In Praise of Summer, Eating with Your Fingers and Corn

So I'm just going to gloss over the lame excuses (house buying, grad schooling...) for why it's been over a year (!) since I last posted here and get right down to brass tacks with the real subject of this post. And that subject is, in a word, corn. "Mexican" style, grilled over the coals, slathered up in spicy goodness corn on the cob, to be specific.

Despite being a bit freaked out by corn since reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, as well as by its frightening ability to remain virtually intact after passing through my entire digestive system, I still love it. Any food that requires eating with your fingers gets an automatic two thumbs up in my book! I can pass up a soggy, over-boiled sorry excuse for corn on the cob any day but serve it to me grilled, preferably with fresh mint and some butter and it's over.

As if I need another excuse to cast my morals aside for a good bite, this recipe for "Mexican" style grilled corn comes along. **Small yet important caveat here: I have not actually made this recipe--I, sadly, have no grill! I have, however, had the immense pleasure of eating it leftover from a recent grill-o-rama at the Mason parentals. The cold, bedraggled leftover version was so lip-smackingly and finger-lickingly good that I can only imagine how delish the real deal is straight off the grill. So fire up those coals (or propane tanks), grab yourself some corn (preferably from your local organic farm stand), slather it up with this goodness and invite me over!

Mexican-style Grilled Corn

*recipe from Cooks Illustrated

veggie oil for grill

1/4 cup regular or light mayonnaise

3 tablespoons sour cream

3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

1 medium garlic clove minced or passed through press

3/4 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne (optional)

4 teaspoons juice from 1 lime

1 oz grated pecorino romano (or Cojita cheese for more authenticity)

4 teaspoons veg oil

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or 1/4 teaspoon table salt

6 ears of corn, husk and silk removed

1) Get your grill ready (coals fully ignited and partially covered w/ash...about 20 mins). Arrange coals evenly only on half the grill, place grate over the coals and cover, heating grate about 5 minutes. Scrape grate clean w/brush and then oil w/veggie oil soaked paper towel.

2) While grill is being prepared, combine all ingredients in list up through the cheese in one bowl, reserving 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder. In another (large) bowl mix together the oil, salt, and the reserved chili powder. Toss corn into this oil mixture and coat evenly.

3) Grill corn, turning some, until lightly charred all over, 7-12 minutes. Remove from grill, toss in bowl with mayo mixture until evenly coated. Enjoy!

**apparently you can do this on a gas grill too: turn on all burners on high and heat grill with lid down until v. hot (15 minutes). Scrape and oil grill and cook the corn with the lid down.

**image source: http://expectingrain.com/dok/jpg/CobDylan.jpg