A Delicious Side Dish!
Linda Rossi and granddaughter, Madison
Useful Corn Information
"As a crop, corn dominates
American agriculture, with production more than double that of any other.
Corn is planted on roughly 70-80 million US acres annually, with an annual
production of about 9 billion bushels and a value of 30 billion dollars
(production and value vary from year to year). The humble kernel of corn
finds its way into your life as edible and inedible products, including
rubber, plastics, fuel, clothing, food additives and adjuncts, and literally
thousands of other forms. Corn is also our chief crop export, with total
bushels exported in excess of total bushels used domestically for food,
seed, and industrial purposes. Over half of the crop, however, ends up as
feed for domestic livestock.
Corn production is measured in
bushels, a term that equates to a quantity equal to 56 pounds of
shelled grain (removed from the cob). A single bushel of corn
contains roughly 73,000 kernels, each of which can produce a plant bearing
one or more ears, each of which in turn can produce roughly 800 new
kernels. Each year, United States farms harvest many hundreds of trillions
of kernels, to be used as food for humans and animals, to produce raw
materials for manufacturing other goods, and for export."
Source: USDA
A typical bushel of corn weighs 56 pounds and contains
approximately 72,800 kernels. Most of the weight is the starch, oil, protein
and fiber, with some natural moisture.
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Creamed Corn
From Chef Michael Rossi
Served as a hot side dish
with meat or poultry
Ingredients
8 ears - Fresh Corn, Yellow or white on the Cobb,
husks removed and cleaned of silk (Frozen Corn on the Cobb can be
substituted 8 ounces - Heavy Cream 1 each - Yellow Onion (small diced) 1 each - Celery (small diced) 1 each - Carrot, small, peeled and diced 1 ounce - Extra Virgin Olive Oil to taste - Salt and Pepper
Preparation
Divide the corn in half, cutting the kernels off of four of
the ears and grating the other four ears.
In a medium saucepot, add the olive oil and sauté the
onion, carrot and celery for 2 minutes over medium heat.
Add the corn kernels and sauté for another minute.
Next add the grated corn puree and heavy cream and allow to
reduce until mixture thickens, about 7-10 minutes.
Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
Serves 6
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Friendly PageWhat can be extracted from a bushel of corn?
32 Pounds
of Starch
OR
33 Pounds of Sweetener
OR
2.5 Gallons of Fuel Ethanol
AND
11.4 Pounds of 20% Gluten Feed
AND
3 Pounds of 60% Gluten Meal
AND
1.6 Pounds of Corn Oil
Souce:
Ohio Corn |
Interesting Facts!
Columbus did not realize
that the gift of maize was far more valuable than
the spices or gold he hoped to find. He had no way of
knowing
that the history of maize traced back some 8,000 years or that it
represented the most remarkable plant breeding accomplishment of all
time.
He might have been embarrassed if
he had understood that then, as now, this plant developed by peoples he
judged poor and uncivilized far outstripped in productivity any of the
cereals bred by Old World farmers --wheat, rice, sorghum, barley, and
rye.
Were he alive today, he would certainly be astonished to see the
extent to which the advent of maize has affected land use, food
production, cuisine, and population growth around the world.
Walton Galinat, 1992, "Chilliesto
Chocolate |
