When buying fresh corn, the old rule of thumb was to get one ear for each person and "one for the pot," or maybe two. It still applies, now that farm stands and markets are piled high with moist, green, just-picked ears.
There is so much you can do with extra cooked corn on the cob, you might as well plan to have some on hand. A single ear will yield from 3/4 to a cup of kernels. And don't forget to keep the cobs. Collect them in a plastic bag, pop in the freezer, and you have the goods to enhance a quick vegetable stock.
You can add corn to almost anything - grain salads, muffins, quesadillas, or mac and cheese - and dress it up. Here are some possibilities you might not have thought of.
* Ceviche: Corn kernels are a welcome addition to this raw seafood dish.
* Lobster rolls: Add corn to the filling and tamp down the expense: You'll need a little less lobster meat.
* Mushroom salad: Sauté mushrooms - sliced shiitake caps or, if you can get them, orange chanterelles - with a shallot or two, add corn kernels, pile the mixture over arugula and dress the salad with a warm white wine vinaigrette. Corn and chanterelles is one of those dream matchups.
* Pasta: Go ahead, shock the purists and mess up their Alfredo, carbonara or trofie al pesto by adding corn. On the other hand, corn is not particularly appealing on pizza.
* Potato salad, egg salad: Fold some corn kernels into mayonnaise salads like these. Corn has an affinity for mayonnaise; in Mexico it's slathered on whole ears the way people in the United States use butter.
* Relish: Mix corn kernels with the pickle relish for hot dogs. If you have finished the pickles in a jar but still have the juice, fill the jar with corn and some minced red bell pepper; expect your own corn relish in about a week.
* Stuffed vegetables: Scoop out the insides of small to medium-size tomatoes, sweet peppers or zucchini and stuff them with a mixture of corn, onion, cooked quinoa, herbs and maybe even grated cheese for baking.
* Succotash: Classically the dish combines fresh corn and lima beans, but diced sautéed zucchini is a quicker seasonal partner for the corn.
* Soup: Hot soups - including clam chowder, tomato soup, chicken soup and minestrone - can be bolstered with corn kernels. With enough kernels, you can make a cream of corn soup to serve hot or cold. Corn and crab meat soup is another option (don't forget the hot sauce). As for cold soups like gazpacho or cucumber, corn is better as a garnish than mixed into the soup itself.
* Seafood stuffing: Toss corn kernels with garlic, herbs and breadcrumbs moistened with butter or olive oil, add chopped clams, and pack it all into the clam shells for baking or broiling. Or use the mixture without the clams to stuff a boned fish for baking.