Corn Juice, Pancetta Potato Hash, Fried Mint

My new juicer means that I am juicing everything - herbs, vegetables, fruit...and now corn.  I recently had dinner at Blackbird in Chicago, a favorite restaurant of mine that I've been lucky to enjoy twice in the past year.

We shared a corn bisque with fried oysters and pancetta on my most recent visit.  The corn was rich, silky and bright yellow in color, untainted by seemingly any other flavors.  I thought about the corn milk I used to make, back when I was psychotic - I used to barely cut the kernel tops off a juicy ear of corn, and with the back of my knife, juice the milk from the corn into a separate bowl for sauces and such.  My $100 juicer is much more efficient.   

I simply tossed the raw kernels into a juicer (about 6 or 7 ears gave me soup for 4, with a usable corn puree for another dish).  I warmed the corn milk gently when it was ready to serve.  The result was a rich, buttery, corn juice that tasted like fresh cream had been mixed into it, even though it was dairy free. Now what to pair it with?

I liked the idea of  the pancetta in the corn soup at Blackbird.  After cubing and crisping it, I slowly cooked cubed potatoes in the same pancetta pan until soft and browned. To add a bit of crunch, I fried mint leaves in canola oil for only about 1 minute - the mint shatters and crisps, adding a nice fresh, herbal contrast to the rich corn juice.

Comments

[FinestChef]

Sounds really delicious. Have you tried to garnish it with chopped cilantro? I'll have to try it soon, it makes me hungry.

[Christopher]

I can't seem to determine WHICH juicer you bought?

[Brian]

I've been looking for a good juicer, any suggestions?