by Chef Tara Thomas
AMERICAN ICONS
Riddle Me This: You throw away the outside and cook the inside.
Then you eat the outside and throw away the inside.
What did you eat? Corn of course!
Some fun facts! Corn was domesticated in Mexico over 8,000 years ago. It is a human engineered grain, a derivative from wild grass. It is the third most important food crop in the world and grown on every continent with the exception of Antarctica.
We love our sweet corn and look forward to it every summer! But, not as much as the farmers of Iowa, where it is the most important crop in the state. What could be more American than Summer Corn and Grant Wood?
GRILLED CORN IN ITS HUSK WITH CHIPOTLE LIME BUTTER
INGREDIENTS:
1 Cup (2 Sticks) Unsalted Butter at Room Temperature
2 Each Canned Chipotle Chiles in Adobo, Finely Chopped
1 Tablespoon Grated Lime Zest
Kosher Salt to Your Taste
6 Ears Corn
METHOD:
Mix together the Butter, Chiles, Lime Zest & Salt.
Prepare a grill for medium high heat. Gently pull back husks from each cob, leaving them attached at the bottom of the cobs.
Carefully remove corn silks. (The easiest way is to rub a damp dish towel over the cobs.)
Season corn cobs with salt and liberally spread the cobs with the Chipotle Lime Butter. Pull the husks back into place—they'll be a little loose, but that's fine.
Grill corn, turning frequently, until the husks are charred and beginning to shrivel and corn is tender, about 10 minutes.
Let's Eat! Pull the husks away from the corn to expose the kernels. Serve on the cob, or cut the corn off the cob and use in salads or salsa.
THE BEVERAGE PAIRING: CEDAR RIDGE IOWA BOURBON ON THE ROCKS
Let's face it...the grill and the backyard are a man's domain. What could be better than Iowa Corn Mash Bourbon on the Rocks?
Serve 1.5 ounces over a single large ice cube for the menfolk and gift the gentlewomen with a ginormous glass of Rosé.
THE ART PAIRING: Grant Wood
Courtesy of the Whitney Museum of American Art
Long before Wood was the revered painter of American Gothic, he broke out of Iowa and founded a jewelry and metalworking shop in Chicago while devoting his evenings to painting. He took correspondence courses at the Art Institute. In 1916 he moved back to Iowa to take care of his mother and sister.
The Corn Room
The Corn Room was created by Grant Wood in 1926, but lost for decades under paint and old wallpaper. It was rediscovered in 1979. The murals are beautiful with a golden patina. But the most amazing work in the room was his chandelier forged from copper and iron.
The conception of Regionalism, the only Modernist art movement to originate out of the Midwest, emerges in his mural. We can see his embrace of local subjects and native landscape familiar from Wood's mature work.
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The Los Angeles based chef, Tara Thomas has an incredible resume of experience, education and talent. In 1992, she co-founded the restaurant 410 Boyd, which became the darling of the downtown LA art crowd. In 1997, Chef Thomas founded Traxx Restaurant in historic Union Station, which became a staple of Los Angeles life for over 20 years. A contestant on Chopped, she has received many accolades from publications such as Gourmet, Food and Wine, the Los Angeles Times and NBC's Travel Cafe. |
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