WTF: bake it, baby

We all know how to cook corn and hard-boiled eggs, right? We stick them in water and boil, boil, boil. If you're anything like me you've over-boiled both of these things just to make sure they're fully cooked. I love corn in the summer but I haven't made any recently because I got tired of eating over-cooked, chewy ears of corn and hard-boiled eggs seemed like more trouble than they were worth if they were just going to turn out rubbery.

But no more!

Recently I discovered a new way to cook both these old favorites - baking.

It's true. I was skeptical at first too...and Mr. French remained skeptical until I put the proof right in front of his face, now he can't wait to try it himself.

Let's start with the corn. I first read about this method on one of my favorite blogs Retro Revival and meant to try it immediately but you know how that goes. I'm kicking myself now, however, because I've already missed out on a couple of weeks of delicious corn on the cob!

Start with an ordinary ear of corn, no need to shuck it or anything.

put the corn in a cold oven

then set the oven to 350

and let it bake for 30 minutes

That's it. Couldn't be easier, right?

At the end of 30 minutes you take the corn out of the oven. The husk is warm to the touch but not hot. The ear inside is hot so be careful during this next step.

cut off a little bit of the bottom end

Retro Revival's blog said that the next step is to squeeze the corn out like a tube of toothpaste. I must be toothpaste challenged because I haven't had much luck squeezing but luckily it's really easy to peel off the husk at this point and everything comes off cleanly, ready to dig in and eat!

corn mess dealt with easy peasy

On to eggs

I can't remember where I first read about this, I think it might have been Pinterest. The thought of baking hard "boiled" eggs filled me with doubt so I googled it over and over just to make sure it wasn't some sort of joke. I'm pretty sure Mr. French thought the eggs would just explode in the oven...maybe I did too. I'm happy to report that everything went perfectly and I'll be doing my eggs this way from now on.

put the eggs into muffin tins so that it's easy to take in and out of the oven

Pre-heat the oven to 325, put the eggs in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. No need to prep the eggs, just take them from the refrigerator and bake.

just out of the oven, the spots wash right off

submerge them in ice water for 10 minutes

peel and eat, it's egg perfection!

And there you have it, two old favorites presented in a new, fun and easy way. Get out the oven mitts!

Wasn't That Fun?