill) or on the top shelf of your grill, and close the cover. Cook slowly for approximately 15 minutes.

Carefully remove the corn from the grill (it will be hot so use mitts!). Peel the husks and silk from the top down. Once you've removed most of the silk, rise the corn under warm running water to remove any excess ash and silk.

Serve with butter and enjoy!