I know most people think it is a nightmare, but I love doing construction on my home. It’s so exciting to plan my dream home, then work together with all sorts of people to bring the plans to fruition.
The last time I did construction on my home, I had my kitchen redone– I added a library for my cookbooks, and a full bar too. I have a wonderful architect and contractor. That architect had completed the first two phases of my home, so it made sense to use him a third time. He knows my tastes really well, so I really enjoy looking at his plans and finalizing them. He always comes up with interesting ideas, and though we have to pick and choose according to our budget, I always end up with rooms I really love.
I had redone my kitchen once before, but with all the cooking I do, especially for the holidays, it quickly became too small. My sister-in-law, her daughters, their husbands, and her two grandchildren come over the day before Thanksgiving to help. My kitchen was hard to manage, especially with all those people in it. A few years went by and my husband and I decided we wanted to put a bar in the house. After spending years of my life in the kitchen, my very kind husband told me he wanted me to have a kitchen with all the bells and whistles. I finally got my dream kitchen, and I thought that was the end of construction.
Now that we have the beach house, we knew we would have to do construction. Surprise, surprise, the kitchen had to be redone. In addition to our surprise, my architect has a home near our beach home, and he offered to do the plans for my new home too. We are still in the planning stage, but I am looking forward to watching our home really become “ours.” I have enough room for any company that comes, but the kitchen and the first floor need a little work. I am sure I will be out there a lot, watching over and managing the workers and what they do. I feel very blessed to be designing a second dream kitchen.
No matter what the size of your kitchen, this is one dish that you can cook up. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find fresh corn, so I bought frozen corn, thawed it out, and used it. It worked beautifully. The sweet corn, when combined with the chipotle chili lends itself to a wonderful sweet and spicy aroma that makes you want just one more bite. The shallots add a nice fragrant sweetness. I added some lime zest along with the lime juice which gives it mouthwatering tang, and some extra flavor. The Parmesan tops this dish off with irresistible deliciousness.
This recipe is courtesy of Ina Garten, who never, ever disappoints. It makes 6 to 8 servings, and proves that you don’t need the world’s fanciest kitchen to make a delicious side dish.
Ingredients for Chipotle Parmesan Sweet Corn:
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter
1 cup shallots, halved lengthwise, peeled, and thinly sliced crosswise (3 shallots)
8 cups white or yellow corn kernels (8 to 12 ears)
¼ teaspoon chipotle chile powder
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon freshly grated Italian Parmesan cheese
Heat the butter in a large (12-inch) sauté pan over medium heat, add the shallots, and cook for about 5 minutes, until tender and fragrant.
Add the corn.
Sprinkle in the chipotle powder, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper.
Raise the heat to medium high and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally to allow the corn to brown lightly, until the corn is tender but still firm.
Off the heat, stir in the lime juice and Parmesan.
Taste for seasonings and transfer to a large shallow serving bowl.
Serve hot.
It’s that simple!
