Recently I had corn on the cob (with ribs and salad - possibly some subconscious recognition of summer). Corn was 3 ears/dollar, so that's pretty cheap, right? Or at least, cheaper than chicken ($4/lb or so). Get home, rip off the leaves from each ear, de-silk it (NOT using Rachel Ray's method), boil it, gnaw off the kernels, then toss out the cob. But wait! Looking at the huge mound of corn leaves and corn cob, it seems like I didn't really get my $0.33 worth. Maybe I can use the corn cob in some other food, or in any way at all. Otherwise, it seems like such a waste.
Googling reveals a few bleak possibilities:
If you have red corn cobs, you can make a corn cob jelly that doesn't seem to have much promise. What else, google? Someone named Christine has a recipe for Corn Cob Stock which actually looks pretty good. I haven't made it (yet) but the problem I can foresee is that the cob will STILL be there, unused, and only a small amount of it will have been leached out to go into the stock. Isn't there anything we can do to use this thing? Answer me, google! Apparently, people used to use corn cobs as toilet paper. I can see that. Hmm... Well, the corn cob contains lots of wood and starch. Maybe we can ferment them and make ethanol? Maybe if I just grind it up in the blender, add some yeast(?), and leave it to ferment for a while, then distill it, I can basically make vodka.
So far we have toilet paper and ethanol. Any more suggestions?
well, if you like squirrels you could always make a squirrel feeder. coat the thing in peanut butter and roll it in some seeds. Great for when you need some moving targets for BB gun practice.
ReplyDeleteUse a compost pile and turn it back into dirt.
ReplyDeleteCorn is good food (very energy-dense, and the food varieties are yummy), but it uses a lot of fertilizer and leaves a lot of waste. Just from an ecological perspective, I'd rather eat something where the whole plant is consumed.