Butter-Poached Corn with Egg Noodles | Everyday Dorie

There are some recipes which are so good you’ll vary it, reinvent it over and over again. This is one of them: the butter-poached corn with egg noodles. And there is also a story to tell.

I made a variation of this with homemade squid-ink noodles three weeks into the pandemic in 2020. I posted it on Cook-the-Books-Fridays then and Chez Nana even commented on it. Those were the days — the good, the bad, the deeply affecting and unsettling time that was.

Fast forward to the end of August 2022. I’ve been to several destination weddings, domestic and international, since early in the summer. First, masks were off everywhere I went. Plane ticket prices have skyrocketed, and so is an ear of corn. Fresh corn in the farmers market now costs $1 a piece. For a long time, the norm has been 50 cents a piece, and no more. I know my corn prices well because they are my favorite things to eat during the summer season. Invariably, corn shows up in everything I make — in savory dishes, soups, sauces, salsas or desserts.

Revisiting the dish at the current sunnier time, the use of farm fresh corns is a no brainer. They’re naturally sweet, when newly harvested and none of the starchiness. In addition, there is no limitation in the frequency of grocery-store visits, unlike in 2020. So no ingredient is spared, including crème fraîche. In the end, I can’t tell how many times my husband said wow as he tasted the dish. Too many to count!

Poaching the corn kernels in butter is the defining method in the recipe. Guess what? Making it is breezy and easy! Melt butter (Dorie uses 4 tablespoons or half a stick of butter for each cup of corn kernels, I prefer less) and a few tablespoons of water; stir in the corn. Let it simmer for several minutes longer until the corn is crisply tender. Set aside. Don’t hesitate to make more poached corn than you need.

The butter poached corn tastes incredible. Butter, together with the lemon-flavored crème fraîche, accentuate the luscious creamy essence of the dish. I’ll make the butter-poached corn with egg noodles again — and again. It’s sublime, especially with fresh corn. No substitution, please, not in the summer.

Print Recipe

Butter-Poached Corn with Egg Noodles

By Dorie Greenspan – Serves: 6

This is Dorie Greenspan's take on a splendid dish that she had at Rich Table in San Francisco.

Ingredients

• 4 ears of corn, husked
• 1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons; 6 ounces; 170 grams) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) water
• Fine sea salt
• One 12-ounce (340-gram) package medium-width egg noodles
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) crème fraîche or sour cream
• About 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1 pound (454 grams) cooked seafood, such as lobster, shrimp, scallops or squid, cut into bite-size morsels, warm or at room temperature (optional)
• 1/2 cup (20 grams) snipped or chopped fresh herbs, such as chives, parsley, basil and/or tarragon

Instructions

1

Cut the corn kernels off the cobs (here's a quick way to do it).

2

Put a large saucepan over low heat and stir in the butter, water and 1/2 teaspoon salt. When the butter is melted, add the corn and cook, stirring occasionally, until it's crisp-tender, about 5 to 8 minutes. Don't let the butter boil and separate! You want to see a few simmer-bubbles here and there. Scrape the corn out into a bowl. (You can cook the corn a day ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator.)

3

Cook the noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water according to the package directions — you want them to be a little softer than al dente.

4

While the noodles are cooking, stir the crème fraîche or sour cream together with a little of the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Taste and add more juice until you get a cream that’s slightly tart.

5

About 2 minutes before the noodles are ready, put the buttery corn in a skillet large enough to hold it and the noodles and warm over medium heat, stirring all the while and again being careful not to let the butter boil.

6

Drain the pasta, shake off as much water as you can, and add it to the skillet. Stir everything together so that the pasta is evenly coated with butter. Taste for salt and pepper, then remove from the heat. Turn the noodles and corn into a serving bowl and scatter over the seafood, if you've got it. Top with the cream and finish with the herbs.

Notes

https://doriegreenspan.bulletin.com/531619911429043/