Oven Corn on the Cob with Molasses Cilantro butter

  Nope... I have drifted off into the wild blue blog-o-sphere.  I'm still here!  I've had a few rough months and blogging is the last thing I've had on my mind.  I've got yet another surgery coming up this Tuesday and hopefully that will bring me some much needed relief from pain.
I'm still facing eating challenges but its slowly improving.  I've not done much cooking... lack of appetite, pain and eating issues just killed my desire.  Unfortunately, its also played havoc on our finances!  Time for me to get my but in gear and start making meals for the family again and staying on budget.
Yesterday was another hot and muggy day... perfect burger weather!  Homemade hamburgers are THE best.  I would rather have a burger cooked on the grill at home than any fast food or restaurant burger.  Maybe its the touch of my husband... man, does he cook a good burger!  I had some corn on the cob and tried a new technique; for me it was a new technique. It was pretty darn good corn!

Keep the corn in its husk and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  I just laid the corn straight on the oven racks; no sense getting more dishes dirty!  Let the corn cook for thirty minutes.  Remove from the oven and shuck.  Easy Peasy.

I was going to leave it like that but figured for my blogging friends I would go the extra mile... hey! You're worth it!  I found a recipe for a Molasses Cilantro Butter and while it looked icky (sorry, brown is just not the eye appealing color for food unless its chocolate!) the flavor was a nice touch to the sweet corn.

I found the original recipe here at delish.com    I had to substitute dried cilantro for the fresh since mine isn't growing too well yet and I really wanted that molasses flavor so I upped the amount.  
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon molasses (it originally calls for 1 teaspoon)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons dried cilantro

Combine ingredients to blend completely.  The recipe says it makes enough for eight ears of corn.  We used about a teaspoon on the butter mix per ear of corn.  We really liked the extra molasses addition but I think starting off with the 1 teaspoon and adding more to taste would be ideal for most people.

Secret Recipe Club: Crumbs and Chaos Butterfinger grape salad

 

This month I had the honor of stalking the wonderful blog of Crumbs and Chaos for my Secret Recipe Club assignment. SRC pairs us up with another blog which we must then challenge ourselves to make one of their recipes.

Crumbs and Chaos is a blog created by four sisters.I loved that they had an index for their recipes (look under Crumbs) and spent many an hour browsing through the recipes. I couldn't decide on one recipe, so I actually made two of them for our Fourth of July celebration: Cream Cheese Corn and her Candy Bar and Grape Salad

While we all enjoyed the creamy deliciousness of the corn, it was the grape salad that stole the show. The response went from "What?" To "Oh my gosh this is fabulous!"

I made a few changes: cutting the grapes to make it appropriate for my grand daughter and using vanilla and honey Greek yogurt, leaving out the sugar from the original recipe.



Butterfinger Grape Salad
adapted from Crumbs and Chaos
1 1/2 cups Red Grapes, cut into fourths (I did this because our grapes were HUGE and I had little ones eating)
1 1/2 cups Green Grapes, cut into fourths
4 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
3 ounces Vanilla and Honey Greek Yogurt
2 reg. sized Butterfinger Candy Bars

Directions:
Rinse grapes and cut into fourths; Place into a large bowl and set aside. In a small bowl, beat together the cream cheese and yogurt until smooth and creamy. Pour mixture over grapes and stir, gently, to combine. Coarsely chop the Butterfingers candy bars and divide in half. Combine half to the salad and stir to mix in. Top with the remaining half prior to serving.
As an added note, this recipe did not really keep well since I cut the grapes into fourths. I added the cream cheese/yogurt mixture prior to serving to keep it from having to much liquid..

Cream Cheese Corn

from Crumbs and Chaos

1 pound frozen corn, thawed
3 ounces cream cheese
1 tablespoon butter
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste ( I used scant half teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper)
paprika, optional for topping

Directions:
Cook corn according to package directions ( I like to steam mine in the microwave to retain all the nutrients!). If boiling the corn, drain off excess liquid after cooking. Add cream cheese and butter to cooked corn and stir in to combine. I had to microwave mine for an additional thirty seconds to get everything to cream up nicely. Add cayenne, salt and pepper and mix well. Top with Paprika, if desired. Best served warm.