Corn on the cob is one of our very favorite summer sides, and Fourth of July usually marks the arrival of corn at the farmers’ market. So this weekend you can guess what's on our menu: burgers, dogs, and all the corn we can eat.

And we’ll be brushing each sweet kernel with harissa butter, a trick we learned from Jessica Battilana’s corn edition. We’ve include this dead simple recipe, along with three other butters for your corn, below. (And don’t forget to grab your copy of the Corn issue here for recipes like corn risotto or corn ice cream with blueberry-lime ripple, so you can stay corny all summer long.)

Grilled Corn with Harissa Butter

SERVES 4

4 ears corn

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 teaspoons harissa (homemade or store-bought)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pull the husks back from the ears of corn, leaving them attached at the stem, and remove the silk. Cover the corn back up with the husks. Prepare a gas or charcoal grill for direct, medium-hot grilling. Grill the corn, turning occasionally, until the husks are browned and the kernels are tender, about 20 to 25 minutes.

While the corn grills, make the harissa butter: In a small bowl, stir together the butter and harissa with a spoon. Season to taste with salt and pepper. When the corn is done, remove it from the grill, then peel off and discard the husks. Brush each ear lavishly with some of the harissa butter and serve.

Variations: Instead of harissa butter, brush the grilled corn with one of these spreads.

Honey Butter and Furikake

We cribbed this one from Rebekah Peppler's Honey edition. Melt 8 tablespoons butter and mix in 1 tablespoon honey and 1 tablespoon furikake.

Miso-Sesame Butter

Scott Hocker came up with this compound butter for enhancing sweet potatoes, but it's just as delicious with corn. In a small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon miso and 3/4 teaspoon sesame oil. Mix well with a fork. Add 8 tablespoons melted butter and mix until incorporated.

Preserved Lemon-Garlic Butter

This is a variation on Alison Roman's knock out lemon and garlic butter that accompanies steak in her Lemons edition. Melt 4 tablespoons butter, then mix in 2 finely grated garlic cloves, 2 finely chopped anchovy fillets, 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, and 1 tablespoon diced preserved lemon rind.