I don’t really like ears of corn. There’s something so cumbersome about the way they look that turns me off…as in, they look like a real commitment to prepare and eat. You know? No? OK, yea, I forgot that everybody else on the planet freakin’ loves corn…Which means I need to have a few corn recipes in my repertoire. FINE.
Luckily, my Mom decided to buy a million ears of it for our recent trip to British Columbia, so this was the perfect time to practice. I decided to do a riff on elote, Mexican street corn and used our BBQ to char the corn before preparing the dish. Not revolutionary, but it took the dish to a totally stellar level.
Eva-style Elote
Ingredients
- 3 ears of corn, husks off, stub on (makes it easier to BBQ)
- 1/2 medium red onion, diced
- 1 bunch cilantro, rinsed and roughly chopped
- 1 can black beans, rinsed
- 2 heaping dollops of crema (Mexican sour cream), creme fraiche (French sour cream) or just regular sour cream
- 1 heaping T mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup crumbled cotija cheese or grated Parmesan
- juice of 1 juicey lime
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1 ripe avocado
Char the ears of corn for about 8-10 minutes on a seriously hot grill or griddle pan, probably, 375-400 degrees. Let them cool long enough to take a knife to chop off the kernels. Reserve a small bunch of kernels, cotija, cilantro and avocado for garnish later, then mix corn with all of the other ingredients EXCEPT the avocado. Careful on the mayo and crema to make sure you don’t add too much. Taste and adjust flavors accordingly. Fold in the diced avocado near the end so it doesn’t squish. Cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Garnish the mixture with the remaining corn, cotija, cilantro and avocado, then serve!
