Searching For The Newest New Thing

I'm talking about food here.  Food & Wine for June is in and, not surprisingly, the magazine is featuring How To Grill as well as how to make yourself into a beer snob.  I scanned their extensive list and found not one of any beer I've ever heard of.  They were all tiny breweries.

Because we were just in Mexico where chili powder (and salt) are used on jicama, cucumbers, carrots, mangos and pineapples, doing this to an ear of corn seemed appealing.

Honey-Buttered Grilled Corn on the Cob
4 ears of corn
1 stick sweet butter (I'd use half a stick, if that)
2 T plus 2 teas. honey
Kosher salt (I'd use sea salt)
Cayenne pepper pwder

Sort-of-shuck the corn by pulling the leaves down to the stem, and use the fronds as a handle.  Blend the honey and butter together and then spread some of it all over the corn.  Season the corn with a tiny pinch of salt and as much cayenne as you like.  Pull the leaves back up, tie a wet string (to avoid setting it on fire) around them to keep them up and toss on to the grill and roast them for 15 minutes, turning them occasionally.  I think you could do this in a 400 degree oven, too.

What follows strikes me as rather over-the-top -- Grill some leeks until they're black.  Let them cool and then grind them up, put the ashes in a bottle of olive oil and let it sit overnight.  Next day, filter the leek ashes out of the oil and use the oil to add a complex note to any meat that you are grilling.  "It can give the food a fantastic fire-roasted flavor."

Gazpacho is a summertime soup and tasty it is.  However if you're tired of serving the same thing all summer long, you might consider this.

ALMOST-INSTANT CHILLED BORSCHT
1 T canola oil
1/4 cup minced onion (I'd use a Vidalia)
1 cup coarsely shredded raw beets
1 cup coarsely shredded raw carrots
Pepper to taste
2 T sherry vivnegar
1 1/ cups store-bought fresh beet juice -- go to a health food smoothy place?
Garnish: prepared horseradixh, sour cream and dill sprigs

Heat the oil, saute the onions, add the beets and cook until crisp tender - about 3 minutes.  Add the carrots and pepper and cook till crisp tender then add the vinegar and stir until it's evaporated. 

Add the beet juice (I'm laughing - the idea of 'beet juice' is amusing) and then put it all in a bowl and set the bowl in a bigger bowl with ice to chill.  Serve it with the garnishes.