Thursday, July 28, 2011

Mexican Corn OFF the Cob ala One Perfect Bite


Hello my friends, old and new...

Old friends will know me as Dave from my blog "My Year on the Grill".  You new folks probably found this blog while looking around the website,  "eRecipeCards.com".  Either way, I am the driving force behind both.

Welcome to the first of many posts that are dishes prepared from recipes submitted by bloggers to eRecipeCards.com.  The site dedicated to bloggers as a place to see and to be seen.  One of the many features on eRecipeCards is an electronic recipe box set up for each individual user.  This eRecipeBox holds whichever of the submitted recipes on the site for easy access.  Easy to find whenever it clicks your memory.

I've been holding on to this recipe in my personal eRecipeBox ever since Mary of the "One Perfect Bite" Blog submitted it, nearly 6 weeks ago (see, that eRecipeBox sure does come in handy).  I made one BIG change in her recipe, so I can easily say that this recipe was INSPIRED.  If you visit her original post, ELOTE - MEXICAN CORN ON THE COB, and even from that title you can see the difference.  I chose to cut the corn from the cob instead of leaving it on the cob.  I was having a large dinner party and it just seemed easier to serve in a bowl instead of dealing with the mess of eating it off the cob.

Let me say a word about Mary and her blog...  "One Perfect Bite" and Mary is an old pro in the food blogging world.  Mary has been blogging since 2008, posts every day (an amazing achievement), has over 1,000 posts and has earned enough respect to have over 2,500 followers.

Of all the blogs I see, hers is the most ready to make the jump to cookbook author or magazine published contributer.  Her posts all have a distinctive look.  She starts with either a personal story or a history of the dish.  She rarely ventures away from classic dishes (either US or international).  She explains the dish and adds her notes on why she changes an ingredient.  Often she mentions the process of making the dish a couple of times in order to get the taste or texture that she likes.  Then she clearly lays out the recipe with an ingredient list and step by step, easy to follow directions.

Mary also has quite an accomplished eye as a food stylist and photographer.  Take a look at the corn on the cob to the left.  That is her photograph.  She takes the time to add a garnish (the lime wedges), as well as a sprinkle of a red spice (my guess is paprika) to add a color contrast to the yellow corn.  Pretty plates and mixing background colors makes each dish unique and appealing.

For new bloggers as well as experienced foodies, time on her site is always a learning experience.  In my blogging life, I am guessing I have made more dishes from her recipes than any other blogger.  She always takes the time to respond to any email questions I have as well as dropping me friendly comments on my blog.

So, thanks Mary.  It is always fun and a learning experience to stop by your blog.

And it also gives me a new way to look at a simple dish... Like your recipe for Elote, Mexican corn on the cob...

Here's what I did...
Elote - Mexican Corn OFF the Cob...
Inspired from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
6 cobs of Corn
(boiled in salt water, kernels cut from the cob)
3 TBS Butter
4 TBS Mayonnaise
Juice and zest from 2 Limes
(reserve 1 TBS Zest as garnish)
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
(again, reserve 1 TBS for garnish)
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper (more to taste if desired)

  1. Again, for Mary's original version of the dish, click HERE.  She baked her corn, as well as substituted mashed Chipotle in Adobe Sauce.  She also used a Mexican cheese, Cotija cheese in place of my easier to find, Parmesan cheese.  I am under strict orders from my wife to stop buying ingredients for one dish.  While normally I ignore her, she went shopping with me that day so I couldn't go off hunting a new cheese without her getting suspicious.  I did a little research and Parmesan is close to the taste of Cotija.
  2. So, with those changes in mind, I boiled the corn for about 5 minutes.  Water to cover the cobs, with about 3 TBS of salt added to the water.
  3. I allowed to rest draining for 5 minutes.  Then cut the corn from the cob.
  4. While the corn is warm, I mixed in the remaining ingredients.  I kept this in a warm oven until ready to serve the meal (about 30 minutes, while we had appetizers).  No problems at all with the corn drying out.
  5. When ready to serve, garnish with remaining cheese and Lime zest


I served this with a cold bean salad (oddly enough, another of Mary's recipes,(Cold marinated Herb Flavored green Beans), a warm Rosemary Potato Salad and my signature dish of a bacon lattice wrapped spiral cut pork loin with raspberry chipotle marinated sausage stuffing.

It was a pretty good meal... Thanks Mary

And comeback tomorrow for another dish inspired from something posted on...

5 comments:

  1. this is called "esquites" google it - its a very popular way to serve corn

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  2. That meal looks fabulous! Such a pretty presentation with those beans...and what can I say about all that bacon wrapped meat. yum.

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  3. This was awfully nice of you Dave. It is appreciated. Have a great weekend. Blessings...Mary

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  4. Looks good, I like the original and the little changes that you do. Congrats on your new job/blog!

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  5. That looks fabulous! Lovely recipe Mary!
    Karen @ Lavender and Lovage

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