Summer Corn and Peach Salad

peaches

A couple weekends ago, I had the pleasure to do a cooking demonstration at the Socrates Greenmarket. I did a demo last year and loved the experience, so it was nice to be back doing it again. I love Socrates Sculpture Park, and arrived about a half hour early so that I could get a tasty XXX Coffee iced coffee and sit and relax at the park before show time.

Since it was in the middle of summer, I chose to do a raw salad featuring corn, since it is at the height of its season. Fresh summer corn is so sweet, even uncooked. I chose to add peaches, also in season, for extra sweetness, with the bright flavors of lime and green pepper, the aromatic element from the fresh basil, and saltiness of the feta cheese. Everything went well together and people loved it! I was pretty happy about that. I also think it’s delicious.

meg-cotner-cooking-demonstration-socrates-greenmarket-astoria-queens

Here I am in the middle of my cooking demo. Image source: Queens Greenmarkets on Instagram.

I also learned that this demo had one of the highest number of attendees, so that also made me pretty happy. People asked a lot of questions and it was fun to answer and interact with everyone. I plan to return to the Greenmarket in the fall and make something appropriate to the season, so keep an eye out for that news later this year.

Summer Corn and Peach Salad

This salad is a beautiful combination of sweet, tangy, and salty flavors. A smoked element would also go well with this, either in the form of smoked paprika or some kind of smoked meat product, like bacon or speck. Another variant would be to roast all the vegetables—and the peaches— which would up the sweetness quotient.

4 ears of sweet corn, kernels removed
juice of 2 medium limes, about 4 tbs
1 small onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced, or 1 hot pepper, diced
1/2 cup basil leaves, finely sliced (chiffonade)
2 peaches, peeled and diced
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
ground black pepper

Juice two limes into a large bowl. Remove the husks and silk from the corn and cut off the kernels with a knife. Let corn and lime juice sit together while you prepare the rest of the vegetables.

Dice the onion and add to the corn and lime juice.

De-seed and remove the white ribs from a bell pepper, then dice the remaining pepper. If you would like to make this dish a little bit spicy, use a hot pepper and remove the seeds and ribs (keep any amount of the ribs and seeds in if you want more heat). Add that to the corn and lime juice.

Slice/chiffonade the basil and add that to the mixture. Lightly stir.

Peel and dice the peaches, and add them to the rest of the vegetables.

Stir everything together and add the feta, mixing it in until it’s incorporated. Add ground pepper to taste.

Yield: 4-6 servings

Cooking Demonstration at Socrates Greenmarket, August 10

socrates-greenmarket-j-glebocki farm-greens-potatoes-astoria-queens

This weekend, Saturday, August 10, I’ll be doing a cooking demonstration at the Socrates Greenmarket, located in the Socrates Sculpture Park in Astoria. I did one last year, which was really fun, where I prepared a Mexican Panzaella. This year I’ll be making a corn and peach salad. Yum, summer.

The cooking demo will be from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. It should be fun and delicious! Yes, there will be samples. Plus you can check out the rest of the market, which sells everything from produce to cheese, juice to coffee. The bread is also awesome. I’m definitely going to stick around and enjoy the day. The park has some works on display, too.

Socrates Greenmarket, Socrates Sculpture Park, Broadway and Vernon Blvd., Astoria, Queens, 11106 (map)

Tortilleria Nixtamal – Tortillas the Traditional Way

Tortilleria Nixtamal Sign

A couple weekends ago, we decided to venture deeper into Queens to one of our favorite eateries, Tortilleria Nixtamal.  Located in the neighborhood of Corona, Nixtamal is the only place in the city that makes corn tortillas the traditional way – they start with the corn itself, soak it in water and lime (aka calcium hydroxide), grind it up into fresh masa, and make the best, most flavorful tortillas you’ll have outside of Mexico.

“Nixtamal” comes from the term “nixtamalization”, which is the process described above of soaking the grain in a slightly acidic medium.  Just like with any other whole grain, utilizing this soaking process makes the grain more digestible and the nutrients in the grain more accessible to the body.  On a practical level, it makes it easier to grind up, too.  This process was used by early peoples in the Americas.  According to Nixtamal’s website, “There is no precise date for when the technology was developed, but the earliest evidence of nixtamalization is found in Guatemala’s southern coast, with equipment dating from 1200-1500BCE.” Talk about a traditional technique!

The corn that Tortilleria Nixtamal uses white dent corn from Illinois. It’s a non-GMO corn, as well as non-transgenic.  It’s also certified kosher.  The resulting masa is used for their tortillas and their tamales, which are cooked with lard that is rendered locally in the neighborhood.  They also use the whole corn for posole (aka hominy, a sort of soup/stew made with corn).

They make the tortillas there with a giant tortilla machine that came here straight from Mexico:

La Machine

It is really a neat sight, and la machine is the only way they can make as many tortillas in a day that they need.  Often they sell out of tortillas by the end of day.

Shauna, one of the owners, usually takes our order and always has great suggestions and recommendations.  She is obviously proud of her work and business, and will even give you a tour of the downstairs cooking space if you ask!

I’ve tried a number of dishes on the menu, and my favorites are the guacamole and chips made from their tortillas; the chicken tacos and rajas tacos; and the unorthodox Italian tamale (filled with sausage and peppers as an homage to this traditionally Italian neighborhood).  However, everything I’ve had there is extremely tasty.

Nixtamal Guac

Sausage and Peppers Tamale

I do love their tortillas and always take home a pound when I leave.  Love how the tortillas are prepared, from the quality corn, to the traditional way of preparing the grain, to the final result – a soft, toothsome delight of a tortilla.  I know I will always get a wonderful meal when I’m there.  If you live in NYC, definitely make a run to Tortilleria Nixtamal!

Tortilleria Nixtamal
104-05 47th Avenue
Corona, NY 11368
http://www.tortillerianixtamal.com/