A Butter Sauce that CLINGS to the Corn?


 
R

Rita Y

TVWBB Emerald Member
I'm tired of buttering a nice fresh, barely cooked ear of corn and finding most of the butter on the plate under it. No, twirling the ear doesn't really pick up the butter.

Is there such a thing as keeping the butter and its flavor ON the corn? Or a flavorful butter sauce that clings to the corn?

Rita
 
i will sometimes put hot water in a jar with a stick of butter. when the butter melts it floats to the top. then i dunk the corn in the jar. perfectly buttered corn every time..
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Perhaps a variation on a Hollandaise sauce? One that is made without the assistance of an acid. Alton Brown describes a method that only uses the acid (lemon juice) at the end for flavor.
 
<go to closet, get asbestos long johns, put 'em on>

Perish the thought...isn't there a powdered form of a butter substitute?
That might stick...if you could force yourself to try it instead of REAL butter.

<remove asbestos long johns, return 'em to closet>
 
I'm going to put on a pair of fireproof drawers, like Charles did, and say this:

One of the only places I've ever seen that butters their corn perfectly is Chili's. I don't know how they do it, but the next time my wife and I go there I'm going to ask them what the story is. The water/butter dunk idea sounds pretty good. They might do something similar. Say what you will about the rest of their food, but the corn on the cob is beyond reproach.
 
We use the "twirl the corn on a slice of buttered bread trick"
Can't say if that helps it to cling, but it does come out perfectly buttered.

Tim
 
If you want the butter to cling, make a butter sauce - any will do. Mostly I use highly flavored mayo for grilled corn-on-the-cob but every once in a while I'll make a butter sauce, usually a beurre blanc of some sort. Rather than straining out the shallot (or chile, onion - whatever I'm flavoring with), I stick it in a blender with a flavoring liquid (lemon or lime juice, one vin or another, wine or verjus), blend it, adding a pinch or two of xanthan, then add cold butter, a piece at a time while it is blending, till I hit the consistency I want. Done.
 
It will significantly boost the emulsion you create when blending the butter (fat) with the liquid (water). And it will stabilize it. At any time - as the sauce nears or is at completion - viscosity can be adjusted by adding a touch more xanthan or a little more water (or more of the liquid used originally).
 
That and the increase in viscosity.

The increase in stability is significant n another way: it allows you to hold the sauce well, and it even allows you to make the sauce in a quantity, use what you want, then cool and fridge the rest for your next use. (You could, e.g., make a sauce base, remove some and flavor it they way you wish for today, cool and fridge the rest. Next use, remove some, flavor it differently, and so on.

Sauce beurre blanc is a pan sauce, made à la minute, meaning it's made at the last moment, when needed. Only a very small quantity of liquid is used (the original reduction of the liquid to practically nothing in the pan) because more would mean substantially more butter would be necessary - and significantly more time, if it would come together at all. A beurre blanc can simply not come together if the liquid is too much, and/or it can break if whisking is too vigorous, if overheated, if held too long.

Xanthan changes the dynamics across the board: it allows the use of a blender, meaning one can simply purée in the original seasonings/aromatics; it allows the use of more liquid; it allows stability, meaning it can be prepped in advance, held, stored, etc., and should it break, a quick plunge with your handblender will fix it; it makes the sauce adjustable on the fly, meaning one can increase or decrease viscosity at nearly any time.
 
Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions. Some were pretty creative! I'll have to stop by Chili's to taste their corn too.

Beurre blanc! Exactly what I was looking for, and having a base handy and variations for other uses would be icing on the cake, or corn, so to speak. I had the xanthan in mind but never put it with the beurre blanc.

There are plenty of classic beurre blanc recipes out there to play with, but it would be nice to see a Klassic Kruger Beurre Blanc Base and several variations for different applications.

And would I use any different approaches for grilled, vs. steamed corn?

Rita
 
I'll make a note to try to do a base (with measurements) when I get in.

I virtually never steam corn but I don't think I'd really alter one way or the other if I did. The caramelized notes of grilled corn add another dimension but not so much to alter flavoring ideas significantly.
 
Yes, I do prefer grilled corn but some days it takes too long to even preheat the gas grill for just some corn.

Thanks, Kevin. Looking forward to see what you come up with. It's always interesting — definitely never run of the mill.

Rita
 
Originally posted by timothy:
We use the "twirl the corn on a slice of buttered bread trick"
Can't say if that helps it to cling, but it does come out perfectly buttered.

Tim
Click to expand...
We used to do this when I was a kid in Indiana. The worst fights I remember with my brother was over the butter bread left over.
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I made a mayonnaise paint for corn (steamed or grilled) with some lime, smoked paprika, chipotle, and a bit of cumin, garlic, and Dijon. It's pretty good but I'm still looking for improvement. Go with an aioli?
 
Sorry I did not get to the measurements. Lost in the multiple moves...

Try an aioli and see what you think. Make it tight.
 
So many loose ends to tie when moving, and so time consuming. It's good to see you back here.

A tight aioli. I would have thought a thinner, brushable one. Maybe that's why I wasn't too excited about the brushable flavored mayonnaise I tried.

So, with a 2-yolk aioli, incorporate additional oil to thicken it, no?

If I were to use already prepared homemade mayonnaise, more lemon or lime juice would thin it. Would I add some xanthan?

Rita
 
Yes to the first question.

To the second: True. I usually use powdered lemon juice in these sorts of things. If that is not at hand you can use the juice without too much worry as long as you don't go too thin. (I've done this many times.) I usually add some chile or another to this, or a couple, which adds at least some of the lost body. Xanthan works well though.

Paint it on well when hot of the grill, allowing it to absorb/tighten further from the heat.

I'll see if I can get to the beurre blanc.
 
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