Corn bruschetta

Corn ragu

Creamed corn ricotta

1. Add a little oil and salt to the bread and grill either on a grill pan or an actual grill if you happen to already be using one for your meal. Don’t be scared to get nice dark char marks.
2. Once bread is grilled spread a nice layer of the corn creamed ricotta on top of the bread, then top with a couple spoonfuls of the corn ragu and press it into the cheese lightly so it doesn’t fall off on you.
3. Next, sprinkle with a little of the queso fresco and picked cilantro. Cut the piece of toast into three or four slices and you are ready to serve.

I’ve had my share of haute cuisine, dishes with ingredient and instruction lists as long as the Torah, but I’m still more impressed by a simple dish executed perfectly. My first bite of Matt Daughaday’s food came during my first meal at Taste when he brought out his sweet corn bruschetta.

It sounded like something I’d whip together at home with leftovers. Corn,  peaches, bacon, shiitake mushrooms, ricotta, cilantro, chilies—I almost always have these around. Yet, one bite in, I knew I had never made anything so simple and so perfect in my life. I hated it for reminding me that I am just some measly home cook and loved it because it was such an outstanding dish. I needed it again, but alas, it was not to be. A few days after my meal, I found out Matt would be leaving and starting his own restaurant, Reeds American Table.

For a very brief time, a risotto version of this dish popped up at Reeds, and it was glorious, but the Chef Matt giveth and the Chef Matt taketh away. Finally, a few weeks back, I got the text I longed for so badly: “Corn bruschetta is back on the menu. Come get it!”

I’ve gone three times just to have it, really. Matt was gracious enough to give me the recipe to share with you fine people—if you scroll to the bottom, it also includes his housemade ricotta recipe. It’s easy to do, but if you don’t feel like it, you can use store-bought stuff. Matt only makes it when corn is in season, but I have no qualms about making the creamed corn ricotta using the frozen stuff during the winter. Add peaches, add bacon, add whatever you’d like: just make sure the corn ricotta is on there.