STUART TRACY’S CREAMED CORN WITH COUNTRY HAM

Stuart Tracy, executive chef at Parish in Atlanta’s Inman Park neighborhood, created this recipe to take advantage of sweet summer corn. He prefers yellow corn for this dish as much for aesthetics as anything else.“Yellow, white and bicolor corn are virtually all the same as it relates to flavor and sweetness, but yellow corn keeps the dish looking like corn after it’s cooked, and not lumpy mashed potatoes or grits,”he wrote when he provided the recipe.

His recipe for Corn Stock is a great way to get every last bit of flavor out of delicious fresh summer corn. And you can make this dish vegetarian and veganfriendly by eliminating the ham.

As for the wine, Tracy recommends using any dry white wine such as a pinot grigio or vinho verde.

Want less of a mess when cutting the corn kernels off the cobs? Set your corn ear upright in the center hole of an angel food or Bundt cake pan. Then cut the kernels off the cob. Almost every kernel will fall into the cake pan instead of flying around your counter.

Shuck corn removing any silk that may cling to the cob. Cut kernels from the cob by standing the cob upright on a damp kitchen towel and then slicing the kernels off the cob using a sharp kitchen knife. Or use the tip in the notes above. You should have about 5 cups of kernels. Refrigerate kernels and use cobs to make Corn Stock (see recipe).

When ready to serve corn: in a large saucepan, heat butter over medium heat until it begins to bubble. Add shallots, garlic and bay leaf and reduce heat so vegetables cook gently until they have softened but not browned. Stir in the reserved corn and the wine. Simmer until the wine has reduced to about 1/4 cup. Add the corn stock and bring mixture to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer until corn is completely tender. Discard bay leaf.

In the jar of a blender, puree approximately one quarter of the corn mixture, then stir the puree back into the saucepan. Season to taste and stir in ham.

69 calories (25 percent from fat), 2 grams protein, 5 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 2 grams fat (trace saturated fat), 4 milligrams cholesterol, 47 milligrams sodium.

Fat Lady Baker Pumpkin Bread

We love sinking our teeth into a slice of sweet quick bread, but in the height of summer, turning on the oven isn’t very appealing. Leave that job to the Fat Lady Baker. The scratch pumpkin bread coming out of owner-baker Nancy McKinney’s Marietta shop is super moist, nicely spiced and full of pumpkin flavor. Find it at the Fat Lady Baker store in Marietta as well as the Acworth, Brookhaven, Marietta Square, Sweet Apple and Woodstock farmers markets. $6 per loaf. 2995 Johnson Ferry Road, Marietta. 770-587-3005, fatladybaker.com.

There’s nothing wrong with drinking pink, and we’ve found just the bottle for chilling out in this scorching hot weather. A blend of grenache and syrah, Mas de Boislauzon La Chaussynette Rose is a certified biodynamic rose that hails from the Cotes du Rhone. Between its vibrant hue and bright notes of berries balanced with citrus-y zing, this uncomplicated table wine makes for easy summer drinking – and it won’t break the bank. $14.99, PH Wine Merchant, 200 Peachtree Hills Ave., Atlanta. 404-9490702, phwinemerchant.com.