Corn on the Cob with Ras El-Hanout, Salt and Butter

Many autumns ago, corn used to be my main meal for the final weeks of August and mid-September. Mostly eaten as corn on the cob, it only involved salt, and a lot of time spent in the boiling temperature of the kitchen while boiling corn after corn. It was all what I was eating for lunch and dinner and the natural sweetness of the corn was what I needed for that part of the year. 

Meanwhile I grew up and my tastes become more complex. Many years I just avoided corn on the cob, because too proletarian for my newly acquired preferences. Also, it was not so easy to find that countryside corn sold in the farmer's markets in the old country. A new world was opening to me and it was no place for that past any more.

However, once I settled up and diversified my life and food experiences, the old recipes and life stories were just another opportunity to share an unique story. My story.

Therefore, why not using them as a basic for just another spicy experience?

Ingredients

- 2 normal size corn
- 1 tablespoon salt for boiling the corn and another tablespoon for smear it on all sides of each corn
- 1 liter cold water
- 2 tablespoons butter, one for each corn

- 1 tablespoon Ras El-Hanout

Directions

Preheat the water at 250C. When almost boiling, add the corn and let it boil for at least 45 minutes. If the corn is too ripe, you can wait as long as one hour. When ready, take them out of the water and smear the butter all over each of the corns. Add salt and the Ras El-Hanout, spreading it all over the surface. You can use a cooking easel if you want an almost perfect coverage.

Serve it warm or at the room temperature. Reheat, if necessary, in the microwave.

A typical spice for the North African cuisine, usually mixed with couscous, this spice-mix of Ras El-Hanout has at least 25 different ingredients, among which: turmeric, paprika, salt, nutmeg, ginger, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, black pepper, cardamom, sugar, all spice, clalli powder, star anise, cloves, rose petals. Only the mention of each and every one of those ingredients stirs tasty memories therefore you can imagine how does it taste the full combination added on the corn. The butter creates a special fluidity adding a milky note.

You can also use this corn mixture as a main ingredient of a salad, eventually together with tomatoes, onion, avocado and some olive oil. 

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes-1 hour, depending on how ripe the corn is.

Serves: 2

Bon Appétit!

Disclaimer: The Ras El-Hanout spices were offered by Spice Kitchen UK part of their Brand Ambassador Program, but the opinions are, as usual, my own. Their Ras El-Hanout was a 2-star great taste award winner in 2017.

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Experiencing with Eggplant

Eggplant is one of those vegetables which are prepared in my house every couple of months but no more than once the year. It is my way to say that, in fact, I don't like eggplant as much and if not for some books which make everything simple and tasty, I would not want to deal with it at all. In fact, not long ago, there were years since I was tasting any bit of eggplant. Trying new recipes and putting my tastebuds on trial is an interesting experience anyway, therefore after a couple of weeks of thinking I decided to finally use that eggplant languishing in my fridge.

For one hour, I tried to combine one moderately sized eggplant with different tastes and ingredients. The results were satisfactory, but it was more burned smell than necessary. Not sure if I would try anything soon - maybe, finally some Babaganoush one day - as for now, I am just gathering various experiences about this mysterious and not always easy going vegetable.

Here is my short cooking story:

I started by washing the eggplant and cutting the head. Next, I've sliced it into thin rounds, allowing a fast and efficient frying. I heated 3 tablespoons olive oil in the pan at 250 for 5 minutes prior to the frying. 

I tried to use different ingredients for each batch of eggplants. I fried 3 of them at once, allowing enough space to absorb the oil. In one case, I only added a pinch of sea salt. In another I added some Osem soup seasoning. In another I added some small slice on yellow cheese on the top. Black or Cayenne pepper are also good solutions. 

From the pan, I set the eggplant slices to rest on some absorbing paper to take the oil excess out. 

As side dips, my choice was relatively simple: some plain fresh yogourt and a very spicey soy sauce. 

Despite the smoke smell, it was a relatively easy dish, with a variety of tastes. I had them in a simple way, without anything else but fresh cherry tomatoes and some avocado. 

A great meal for a lazy evening at home after a full day of work, whose creation requests a bit of imagination and taste creativity.

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