Mexican Street Corn |Cooking With Amanda

Every year, my wife's family gets together in Maryland for a weekend of eating blue crabs. It's a family reunion of sorts since Maryland is a pretty central location for everyone. Think of it as Christmas in July… with blue crabs.

And corn. Sweet corn picked from the fields the very day you purchase it. The kind of sweet corn that you just want to eat straight from the field… it's seriously that good!

This year, I decided to grab a bunch of these ears of corn on the way out of town. Why I didn't think about that in previous years, I just don't know… but I was pretty happy with my bag of Maryland corn that we brought back this year!

I knew I wanted to make something special with a few of those delicious ears of corn, but what? I've had a recipe for Mexican street corn stashed away in my files for quite a while now, and I figured this would be a great chance to pull that recipe out. And whoa, am I glad I did!

Mexican street corn is really a simple dish, but it's packed with awesome flavors. We actually enjoyed this corn so much that we made it again the very next night. Simply put, I'll never see corn the same way again!

At first glance, you might be a bit surprised at the ingredients in Mexican street corn. The list includes crema (a Mexican version of sour cream), mayo (yes, mayo), and crumbled cotija cheese. I had a hard time finding crema and cotija cheese up here in upstate New York. (Imagine that!) However, I refused to give up. I used Alton Brown's recipe to make homemade crema, and I used feta cheese as a replacement for the cotija.

I've never had cotija cheese, so I didn't know exactly what flavor I was going for, but I'll admit that I was a bit skeptical about using feta as a replacement. I just didn't think the flavor of feta would go with Mexican food. Well, I was wrong! The feta worked amazingly well, and this corn magically disappeared off of our table.

It might be a bit messy to eat, but this Mexican street corn is delicious, and I promise you that you'll go back looking for seconds!

Serve David's Mexican street corn with our smoked beef brisket recipe or BBQ split chicken breasts.

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Mexican Street Corn Recipe

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Ingredients

For the Grilled Corn:

3 corn on the cobs, husks on
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder, or chili powder

For the Crema Sauce:

3 tablespoons mayonnaise
3 tablespoons mexican crema, or sour cream
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 cup queso cotija, crumbled (can use feta cheese if queso cotija is not available)
1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder, or chili powder

Directions

In a large bowl, soak the ears of corn (husks on) for 30 minutes.
Using a small bowl, combine the softened butter, lime juice, Parmesan cheese, salt and chipotle powder. Stir until well combined.
Preheat grill to medium heat.
Carefully pull the husks back from the corn, but do not entirely remove husks. Remove silk from corn.
Rub the butter mixture evenly across the corn. Pull the husks back into place and tie closed with string.
Grill the corn for 17-20 minutes, turning frequently to prevent burning.
Meanwhile, make the Crema Sauce by stirring together the mayonnaise, crema, lime juice, salt and cilantro.
Remove corn from grill and allow ears to cool slightly.
Pull husks back and discard. Drizzle Crema Sauce across the corn; sprinkle queso cotija and chipotle powder across the tops of corn before serving.