Level up your experience with corn on the cob with this one easy trick!

Sweet yellow corn, at least here in the American South, is a staple summer vegetable-- and most people aren't getting the maximum flavor they could out of this most ancient of cultivars, so this new recipe aims to change that. We will spare no expense and not be particularly calorie conscious because our goal in this recipe as in all of them is to maximize flavor, even if this maximization makes the recipe slightly more time-consuming, more expensive, or requires the use of more dishes.
The first incarnation of this recipe for corn on the cob wasn't mine at all but is due to a friend whom I've known for more than 15 years, who, when we were growing up and happened to have corn on the cob at my house, would spread butter on the cob and add extra seasonings to it while still hot.

Many years later, I started to prepare corn in a two-phase method which surely was an homage, at least subconsciously, to what I remember her doing when we were growing up together.

Perhaps the most common way the average American eats sweet corn is off the whole cob. I'm not looking to change that. I'm just looking to argue that the way we prepare that corn is almost always merely an acknowledgment that corn is a blank canvas for flavor, but that's all. The average American acknowledges that the canvas exists, but does nothing with it, at the expense of tremendous variety in experiences of flavor and texture.

The solution, I have found, is certainly not one I would have recommended to have been undertaken by the elementary school children we once were but this is something that is perfectly safe for those children's parents to prepare, and for anyone to eat. The trick is to cook the corn twice.

What I've seen most often, at home, at the schools we grew up attending together, and at the colleges I attended in person, was the corn left whole on the cob was most often boiled and served; with no butter, no seasonings, nothing else.

The first cooking step will be in boiling water, but not until the corn is done. Rather, boil the corn for about 5 minutes, take it out of the boiling water, and drain the pan that previously contained the water and the corn.

Throughout the process of boiling the corn, some of it starch will have been released into the water, so when you throw away the water in the pan, you may notice it's not perfectly clear. That is nothing to worry about.

Over medium heat in the same pan in which the corn was boiled, gently melt 3 tablespoons of butter and add an equal quantity of your preferred cooking oil; we cook regularly with olive and avocado, and for this application, I tend to prefer avocado, because the olive we have is all extra virgin, and as I've noted in other recipes, extra virgin olive oil can go rancid, damaging the flavor of whatever it is cooking, when the oil is exposed to higher temperatures,

Once the butter has melted, but before it has browned, allow your favorite mix of dry herbs and spices to bloom in the fat. This spice mix is entirely customizable, with one exception. I don't typically advise seasoning the boiling water for almost anything-- corn, pasta, or anything similar-- so I will require that at a minimum, that spice mix be salt and pepper.

Blooming simply means that the fat-sensitive aromatic compounds stored in those spices will become activated due to the heat of the pan and the contact with the fat. To prevent issues caused either by the fat getting too hot or by the spices burning, make sure to keep the spices and the fat moving fairly constantly.

Once the spices you have chosen have become aromatic, after about 30 to 45 seconds, place the corn in the fat.

Now here, there are two different schools of thought just as there are two schools of with steak: turning nearly constantly or turning only once. Regarding corn specifically, I tend to be of the opinion that turning constantly gets better results than turning only once and adjusting the temperature down, never up, from medium, as needed.

Turning more frequently more completely and evenly covers the corn in the flavored fat, and allows more constant monitoring of the color progression of both the corn and the fat, allowing for better temperature control.

After about 2 minutes, pull out the corn and enjoy, being mindful that the corn is very hot: oil gets much hotter than water.

If you're particularly inspired by the Mexican street food classic "elote" in your choice of spices, then perhaps you might want to garnish with some Oaxaca or other crumbly cheese.