Grilled Corn with Spicy Miso Butter and Furikake

Camper Mike's corn!

Camper Mike’s corn!

Ryan and I were camping in the Eastern Sierras recently at a gorgeous locale called Silver Lake (also the name of our neighborhood in Los Angeles so I guess it was meant to be).  My friend Sienna, who you may recognize as the talented artist, food stylist and Hudson Workshops founder, her hubs Dallas and their mini-them, Dakota have been vacationing there for a while so this year we decided to tag along.  And thank god we did.  This was some postcard camping, boating, fishing and hiking at its finest.

Our neighbor at the campground, a happy well-fed man named Mike rolled in with his family to celebrate his 40th birthday and upon smelling the bacon I had sizzling on the camp stove, he promptly came over to say hello.  We got to talking about food (what else!) and both quickly discovered that we were crazed for it.  He showed me photos of his homemade grilling rigs, filled in Ryan on all the best fishing spots in the area and gave us some corn his coworker grew that was kicking around in his camper.  In some ways he reminded me of my dad, in others like every guy I grew up with in Wisconsin.  I like guys like Mike.  And the corn wasn’t too shabby either.

Sunset on Silver Lake

Sunset on Silver Lake

Ingredients:

6 ears of corn

Cooking spray

1 stick butter, softened

2 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp miso (white or red)

1 tbsp gochujang*

Lime

Furikake**

Directions:

Heat the grill or grill pan to medium high heat.

To make the miso butter, mix together the butter, sesame oil, miso, and gochujang.  If you are making a large batch of this, you can use the food processor and the butter doesn’t have to be softened.  This compound butter freezes well so you can wrap it in small bundles and keep in the freezer for future use.

Shuck the corn and spray it with cooking spray.  Grill until slightly charred, turning the cob so that it is cooked evenly, about 10 minutes.

Remove the corn from the grill and rub with the spicy miso butter.  Squirt some lime juice  and give them a nice dusting of furikake.

*Gochujang is a Korean chili paste that’s in like everything they make.  It’s delicious and you should go on the interwebs and buy some if you don’t have access to it where you live.

**Furikake is a Japanese dry seasoning that has sesame, seaweed, salt, sugar and dried fish. It is traditionally sprinkled on rice which is delicious.  Clearly also awesome on corn. Again, interwebs it if you can’t find it in your town.

Sienna Fishing for Trout

Sienna Fishing for Trout

 

 

Miso Sweet Potatoes

I love sweet potatoes and yams but I’ve never understood the need to make them any sweeter than they already are.  The traditional candied yams during the holidays are lost on me, as is the casserole topped with marshmallows, though I’m sure many of you reading this think I’m crazy for feeling this way.  I like my sweet potatoes savory so what better way than adding a bit of miso?  Sweet, salty, buttery and slightly spicy are these and I’ve yet to meet a person that didn’t love them.  I make them in hobo packs for the grill but they can also be made in the oven in a covered baking dish.  Take them camping or live on the edge and add them to your Thanksgiving spread.  They taste great with cranberry relish.

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

½ cup butter, room temperature
3 tbsp sesame oil
3 tbsp. miso (white or red)
2 tbsp sriracha
4 large sweet potatoes, sliced
1 onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 lemon, quartered
Herbs such as chives, cilantro or parsley for garnish
Sesame seeds, for garnish

Directions:

Heat the grill medium over medium heat.

In a large bowl, mix the first 6 ingredients into a smooth paste. Add the potatoes and onions and using your hands mix until coated well.

Tear off as many sheets of foil as there are guests to make hobo packs (a nifty name for anything cooked inside foil on the grill or over a fire pit!). Divide the potato mixture amongst the foil sheets and close them tightly. Place the hobo packs on the grill and close the lid. Cook until the potatoes are soft and caramelized, about 20 minutes. Make sure to flip the hobo packs halfway through cooking and rotate them so they cook evenly.

After the sweet potatoes are done, open up the foil and garnish with a squeeze of lemon, some chopped herbs and sesame seeds. Guests can either eat right out of the foil or scoop them onto their plate.