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Friday, June 4, 2010

Chipotle Chili Grilled Corn

Corn on the cob is one of summer's best foods. Growing up in Iowa, fresh sweet corn was everywhere in the summer and super cheap. Luckily, even though I'm no longer surrounded by corn fields, I can still get good sweet corn in the grocery store. In June and July its often as cheap as 10 ears for $1.00. That means we make a lot of corn for dinner or barbecues. When we are grilling some chicken or burgers for dinner, I don't want to heat up the stove inside to boil corn, so I started making corn on the grill as well.


There are a couple of methods you can use. You can keep the corn in the husk, soak them in water for at least 15 minutes and grill in the husk for 20-30 minutes. Or you can husk the corn, wrap them in the foil, add seasoning and cook in foil for 15-20 minutes. Cooking in foil essentially steams the corn.

You can vary the flavors by making a compound butter to spread on the corn. My favorite is this smoky chipotle chili corn but I also like to use a little lime juice and cayenne pepper or garlic and fresh herbs depending on what I'm serving it with.

Chipotle Chili Grilled Corn

2 T unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 T chipotle in adobo sauce
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, diced
1/2 tsp ancho chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
4 ears of corn

Preheat grill to medium heat. (If you are cooking this as part of a meal, the corn is fine cooked over indirect heat but you may need to adjust the cooking time slightly.) In a small bowl, combine all ingredients except corn. Stir until well incorporated. Lay out four large squares of aluminum foil, about 12"x12" each. Place one ear of shucked, clean corn on each square. Use a pastry brush or your hands to add butter mixture to each ear. Wrap tightly in foil, making sure there are no leaks in the package. Cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes. Be careful when you unwrap as the escaping steam will be very hot.

Note: If you use salted butter, decrease the amount of additional salt to taste. I use unsalted butter because I always have it on hand for baking.

5 comments:

  1. grilled corn is hands-down my favorite thing to eat in the summer. i crave it more than burgers or strawberry shortcake, and that's the truth. :)

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  2. @Grace
    Same with me!! I love grilled corn more than anything! The boyfriend can have all the burgers and hot dogs he wants as long as I get my corn :)
    I usually eat it plain, but now I must try this way cause I love spice!

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  3. This looks amazing, were actually making them tonight with some smoked pork. :) An alternative from cooking them within foil is to buy ears of corn that still have the husks on them. Peel em back, clean and de-string them, and cover them babys back up--sooo good!

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  4. I am going to the farmer's market this weekend - I'll have to buy some corn and give this a try. I love corn and chipotle - sounds like a winner to me!

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  5. This looks delicious! I love coming up with new ways to spice up corn. :)

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