Corn is one of those foods I feel very ho-hum about most of the time. I, of course, always have a bag of frozen corn in my freezer to add to chili or rice or whatnot. But it’s rarely the main event. But when corn season hits, it’s a whole different vibe. I want corn with every meal. Too much corn? No such thing! In season, fresh off the cob corn is, like, a different species. It’s sweet, it’s juicy, it’s crunchy. And when it teams up with butter it’s game over for you. When corn is at its peak it’s tempting to just eat cob after cob with a little butter and salt for the entirety of the season. But corn is capable of so much more than that. Take today’s Sweet Corn Risotto with Blistered Shishito Peppers for instance.
French fries are beach food. At least, that’s how I see them. You might think of them as diner food or drive-through food or carnival food. But to me, they’re beach food. I used to get them, doused in vinegar of course, from beachside canteens in my youth. To this day, I can’t set foot on a patch of sand without craving fries. The craving only intensifies post-swim. These days, I’m not clocking much beach time. I’ve mostly been working on my snow shoveling technique. But I can’t help but fantasize about the warmer seasons to come. And it was during one of these daydreams that these White Bean Chili Fries wandered into my head.