Cooking With Maddie Newsletter #73

Sweet & Spicy Corn Salad

Hi friends!

First things first — welcome to peak summer. It’s hot. It’s sunny. I’m sweaty. I’m smiling.

I’ve had the busiest summer you could possibly imagine. We’re T-minus 43 days away from Frank and I saying “I do,” which means the last 60 days have been absolutely bonkers. All good things though — we’ve been showered by our family and friends, partied on our bachelor and bachelorette, and made all the final tweaks so everything goes off without a hitch when we walk down the aisle.

And you know how people say when it rains, it pours? Well, it’s pouring over here because on top of a wedding, Frank got a new job, and his first project is taking us to… drum roll please… the mountains! That’s right, folks. We’re moving! We’re going to be living in Fraser, Colorado, for the next year and a half. Well, actually, Frank’s already up there — which hopefully explains why you haven’t seen a newsletter cross your desk in the last two months. We’ve been busy, busy bees.

Despite the chaos that has been the last few months, it’s all worth it because we are very excited for the adventure ahead of us. We’re going to be spending more time outdoors — we’ve got ski passes, new fishing gear, and hiking shoes we’re attempting to break in; and we’re moving into the cutest little mountain condo, which we can see ourselves calling home.

But, of course, it’s hard to say goodbye— even if just temporarily — to the city we love. We’ve built a life here, a community, a strong circle of friends, and that’s hard to walk away from. There’s going to be a lot of adjustment in the coming months, and not just because I’ll no longer be 5 minutes away from my best friend or missing out on weekly dinners with my brother.

I’ve become so accustomed to the luxuries of living in a city. Craving ramen at 9 pm? Ordered. Need some fancy-pants vegetable? Whole Foods, here I come. Bored? Well, there’s probably 20 different activities going on in this city. Let’s go! Living in the mountains is going to be different — and one of the biggest changes I’m dreading is the limited variety at mountain grocery stores.

As you can imagine, mountain grocery stores do not have the same variety we see here in Denver. My days of buying watermelon radishes, yellow mangoes, and Medjool dates are probably over. That said, instead of harping on what ingredients I won’t have, I’m trying to see the coming chapter as a new culinary challenge — what delicious foods can I make with the most basic ingredients? What recipes will become new favorites because I’ll no longer have the luxury of a nearby restaurant? All those dishes I currently chose to go out for — a wedge salad, chicken pho, french onion soup — will now be the recipes I try to perfect at home.

However, until moving day, I’m making recipes with all the ingredients that I may not come by living in Fraser, and it starts with this week’s recipe — Sweet & Spicy Corn Salad.

Now, I don’t mean to brag, but this recipe might seriously be the best thing I’ve made all year. It’s exactly what I want to be eating in the summer, and I truly believe it belongs at all of your upcoming barbecues. It’s sweet and spicy (hence the name), but it’s also juicy, crunchy, herby, and refreshing. Want to go nuts? Throw some burrata in the center of this bad boy, and ooohhh, I’m salivating just thinking about it.

Here’s what you’ll need —

• 3-4 ears fresh corn, shucked and silk removed

• 3 nectarines or peaches, cut into cubes

• 1 jalapeño, sliced — you can remove the seeds if you want to minimize the spice

• ½ cup ground cherries or cape gooseberries — see recipe note below

• ½ cup leafy herbs like basil, cilantro and mint, finely chopped

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• Salt and pepper

A recipe note: I added ground cherries to this recipe because I’m growing them in the garden this year, but if you can’t find any at your local specialty grocery store, you can substitute them for Trader Joe’s ‘golden berries,’ which are actually cape gooseberries — or you can skip this ingredient all together. Don’t let not having this one ingredient stop you from making this dish!

We’ll start by boiling the corn. In a big pot of boiling water, add your ears of corn and cook for 5-7 minutes, or until done. When done, remove from water and let cool for 5 minutes.

When the corn is cool enough to handle, cut the kernels off the cob. There’s a hundred different ways to do this, but I recently saw this TikTok and tried it out, and it worked!

In a large bowl, add your corn, cubed nectarines or peaches, sliced jalapeño, ground cherries, and herbs. Cover the salad with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil — a nicer one if you have it — and season with salt and pepper.

Mix until everything is combined, and serve.

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For what’s been giving me life recently, it’s been all the love our family and friends have showed us ahead of our wedding. We’ve had some really amazing showers, and we feel very lucky.

It’s been eating all the food in Denver while I still can. Recently, we’ve dined at The Ginger Pig, American Elm, West 29th, Mister Oso, Mead Street Provisions, Bluepan, and — my new favorite — MAKfam.

It’s my garden poppin’ off. I already told you about the ground cherries, but we also have the cutest patty pan and green egg hybrid squash, loads of sugar snap peas, and some beets that are ready to be picked.

It was reading The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah for book club, and then re-reading To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It’s rewatching Sex and The City, and no, I am not watching And Just Like That. I refuse.

It’s been celebrating our friends who are also getting hitched this summer. We watched our friends Jack and Emma commit to a life together in Steamboat Springs, and this weekend, we’re headed to Glenwood Springs to do the same for our friends Taylor and Allie.

With so much to celebrate — and so much going on — I’m savoring every moment.