So Corny - How To Cook the Tastiest Sweet Cob

Sweet Corn should be appearing in produce sections and farmers' markets for a few more weeks, so it's time to answer the ultimate existential question -- how best to cook the yummy yellow ears so they pop on your teeth and melt in your mouth?

For starters, if you're one of those well-meaning automatons who shuck and dunk and then boil the kernely cobs to mush, it's time to reboot, because there are two methods that will yield far superior results. Which one's best is a matter of taste, but both will get you humming ecstatically in a maize-chomping frenzy.

If you've got an open flame handy (a barbecue pit, chimnea, campfire), then you're best to just chuck the unpeeled puppies right into the blaze. You'll be amazed at how long corn can last when being scorched by a heavy heat. The moisture and thick-layered husk will prevent the kernels from burning for a good long time - 15 minutes will give you a steamy hot stalk with just a hint of tasty char on the tips.

If fire isn't around, here's what you do: boil some water (with no added salt ... it dries things out), turn off the burner, then drop the peeled cobs into the pot and cover. Let them poach for 10 minutes, remove, and dry in a towel. This cooks the corn but leaves the kernels crispy and sweet.

All that's left is a little corn porn eating ... munch, munch, munch!

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.