Blue Palate

Photo credit: jmacphoto.com

A Dutch friend of mine once said he was appalled that Americans eat corn on-the-cob. “That’s what pigs eat,” he said. If that’s true, Dutch pigs must be happy pigs, because there’s nothing tastier ear of sweet summer corn slathered in butter and salt. Oink, oink.

Summer means sweet corn and cheap corn. My parents would buy it by the bushels in August and my dad would boil it, cut it from the cob, and freeze it. We ate like it was summer until November, about the time my Dad would announce we were eating the last bag. We savored the buttery sweetness, knowing we wouldn’t experience it for another nine months.

Feeling like I haven’t had my corn fix this summer, I bought three ears for a dollar and remixed a Cook’s Illustrated recipe for Black Bean and Corn Salad. Cook’s warned not to even attempt to use frozen or canned corn, as only fresh would do. Amen. Here’s my version:

Black Bean, Avocado and Corn Salad

3 ears of sweet corn
1 can of black beans
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes or 4-5 small tomatoes sliced into wedges
1 cup diced onion or scallion
2 tbsp chopped pickled jalapeno or 1 fresh jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1 avocado, chopped

Dressing:
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, diced or pressed
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
ground black pepper to taste
juice from 1/2 lime

Boil the corn for 5 to 7 minutes. Cool and cut kernels from the cob. Drain and rinse beans. Whisk dressing ingredients and toss beans and corn with dressing and remaining ingredients. Serve over romaine or alone with warm quesadilla or corn tortillas, or with tortilla chips as an appetizer.

Pepe's in Santa Rosa, CA

Burritos are just about the perfect meal. They are cheap and filling and usually represent the major food groups. Put together with the right ingredients they are delicious. Only a handful of restaurants and food carts in Portland serve perfection in a tortilla, perhaps because we’re far from the border or because most the really good places have yet to become mainstream (I suspect the latter). Given the perfect burrito is hard to find in the state I now call home, any Blue Palate visit to California must include a stop at a taqueria. I always find time to lunch at Pepe’s off Stony Point Rd. in Santa Rosa, CA.

Pepe’s is a tiny Mexican food shack on the corner of a busy intersection, on the edge of Santa Rosa’s largest Hispanic neighborhood, easy to miss among the mega food stores, fast food joints, and gas stations. Some out-of-towners might mistake it for just another hole in the wall. On the contrary, Pepe’s boasts “The Best Burrito in Town.” I don’t doubt it.

If you happen to find yourself at this farming community hot spot, be sure to try their carne asada burrito. The carnitas are tangy and crispy, the tortillas made by hand. My husband Peter and I did lunch Blue Palate style and shared a burrito and two tacos, and loaded up on salsas and marinated jalapenos from their plentiful salsa bar. Perfect food.

So, burrito lovers: Where do you find perfection?