OH, The Things You Can Make With Fresh Corn: A Pinterest Recipe and Southwestern Pizza!

I have decided.  "Why just keep pinning all of these great Pinterest ideas and never try them out?"  And so a couple of weeks ago, I started experimenting with some of the recipes I have collected.  Today I will share another one that I tried AND a favorite recipe of my own...that YOU might like to try!

First, let me say...I LOVE CORN!!!  It is one of my favorite produce items of summer.  I pass cornfields on my way home each day and, although, I try not to indulge too much due to the sugar content it has, I just MUST have it every now and then.  And so, when I found this Pinterest recipe, I just HAD to not only pin it but make it as well.

PARMESAN CILANTRO CORN

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp butter
• 4 cups fresh corn kernels (approx 6 large ears) (I used 4 cups of frozen corn)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 Tbsp lime juice
• 1 tsp cumin
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• ⅓ cup heavy cream
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• ½ cup chopped cilantro

Instructions

1. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter
2. When butter is foamy add the garlic and corn, stirring to coat with the butter
3. Cook stirring frequently for 2 minutes
4. Add lime juice, cumin, and cayenne pepper and cook for 2 minutes more
5. Stir in cheese, and then add heavy cream
6. Continue to stir so corn won’t stick to pan
7. Add salt and pepper
8. Cook corn until most all of the cream has absorbed about 5 minutes more
9. Remove from heat, stir in cilantro and serve hot

This recipe linked to www.realhousemoms.com, where they have LOTS of yummy recipes I intend to try out.  This Pinterest find was a "Double Good Find"since I got a delicious new recipe AND a new web-site to visit for MORE good recipes!

On My next next yummy recipe I want to share with you,  I also chose to use FRESH CORN! (I told you I'm crazy about corn...).  I decided to make a home made Whole Wheat Southwestern Pizza.

I always try to stay with healthy choices...even when preparing pizza.  One of the things I do is to limit my intake of processed foods, therefore, I make my pizza crust from scratch.  And hey...It's not that difficult (this coming from a girl who doesn't call herself proficient in the kitchen...).  I'm going to share with you the steps it takes to create your own home made pizza...

 I like to start with gathering all of my fresh ingredients:  corn, tomatoes, avocados, onions, black olives, pesto, mozzarella cheese and my pizza yeast packet.

The first thing I do is to make the dough for my crust so it can sit and rest while I am preparing all of the other ingredients to add to the pizza.  Also, preheat your oven to the highest temperature setting, having your pizza stone in there heating up as well.

  To make the crust, I use the recipe provided on the back of the Fleischmann's Pizza Crust Yeast:

INGREDIENTS:  1 3/4 to 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I use whole wheat flour)
                              1 envelope Fleischmann's Pizza Crust Yeast
                              1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
                              3/4 teaspoon salt
                              2/3 cups very warm water
                              3 Tablespoons oil
 I prepare it as directed and then mix this in my mixer until the dough sticks together and forms a ball.  Sometimes you might have to add a little more water or flour depending on how the dough sticks together.

While the dough is resting, I then begin to slice my veggies up...

Here is a really neat way to zip that fresh corn off of the cob.  Place a small bowl inside a larger bowl.  Hold the corn on the smaller bowl and as you zip it off of the cob it will fall into the larger bowl.

By the time you have all of your ingredients prepared your dough should be ready to roll out...

    Dust your surface with some flour and use a rolling pin to start forming your pizza crust.

Just continue to turn the dough as you roll it until you get it the desired size and thickness.  If it is a thin crust, you might have to trim it to fit your pizza stone.

Place your crust on a wooden pizza paddle.  Sprinkle it with a little cornmeal to keep the crust from sticking.  Now, poke a few little fork indentations in the crust before you begin placing the ingredients on it.  If I am baking this pizza in my oven, I like to stick it in there for just a couple of seconds and then take it out and add the ingredients.  However, this time, I was cooking the pizza on my Green Egg which gets to 1,000 degrees so I didn't stick it in there first.

 I like to use pesto for the sauce on my crust but you can use a tomato based sauce or anything else you would like to try...Be Creative!

                                                          Next, the fresh corn goes on...

                                                          Followed by the sliced onions...

                                                                           Avocados...

                                                               Some black olives...

                                                                    Mozzarella Cheese...

    And I like to put my tomatoes on top of the cheese so they won't make the crust soggy.

Place your pizza in the oven and watch it carefully because it only takes about 6 minutes to cook (less on the Green Egg...).   The cheese should be nice and bubbly and the crust brown.

            YUM!  There's nothing better than a home made pizza with fresh summer produce!