Le mais frais

I had been bemoaning the lack of corn on the cob in Paris to a friend before we went to Sweden, but since we’ve been back it seems like corn is everywhere I turn.  I’ve seen it at the market, my friend mentioned that it was all over her market, and we received a few ears in our panier this past Friday.

I used our two ears of corn in a zucchini, corn and basil risotto and in a salad with the greens, tomatoes and the red pepper from our panier as well as chicken (cooked in this sauce), black beans, jalapeños (from Stockholm) and a chili-spiked cheese (also from Stockholm).  

Though I've found fresh jalapeños in London and Stockholm, I have yet to find any of the fresh chili peppers typically used in Mexican food (habañeros, jalapeños, poblanos, serranos, etc.) in Paris.  I also have been unable to find fresh tomatillos here and resisted the temptation of buying one of the dusty 7-euro cans of tomatillos that I saw in a shop one time. Needless to say, one of the reasons I am excited about our upcoming trip to Chicago is having access to ingredients that I've missed.  Until then, I’ll keep using the dried chiles that my sister gave me for my birthday and enjoying the fresh corn while I can find it.