This is a delicious, remarkably easy and very tasty side dish for those evenings you feel like grilling. In fact, this is so tasty you may not want anything else. Just make sure you make enough for seconds, and perhaps thirds, as this may be the most popular part of the meal. 🙂
Inasmuch as the weather has been cooler, we are starting to grill a little more. So, on today’s menu is a little street food from Mexico known as elotes asados, grilled corn on the cob. Now, many of you are thinking corn is maiz in Spanish and you are right. Maiz means the kernels of corn or the grain itself. Elote, however, means corn on the cob and elotes asados is a traditional Mexican food. In Mexico, it’s sold from street carts along the highways and at street corners. It’s sold in virtually all markets, at fairs and fiestas. There perhaps is nothing more traditional than elote asados and it may well be the quintessential Mexican street food. The husk is peeled from the corn and tied so you can use it as a corn holder and avoid getting your hands all messy. Then, the corn is lightly oiled, seasoned with a little salt and grilled over a hot fire to get those nice tasty, roasty-toasty little caramelized, charred bits. Next, it is slathered with mayonnaise, Mexican crema, butter or sour cream, followed by a sprinkling with cotija cheese, red chile powder and then drizzled with lime. If you want, you can also sprinkle with chopped cilantro. Now, I’m not a big proponent of mayo but it does have its uses and if you have never tried corn on the cob or mashed potatoes with mayonnaise you need to fix that soon. The mayonnaise adds a creamy butteriness to the corn with just a hint of tang and sweetness. It is the perfect accompaniment for elote asados. If, however, you simply can’t wrap your head around the mayo on corn, you can use Mexican crema, butter or sour cream, instead. The choice is up to you as it is with all of the toppings. Whatever you do I would strongly suggest you try this with the chile and lime juice because those two flavors are always a match made in heaven. Coupled with the sweet corn and the pungent, salty, somewhat nutty flavor of the cotija cheese, you will be in ultimate epicurean bliss.
This is such a wonderful dish. It’s so flavorful, so easy to prepare and fun, too. It’s perfect for family barbecues and those nights you simply want to grill outside and enjoy the beauty of nature around you. It’s also a fun presentation and beats using those little corn holders or a stick. Your kids and guests will get a kick out of the husks as holders. Guaranteed to please, your kids will love this and you will, too. It is tremendously flavorful and you will wonder why you hadn’t thought about doing this long before. So, while you still can get beautifully fresh, organic/non GMO corn at your local markets give this dish a try. You will be glad you did.
Ingredients
- Corn on the cob, husk still attached (organic/non GMO corn – it’s better for you)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- salt, to taste
- Mayonnaise (or substitute Mexican crema, butter or sour cream)
- cotija cheese
- red chile powder
- lime juice
Now, a couple of words about the ingredients. First, this isn’t rocket science so I’m not going to give you measurements in this recipe. It’s kinda like a buffet omelet. Go to the bar, tell the cook making your omelet what you want and how much. It’s all up to you. For us, 1 lime worked great for 2 ears. You may like more or less lime. It’s the same with the rest of the ingredients. Fix it your way however you like.
Second, with respect to the red chile powder, make your own unless you can buy 100% chile powder somewhere, like Penzy’s. Store bought chili powder has garlic, oregano and cumin added to the chile powder. It’s also a much lower grade of chile powder with the seeds, stems and ribbing also ground into the resulting chile powder. Making your own also allows you to use only the flesh of the chiles not the seeds, stems and membranes which are bitter. It also allows you to use the chiles of your choice thereby achieving the flavors you want. Last, it allows you to control the level of heat in the resulting chile powder. Personally, I like a chile blend of anywhere between 4 – 6 different chiles.
Last, cotija cheese is a hard, crumbly Mexican cheese made mainly from cow’s milk. It is a strong-flavored, aged cheese, making it a bit dry, salty, and almost granular in texture. Often served crumbled, Cotija doesn’t melt so much as soften. Because it does not actually melt, it is used for grating on salads, soups, casseroles, tacos, tostadas and, in this instance, grilled corn. If you can’t find cotija cheese, you can use parmesan as a substitute although it won’t be nearly as good.
Instruction
Preheat your grill. Next, peel the corn somewhat similar to peeling a banana where you pull the husk down in sections close to the base of the cob but do not remove from the cob.
Once you have peeled all of the husk leaves back, pull them together and tightly secure them with cotton twine.
The husk will provide you a holder to eat the corn. 🙂
Now, oil a paper towel, and lightly coat the corn with oil.
Next. sprinkle the corn with salt.
Now, place the corn on the grill over a very hot flame and grill the corn.
Notice the aluminum guard at the bottom of the photo. This guard prevents the husks from burning. Also, you want the corn to grill and caramelize the sugars in the corn. So, this is going to take a little while. You will hear the corn pop and don’t worry and get all anxious about turning the corn. Be patient. When the kernels have turned brown, some may have blackened, turn the corn slightly to grill the next few rows. Repeat the process until all of the corn has grilled.
Once the corn has grilled, slather it in mayonnaise.
Now, sprinkle it generously with cotija cheese,
and red chile powder
Finish with a generous squeeze of lime.
Serve & enjoy! 🙂 Baby Lady loves this so much she made me make it the following day for lunch.
REMCooks 
Damn that looks so good I want one for breakfast!!
These are so good you can eat them anytime of day. 😉
Looks delicious! We can sometimes find these on the street here in LA, and I never pass them up. I love a little garlic powder on mine as well (or, if I’m feeling really fancy, homemade aioli instead of mayo)
Thanks for dropping by and the nice compliment. They really are fun and can be made any way you like them. 🙂
Honestly, Richard, I have just burst out laughing at my own stupidity! I have never ever thought of tying the husk back to make such a natural and practical ‘holder’ 🙂 ! Well, living where I do it will be like the making of a breakfast omelette! I don’t have ‘that’ cheese and I don’t eat mayo and the chile powder will be different, BUT, wicked me is even thinking of tweaking the recipe to take in the cuisines of other countries – sacrilege I know, but the experimentation will be fun!
Hi, Eha. Glad you like the “natural Holder.” It’s pretty cute. 🙂 As for the mayo, if you don’t like it, then try butter and parmesan. As for the chiles, I’m sure they have some very flavorful chiles where you live. I think you will have fun with your experimenting. 🙂 Let us know what you do.
WIth 4 ears of fresh corn from the farmers market, this is a recipe whose time has come — for me anyway. I once had corn prepared like this at a street fair and loved it, though I never tried to replicate it. Now that I’ve got your recipe, I’ve no reason not to try to make it at home. For me, anything that starts with grilled corn on the cob has got to be good.
Now, as for your, “you can use parmesan as a substitute although it won’t be nearly as good” comment, like a knife to the heart, that was, Richard. 🙂
Now, John, I would never drive a knife (or a piece of cheese) through your heart. 😉 It’s just that cotija cheese has a sharper, more pungent flavor than parmesan. It will be very good with parmesan but the cotija cheese makes a lot of difference in this application. I’m also certain you can find cotija cheese in the Mexican markets in Chitown. Make sure you get the very firm dry one. I actually bought the cotija cheese we used in this recipe in one of our trips to El Paso to visit Baby Lady’s family. They think it’s funny that I like to grocery shop when I visit.
I have to agree with John here. How could you badmouth the king of all cheese like that 😉 If it has to be sharp and pungent, how about substituting with manchego or pecorino? I don’t have high hopes of finding cotija cheese around here.
LOL. You guys are killing me. The only cheese I eat more than parmesan is cheddar and it really doesn’t count because there are so many varieties of cheddar.
Stefan, I would send you some cotija cheese but it would never make it to NL without spoiling. I assure you Jon can find it in Chitown. He just has to broaden his market horizons to include the Mexican markets.
Manchego would be nice but it doesn’t crumble very well. If you use a very fine grate microplane you can probably use manchego, which I happen to like a whole lot and probably would be very good, indeed. In fact, I may need to give that a try. I, personally, would try to find the 12 month aged manchego.
Parmesan is the recommended substitute cheese for cotija. So, you always have that option. It won’t be bad by any means. It just won’t taste the same.
You guys really need to broaden your cheese spectrum. 😉
I love this recipe! I have a very good friend from Argentina who puts an amazing corn-on-the-cob together! I’ll try your recipe! Looking forward to it.
Thanks for your nice compliment. 🙂 This is a great way to fix corn on the cob and is perfect for entertaining or just snacking. No wonder it’s such a popular festival food. 🙂
This looks A M A Z I N G….
Thanks for dropping by and the very nice compliment. It really is good and easy, too. 🙂 There is a reason it’s so popular in Mexico.
I’m obsessed with corn-cobs so I’ll have to try.. 🙂
One of my all-times faves for summer BBQ’s. I’ll be making it this weekend!
Thanks, Sheryl. It really is good. 🙂
This is my favorite way to eat corn. The first time I had it was just outside of la. A man was selling it up and down the street in a shopping cart. Street food at it’s finest.
Thanks, Christa. I agree with you wholeheartedly. 🙂
Wow! These look amazing. Thanks for sharing 😉
Thanks for the very nice compliment. 🙂
Oh wow! And I actually have some Cotijo cheese on hand at the moment, and the corn is coming in fast and fresh at the produce stands. I will try this very soon, thanks!
Thanks, Kathryn. This is definitely something you need to try. The whole family will love it and it’s amazingly simple. 🙂
If got everything to make this…I just need a day when it isn’t raining. 🙂
Hi, Karen. You will love this recipe. It’s incredibly simple, fun and very tasty. Guaranteed to make you miss Texas. 😉 As an aside, we sure could use your rain. The drought (and heat) continues…
Just made this in the Australian Outback and it was great 🙂 I used sour cream instead of mayo and had forgotten about the lime — I will try that next time. Very tasty. Thanks, Richard 🙂
Glad you enjoyed this Stefan. It’s really a fun dish and the Outback would be a good place to make it. 🙂