Corn crème brûlée from chef Craig Koketsu

Craig Koketsu is a busy man. He is the executive chef of New York's Park Avenue restaurant and a chef-partner at Quality Meats, an upscale steakhouse in Midtown Manhattan. There, he implemented his creative cooking style to design a unique menu, including signature dishes like this one. 

Prep time: 1 hour | Chill time: 4 hours | Cook time: 45 minutes | Total time: 5 hours, 45 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 4 ears corn (yellow, white or bi-color) - shucked and cleaned of all silk
  
• 1 cup half-and-half
  
• 4 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
  
• 1 ½ cups heavy cream
  
• 4 egg yolks, beaten
  

Method:

1. Set oven rack in the center of oven. Remove any other racks from oven. Place a large baking pan or casserole dish on rack and fill 1" deep with warm water. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
   
2. Cut corn kernels from cobs using a sharp knife. Divide corn kernels in half. Using the back of the knife, scrape cobs to extract any remaining pulp. Discard cobs. 
   
3. Place pulp, half of the corn kernels, half-and-half, 2 tablespoons of sugar, salt, and white pepper in a blender and blend on high until corn is completely dissolved. 
   
4. Strain corn mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a mixing bowl, using the back of a spoon to press out any remaining solids. 
   
5. Mix heavy cream into strained corn mixture. Taste for seasoning and adjust with more sugar, salt, and/or white pepper. Mixture should be sweet, but not cloyingly so. 
   
6. Whisk egg yolks into corn mixture to fully incorporate, but be careful not to make lots of bubbles. 
   
7. Divide other half of corn kernels equally into four 4-ounce ramekins, and fill ramekins almost to top with corn mixture. 
   
8. Carefully place ramekins into water bath in oven. Bake until custards are just set, about 25-30 minutes. Using tongs, carefully transfer ramekins to a rack to cool, and then refrigerate for about 4 hours.
   
9. Before serving, place ramekins back in the water bath in the 325 degree oven. Let warm for 10 minutes. Remove and lightly sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sugar. Quickly pass over sugar with a blowtorch or burn with a brûlée iron. Serve immediately.
   

In:
• New York