You will agree with me that one of the easiest, quickest and most effective ways to cook corn is to toast it on the grill. So, when you light up the grill or barbecue, you have to take advantage of the opportunity to add a few ears of corn to the fire that will delight everyone! If you like corn on the cob as much as I do, pay attention, because with this recipe for corn on the cob with a touch of garlic you will enjoy it like children.
It is true that making them on the barbecue has a lot of charm; but we can also cook them in the oven, on the grill, or in the air fryer . With oil and salt, with a pinch of pepper or with butter, they are a real delight and are a very complete food . They are luxurious and in less than half an hour they will be ready to accompany the salad or as a perfect garnish for the barbecue.
Today's recipe is one of my favorites, because we'll be using an ingredient that I personally love: roasted garlic . We'll use the roasted garlic itself as part of a wonderful butter with which we'll spread the corncobs and also, as an alternative, the oil that we use to preserve them in the refrigerator.
In this post you will see how to prepare the corn cobs to make them with a touch of garlic, and then how to cook them (how to roast them), because you can make the corn cobs in:
- The grill or barbecue.
- The oven.
- In papillote.
- In airfryer or air fryer.
Ready to grill corn? Let's get to the recipe!
Le Creuset square skillet grill pan
Ingredients
- Corn on the cob (one per person)
- Roasted garlic butter, or oil used to preserve roasted garlic* (the amount will vary depending on the corn cobs we are roasting)
- Salt to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
*You can prepare the corncobs with garlic butter (you can find the recipe here ) or with the oil used to preserve roasted garlic (you can find all the instructions for making it here ). It is recommended that both the butter and the oil be at room temperature so that they can be better distributed over the corncobs.
Preparation
1) We prepare the corncobs with a touch of garlic
1.1.) With oil used to preserve roasted garlic:
- We wash and dry the corn cobs lightly, and we clean them by removing the hairs and leaves (if they have any). We can leave some leaves if we are going to roast them on the grill.
- Using a silicone brush, apply the oil to the corncobs, so that they are completely covered. You can also do this with your hands, coating the corncobs well with the oil.
- We season them to taste and add freshly ground pepper on top.
1.2.) With roasted garlic butter:
- We wash and lightly dry the corn cobs, and clean them, removing the leaves or moving them back if we are going to roast them on the grill.
- Using a pastry brush or even just with your hands, spread the garlic butter evenly over the entire cob.
- Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
2) How to cook corn on the cob
1. Corn on the cob on the grill or barbecue:
- With the iron grill already hot or the barbecue running, once we have the corn cobs prepared (either with the roasted garlic oil or with the roasted garlic butter), we just have to place them directly on the grill.
- We will roast them uncovered and we will have to turn them frequently, more or less every two minutes. We have to watch that they do not burn (but they should take on a beautiful golden colour).
- Depending on the tenderness of the corncobs, they will be ready in about 10 minutes. If they are not very tender, they will take a little longer. As soon as we see that the kernels begin to take on a dark colour, they are ready to eat.
- Serve them on the table and let them cool down a bit before taking the first bite. You can also peel them with a peeler, like this one from Chef'n , which is ideal for doing it quickly.
2) Roasted corn on the cob in the oven:
- Preheat the oven to 200 °C while removing the leaves, washing and preparing the corn cobs with the oil or roasted garlic butter.
- Once they are ready, we place them in a baking dish , in the Nordic Ware Naturals® tray . We can also cook them in the skillet , they will be delicious!
- We put the corn cobs in the oven and, without lowering the temperature, we let them cook for about 25 minutes. Just like when cooking them on the grill, the cooking time will depend on the tenderness of the corn. If we see that they are not ready, we leave them for 5 to 10 minutes more, watching that they do not burn.
- We remove the corn cobs from the oven and serve them on the table, just as they are on the tray, skillet or dish in which we cooked them.
3) In papillote:
We can cook the corncobs en papillote either in the oven or on the grill. This way they won't be toasted, but we will get a very tender result, with lots of flavour and juiciness, thanks to the internal steam generated by this cooking process. In addition, if we want to give them a toasted touch once they are cooked, we can easily do so by marking them on the grill or opening the papillote and browning them with the grill.
- If you are going to cook them on the barbecue, once you have cleaned, removed the husks and prepared the corn cobs, you will wrap them individually in aluminium foil and place them on the grill or directly on the embers. You will cook them for about 20 minutes, turning them frequently with the help of some tongs. If they are very tender, they will be ready in about 15 minutes.
- If you are going to cook them in the oven, you will heat the oven while you clean and prepare the cobs. Once they are ready, you will place them in the Emile Henry ceramic papillote dish , cover the dish with its lid and put it in the oven for about 15 or 20 minutes. You can also prepare them wrapped in aluminum foil and place the cobs in a baking dish or on a Nordic Ware Naturals® tray , cooking them for the same amount of time.
- Once they are ready, remove the corn from their packaging and enjoy!
4) Corn cobs in airfryer:
- While we clean and prepare the corn cobs, we will heat the fryer to 200 °C for 5 minutes.
- When we have the corn cobs ready, whether whole or sliced, we will place them in the fryer bucket so that they do not touch each other.
- Place the bucket in the fryer and cook for about 5 minutes. If using baby corn, cook for about 3 minutes.
- After this time, we will turn them over and cook them again for 5 or 6 more minutes (if they are baby, less time should be enough).
- After the necessary cooking time, they will be ready to eat!
Grades
- The cooking time for corn on the cob is approximate, as long as the corn used is tender. If you see that it is not so tender, a trick that will help you cook it well and without burning is to leave it to soak for about 10 or 15 minutes once you have cleaned it. Then drain it and dry it lightly before applying oil or butter.
- Don't deprive yourself of giving them your personal touch! If you like spicy food, if you adore curry, if you love unroasted garlic or if you prefer herbs like rosemary or thyme, use these seasonings to flavor and aromatize the corn. Sprinkle them on the corncobs, apply an oil to incorporate them or prepare your butters with them and spread them on the corn.
- Enjoy them alone or accompanied by a little fresh cheese, mozzarella, or top them with some cured ham or smoked bacon, they will be delicious. Also, as is, they are the perfect accompaniment to a fish or meat dish.
- Did you know that you can also give them a smoky touch to get a different flavour? You can do it in several ways:
- Cooking them on Traeger pellet grills . Their pellets made from different woods will provide that delicious smoky touch. The nuance of each variety will leave a different aroma and flavor every time.
- Using a home smoker like this one from Zwilling, which allows you to smoke them in the oven, in any type of kitchen and on the barbecue.
- Once you have the corncobs cooked, you can give them that smoky touch with a smoker gun . It is a very quick and effective method to give the smoky touch to the corncobs, and to everything you cook!
- As you can see, corn on the cob is very quick and easy to prepare. Whenever you have something in the oven or on the barbecue, make sure to roast a few. Nordic Ware Naturals® trays are ideal for this, as they allow you to make the most of the oven (due to their size and how well they transmit heat).
And don't forget that if what you want is to enjoy your corn with a touch of garlic in salads, to decorate other dishes or simply as a snack, and you want to shell the corn cobs to do so, the Chef'n corn cob peeler will be great for you. Have you seen it before?
