Popcorn-on-the-cob


We did our annual corn harvesting at Ardenwood Farm's Fall Festival this weekend. This time, all five of us donned our gloves and plunged into the cornfield. We came back with some beautifully-colored Indian corn and bright orange popcorn.

Yes, popcorn! The volunteers at Ardenwood say you can actually pop and eat it. Usually I just use the corn for decoration, but this year I resolved to try. Unfortunately, I don't really know how to do it. They hand out instructions every year and I assumed we had the paper somewhere in the kitchen. We don't.

So I tried spraying the cob with oil and sticking it in the microwave for 3 minutes. The photo above shows the result. It tastes great, but the yield is pretty low. I searched the internet but couldn't really find good instructions (I did find out that it's better to get the kernels off the cob first). I guess I'll have to ask the folks at Ardenwood. Any ideas?

3 comments:

MJ Tam said...

Wow, I've never heard of popping it on a cob so this is great to know!

:-)

Anonymous said...

According to the instructions, you have to let it dry till the end of November, then microwave it for 1 minute.

-tin

bonggamom said...

Here are the instructions, courtesy of my sister (who was smart enough to take an instruction paper with her):

Let the popcorn that you have harvested dry until the end of November before popping.

Microwave: Place one ear of corn in a brown paper bag. Cook on high for 3-4 min. Listen for the corn to stop popping. Remove immediately. Caution: Do not try to pop the unpopped kernels on the cob, as the cob will burn.

Shelled kernels of corn may also be popped in a brown paper bag, using the same cooking time.

Conventional method: Remove kernels from the cob and pop as usual in a hot air popper or in a pan with oil on top of the stove