Kay Wheeler Moore

Welcome to my blog

Hello. . .

The Newfangled Country Gardener is for anyone who has a garden, would like to have a garden, or who simply enjoys eating the garden-fresh way. I don't claim to be an expert; in this blog I'm simply sharing some of the experiences my husband and I have in preparing food that is home-grown.

About the author

Kay Wheeler Moore is the author of a new cookbook, Way Back in the Country Garden, that features six generations of recipes that call for ingredients that are fresh from the garden. With home gardening surging in popularity as frugal people become more resourceful, this recipe collection and the stories that accompany it ideally will inspire others to cook the garden-fresh way and to preserve their own family food stories as well. The stories in this book center around the Three Red-Haired Miller Girls (Kay's mother and aunts) who grew up in Delta County, TX, with their own backyard garden so lavish that they felt as though they were royalty after their Mama wielded her kitchen magic on all that was homegrown. Introduced in Kay's previous book, Way Back in the Country, the lively Miller Girls again draw readers into their growing-up world, in which a stringent economic era--not unlike today's tight times--saw people turn to the earth to put food on the table for their loved ones. The rollicking yarns (all with recipes attached) have love, family, and faith as common denominators and show how food evocatively bonds us to our life experiences.

Friday, July 8, 2011

The Fourth of July corn dish that wasn’t—but it sure was on the Fifth!

This is the saga of the Fourth of July dish that wasn’t. On the morning of the Fourth, last Monday, I asked Hubby to heat up the backyard grill to prepare food for our guests. When the fire was ready, I gave him a plate of fresh veggie kabobs to put on. “That’s all?” he asked, puzzled. “I fired up the grill just for this one item?” “Sorry,” I replied. “The chicken tenders bake in the oven, so you won’t be fixing them.” I had a nagging sense that I actually DID have something else for him to grill, but I reviewed my written menu. Nothing.

Then during the week this week I looked in the vegetable bin of the refrigerator and found some waiting ears of corn. Eureka! I had been supposed to cook a fabulous Southern Living suggestion for the 2011 Fourth entertaining: Grilled Jalapeno-Lime Corn on the Cob. Terrific, I muttered. Too late. My written menu for the Fourth still lay atop my microwave. I looked again. Not listed. I had followed my menu to a T but simply hadn’t written down Grilled Jalapeno-Lime Corn on the Cob originally. No wonder Hubby had looked at me a little quizzically.

Sorry, holiday lunch guests (you know who you are). Here’s what you would have enjoyed. (We actually had had no room on our plates or in our bellies for another helping of anything. I don’t think anyone pushed back from the table hungry.) Nice thing was, I whipped up the corn dish forthwith. That same night, Hubby and I dined on it—corn that’s been roasted to perfection and then rubbed with a great mixture of softened butter, jalapeno, garlic, lime juice and zest, and cilantro.

A way-novel suggestion for cooking some delicious, different corn—a recipe I’ve already placed in my Fourth of July 2012 folder! And next year, I may be a year older, but I promise not to forget!

Grilled Jalapeno-Lime Corn on the Cob

8 ears fresh corn, husks removed
vegetable cooking spray
salt (or salt substitute) and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 small garlic clove, pressed
1 tablespoon lime zest
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat grill 350 to 400 degrees (medium-high heat). Coat corn lightly with cooking spray. Sprinkle corn with desired amount of salt and pepper. Grill corn, covered with grill lid, 15 minutes or until golden brown. Turn corn occasionally. Meanwhile stir together butter and next 5 ingredients. Remove from grill the roasted corn ears; cut them into thirds. Serve corn with butter mixture. If desired garnish with extra cilantro. Makes 8 servings.

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