Mexican Street Corn

Cinco de Mayo is less than a month away! Truth be told, I feel like this holiday always sort of sneaks up on me and I inevitably wind up missing my perfectly good excuse to drown myself in chips and queso and fish bowl margaritas. Not this year y’all! I have so many fun Cinco de Mayo posts coming your way. To kick it all off we’re starting with my Mexican Street Corn. This is not only a fun Cinco de Mayo side dish but the perfect side kick to your grilled steaks and burgers.

Most of the Mexican street corn recipes you see have you husking and throwing the corn on the grill but a while back I saw Haylie Duff from The Real Girl’s Kitchen do a fun twist on the recipe by keeping the husks on and roasting in the oven. Even better, the husks double as a built-in handle! Given that I have no idea how to even start our grill, I opted to stay in my comfort zone with the oven and built-in handle 🙂

To make this magical little corn husk handle you gently start to pull back the husks layer by layer and bend back over itself until all the husks are down. Remove the “hair” completely (try using a fresh toothbrush to get it all out from the crevices). Using a bit of kitchen twine, gather the husks at the base and tie.

Now, the “secret sauce” is where the magic happens. The brilliance of the heat of the cayenne with the citrusy lime and then the sweet corn? Y’all…it’s a game changer.

Now the roasting method works perfectly but I was missing the pretty char marks that you get from the grilling method. By protecting the husks with foil and turning the broiler on HIGH, the corn magically chars right before your very eyes. So roast and broil away my friends! Enjoy 🙂

INGREDIENTS

• 6 ears of sweet corn
• 3 tbsp real mayo
• 2 tbsp sour cream
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp cayenne (this is where the spice is at and I have it at a MEDIUM level – so add or reduce given your spice desire)
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp lime juice (about 1/2 lime)

GARNISH:

• lime zest to garnish
• cilantro, small bunch chopped to garnish
• chili powder, just a pinch
• 1/2 cup Cotija cheese to garnish
• 1/2 lime to garnish

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Gently peel husks back, bending down over itself and fasten with cooking twine. Remove hair (read above for a tip!).
3. Mix mayo, sour cream, olive oil, salt, cayenne, chili powder, garlic powder and lime juice in a bowl until completely combined.
4. Using about half of the mixture, brush (or use your clean hands like me) sauce over corn from top down to where the husks are folded back.
5. Cover with foil and roast in oven for 10 mins, rotate and roast another 10 mins.
6. Move foil down to cover just the husks and turn broiler to HIGH.
7. Broil for 3 mins (maybe 4 if you’re not seeing the char, keep an eye on it!), turn and broil for another 3 mins.
8. Remove from oven and brush on remaining sauce.
9. Top with a squeeze of lime, cheese, sprinkle of chili powder, lime zest and cilantro.