Last Thursday afternoon as She Who Must Be Obeyed was gathering up our gear and packing to head to Bozeman, an urgent call came in.
Given the near perpetual growing season over in Western Washington, a friend wanted us to track down some early season fresh corn (if there was any to be found) and cart it to Bozeman for her upcoming party.
Believe it or not our favorite local fruit and vegetable stand actually had some in, and while not at its summer prime, the early corn available looked (and smelled) surprisingly tasty. We only charged her a dozen ears for the effort, which we shared with Ed as we cooked his requested Jalapeno Bacon Burgers last weekend.
I’ve been a lifelong fan of fresh corn on the cob though came late to appreciate the added flavors that grilled corn offers.
Several years ago we had something close to this at one of our favorite eateries in Santa Fe and searched around to find a recipe that came close. This simple Lime-Chile Grilled Corn is even better than that in Santa Fe with the addition of just a hint of cumin and a little fruity heat from the habanero hot sauce.
One our favorite summers meals features this corn, glistening slabs of vine-fresh tomatoes, a host of cold beverages and nothing else.
It’s both elbows on the table and dribble down your chin good.
2/3 cup sour cream or crème fraîche
2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp. chipotle chile powder or ancho chile powder
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
A shake or two of a fruity, habanero hot sauce
12 ears of corn with husks
2/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Lime quarters
Mix the spicy cream topping. Combine the sour cream crème fraîche, lime juice, chile powders and salt. Cover and refrigerate.
Prep the corn. Remove the tough, darker green outer husks; peel back the inner lighter green husks and remove the silk and rinse. (Option: soak in ice water for 30 minutes or so – some argue this plumps the kernels a bit.) Sprinkle corn with salt and pepper, rewrap light green inner husks into place.
Fire the grill.
Grill it. Over medium+ heat, grill the corn until the husks are charred and pulling away, turning frequently. We seem to end up cooking these for 10-12 minutes most days.
Slather and serve. Pull the charred husks back to form a handle, slather on the spiced crème fraîche mixture, sprinkle with the chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime.
Enjoy.
