Don't let the name fool you, this is hardly the heavy creamed corn people are so familiar with. We grate 2 of the cobs to release the "milk", and only add a tablespoon of cream. All of these ingredients are available at the farmer's market, so we encourage you to use local sources. Local butter will had a whole new dimension to your cooking. Serve this side dish with fresh lobster, or any other fresh fish available to you.

2 T local butter
¼ red onion, small dice
1 poblano pepper
6 ears of fresh corn
1-2 tablespoons heavy cream (optional, see below)
1 handful fresh cilantro

Heat the oven to 400ºF. Roast the poblano pepper on a baking sheet for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and place in a bowl covered with a towel. After about 10 minutes, or when cool enough to handle, peel away the skin. Remove the stem, split open, and remove the seeds. Slice the poblano into small dice.
Meanwhile, shuck the corn and remove the silk. Cut the kernels off 4 of the ears, and grate the remaining two. To safely cut the kernels from the cobs, lay the cobs horizontally flat on a cutting board, and then slice each strip, rotating around the whole cob.
Heat up a large sauté pan with the butter. Add the red onion and sweat until translucent and cooked through. Season with some salt. Add the poblano peppers and keep stirring. Add all of the corn and stir. Add the heavy cream if using, and lightly simmer until thick. Season with salt to taste (and whatever other spice entices you).
Chop up the fresh cilantro and stir into the corn before serving.

Serves 4-6 as a side dish.

Notes: Most farmers markets have poblano peppers available, but if you cannot find them, use red peppers instead.
If you do not want to use heavy cream, slice the kernels off 3 and grate 3. That way you will have more “milk” from the corn.

This homemade ketchup recipe is inspired by the flavors of the rugged Southwest. We made it slightly spicy by adding guajillo chile peppers, which you can find in the produce section of most supermarkets. The next time you have a barbeque, be sure to make this and give your guests a different kind of condiment.

3 T olive oil, divided
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 small shallot, thinly sliced
2 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 dried guajillo chiles, stems removed*
½ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ - ½ cup water
1 T + 1 tsp. molasses
½ tsp. salt (or to taste)

In a large skillet, dry toast the chile peppers until they darken on both sides. Take them out of the pan and submerge in hot water to let them soften.
In the same pan, heat up 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and start to fry the shallot and garlic cloves. Toss in the bay leaf. Add the tomatoes and keep frying for a bit more, then lower the heat and let the juices cook down a little bit. Pour in the vinegar, and enough water to just barely cover the tomatoes. Bring the contents of the pan to a simmer.
Meanwhile, remove the seeds of the chile pepper and add the chiles to the pan.
Simmer for about 5-8 minutes until reduced a bit. Remove the bay leaf.
Transfer the contents of the pan to a blender, add the molasses and salt, and puree until smooth.
Heat up the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the pan, and strain the liquid through a sieve back into the pan. Reduce the sauce until it resembles ketchup, stirring constantly, so that none of the sauce burns along the sides of the pan.
Season with salt if needed, and transfer to a bowl for serving.
Makes a bit more than 1 cup.

*If you would like a slightly milder version, just use 1 guajillo chile.

These healthy veggie burgers are made with sprouted pumpkin seeds. When raw pumpkin seeds are soaked for 6-24 hours, their enzymes “wake-up” and become active. Soaked seeds have more protein and minerals readily available for the body, and are easily digested. Pumpkin seeds are especially beneficial for men’s health. You can eat these burgers uncooked, but we like to throw them on the grill for 10 minutes.

1 cup pepitas (raw pumpkin seeds)
1 cup textured soy protein (TSP)
¾ cup boiling water
2 T olive oil
2 large portobello mushroom caps
1 ear of corn, shucked
¼ cup zucchini, finely chopped
2 T sundried tomato, finely chopped
1 tsp. ancho powder
1 tsp cumin powder
½ tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp. salt
2 T ground raw pepitas (not soaked), or breadcrumbs

Leave the pepitas to soak in a bowl covered with plenty of water overnight, or anywhere between 6-24 hours.
When you are ready, drain the seeds and press out the excess water.
In another bowl, pour the boiling water over the textured soy protein (TSP), and let sit for a few minutes to soak in.
Next, finely chop the portobello caps into very small dice. A good way of doing this is to cut them in half horizontally into two layers, and then dice them.
Cut the corn kernels off of the cob with a large knife.
Heat up the olive oil in a sauté pan and sweat the diced portobellos. You don’t want to sauté them, but just cook them softly through without getting any color.
Take the pan off the heat and let them cool.
While the veggies are cooling, grind up the drained pepitas in a food processor until they are fully ground and start to form a mass.
Mix together the ground pepitas, veggies, TSP, ancho, cumin, paprika, and salt until thoroughly combined.
Add enough ground pepitas or breadcrumbs until the mixture holds together.
Form into 3.5 oz (give or take) patties and let rest for at least 30 minutes before grilling.
Grill on both sides for about 5 minutes in very high heat (some of the burger will stick to the grill if it is not hot enough).

Makes 8 burgers

We thought that it would be difficult to find Thai basil, so we used Sweet Basil in our Drunken Thai Noodle dish. We ended up having to rename them Not Really Thai Thai Noodles. However, we have found Thai basil at the New York City Greenmarkets, putting us to shame. This is our answer, Not Really Italian- Italian Pasta with Thai Basil!

¼ cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, lightly crushed
1 Pasilla chile pepper, dry toasted and soaked in warm water for 10 minutes
1 handful of fresh Thai basil from the farmers market, thinly sliced
2 heaping tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
200 g of gemelli pasta (or fusilli)

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil with some salt.
In a small skillet heat the olive oil on medium-low heat along with the garlic. Let the garlic infuse the oil slowly for about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, drain the chile pepper of its soaking liquid, and open up along the side lengthwise. Remove the seeds. Chop up about 1 heaping tablespoon worth of pepper, to be roughly the same size as red chile pepper flakes.
Add the chile peppers to the olive oil, and continue to cook for about 5 more minutes, being careful not to fry the chile peppers. Turn off the heat and remove the garlic.
Cook the pasta according the instructions on the package and drain, reserving about ¼ cup of the cooking water.
Transfer the pasta back to the pot with the reserved water, and pour in the chile oil. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and Thai basil.
Serves 2.