Getting an Earful

I haven't been cooking a lot recently for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that I just haven't been very inspired. When I say I haven't been "cooking," I'm not referring to churning out a steak or assembling some salad or baking a batch of simple cookies. Those are routines, or simply tasks done without much thought to the process.

I suppose that somewhere along the way, I've gained more of an appreciation for the craft of cooking... breaking things down to their essentials and then rebuilding them, balancing flavors and sensations, presentation, meal planning. With that appreciation though, it becomes difficult to get excited about making a recipe meatloaf on a Tuesday night.

This morning, however, I found a spark, which I've heard Mr. Springsteen declare requisite for starting a fire. I was thinking about corn and remembering "milking" it for the last corn chowder I made, specifically the sweetness of that liquid. And then it hit me... I'd use that as the basis for a corn sorbet.

Tomato sorbet seems to be all over the place, so there's really no reason that this shouldn't work. I imagine that in addition to milking the cob remnants that I'll blend or process the kernels in order to maximize the fluid yield before I strain the hell out of it. But, I love the questions that have filled my mind beyond that... should I lightly grill the corn first to give it an added dimension?... do I want it to be pure, sweet corn flavor or should I add something else?... salt?... a butter element?

It should be a fun experiment if nothing else.