Mexican Inspired Grilled Corn

While I was in Los Angeles last week, I had the wonderful opportunity to eat at Chef Curtis Stone's new restaurant, Maude, which has been rated best restaurant in L.A.  Normally the 25 seat restaurant fills up as soon as reservations open one month ahead of time, but when we got the call at 10 a.m. that a reservation for four had cancelled at the last minute for that night, we jumped at the chance.

The Maude kitchen

Each month, one seasonal ingredient is featured in a nine course tasting menu.  You don't order anything - it is a set menu that comes to you when it is ready.  The entire dinner featuring corn took 3 hours to eat and ended up being more like 11 courses excluding the homemade corn flakes and almond milk that we were given to enjoy the next morning.

One of our favourite dishes was inspired by the grilled Mexican corn dish called elotes.  Apparently the street version of this dish is sold outside many local Mexican grocery stores, but what we had was grilled corn elevated to a whole new level.  The recipe below is my version of the elotes we ate at Maude, with a few more local Canadian ingredients.

The elotes at Maude 

Serves 4 - 6.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 ears corn, husk removed
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
Squeeze lime juice (about 1 Tbsp)
2 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1/2 fresh jalapeño, deseeded and finely minced
1/4 cup dry, crumbled feta cheese
pea shoots (optional)
salt

Directions:

1. Mix the yogurt and garlic together and set aside.

2. Brush or rub the corn cobs with the olive oil and grill them on a medium high barbecue for about 12 - 15 minutes, turning regularly.  You want the corn to get brown char marks on it, though.  Remove from heat, let cool slightly, and then use a knife to remove the corn from the cobs.

3. In a pan on the stove, heat the butter until it starts to turn brown.  Squeeze in the lime juice and turn down the heat so that it does not burn.  Quickly toss the jalapeño and corn kernels in the butter to reheat them and remove the pan from the heat.  Season with salt.

4. Serve the corn on a plate topped with the basil, feta, and pea shoots, if using.  Serve the garlic yogurt on the side of the plate.  Enjoy!

Shopping Tips:

1. Feta is more commonly sold packed in water, but it should also be available in dry form, which is much more desirable in this dish since it is being used as a substitute for Mexican cojita, which is hard to find in Canada.

Superfast Cornbread

Some friends of mine spent two years teaching in Malawi.  While there, they came across an old Peace Corps cookbook put together by various expats living abroad.  Some of my best bread recipes come from that book.  This recipe is a version of one that was passed on to me from that book.

The best thing about this recipe is that it is so quick and easy that it can be made on a weeknight.  Alternatively, it freezes very well, so it can be made ahead of time and then thawed when needed.  I slice it and then freeze two-piece portions in sandwich bags so that I can easily pull out what I need for a weeknight supper.  Leftover chilli with a couple of pieces of cornbread makes a quick and filling meal.

Makes one loaf or one 8x8" pan.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup cornmeal
1 1/4 cups milk

1 egg
1/4 cup organic canola oil

1 cup wholegrain spelt flour
1/3 cup coconut sugar
1 Tbsp baking soda
2/3 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

2.  In a small bowl, mix the cornmeal and the milk together and let sit for 10 minutes.  This step is the most important one because it prevents your cornbread from being too crunchy.

3. Mix the oil and egg together and add to the cornmeal and milk.

4. In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.

5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir.

5. Transfer the batter to a loaf pan or square pan.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Let cool for 5 minutes.  Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Options: 

1. The original recipe calls for white flour instead of spelt flour and white sugar instead of coconut sugar.  It will rise higher if you use white flour, but will be healthier if you use whole flour.  You could always use a combination for the best of both worlds.

2. You can add 1/2 cup thawed corn kernels and/or diced jalapeño pepper for more kick.

3. For a vegan version, substitute almond or soy milk and use 1 tbsp ground chia seeds mixed with warm water (let stand for 10 minutes) instead of the egg.

Enjoy!

Tuna Melt Casserole

A long time ago, Scott decided to make supper from the recipe on the back of the condensed mushroom soup can.  Surprisingly, the six-ingredient meal was quite tasty, and as I've previously said, I'm a sucker for a good casserole.  Wanting to make the dish a bit healthier so that we didn't have to use the condensed soup, this recipe was born.  It is even more flavourful and delicious than the original - go figure...

Serves 4 - 6.


Ingredients:

340 grams bowtie pasta

2 cloves garlic
3 leeks
8 ounces mushrooms
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt, pepper

300 grams light ricotta cheese
1 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup fresh dill
salt, pepper

1 cup frozen corn

2 cans flaked tuna in water, drained

1 cup grated cheese of your choice (I used marble).

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Boil the pasta in salted water for one minute less than the package directions indicate.  When done, drain and set aside

3. Pulse garlic and leeks in a food processor (or chop finely by hand).  Sauté in olive oil for about 4 minutes in a large frying pan.

4. Meanwhile, pulse mushrooms in food processor (or chop finely by hand) until small bits.

5. Add mushrooms to the pan and continue to sauté for 8 - 10 more minutes.

6. Process the ricotta, yogurt, milk, eggs, dill, salt and pepper in the food processor (or beat by hand) until combined (it will be quite runny).

7. Remove the onion and leek mixture from the heat.  Add the frozen corn to the pan and combine. Then, add the drained, flaked tuna. Then, add the cooked and drained pasta and stir.  Finally, add the sauce and combine thoroughly.

8. Pour the pasta mixture into a lightly greased 9 x 13" pan.  Top with grated cheese.  Bake for 30 minutes and then broil for 4 minutes.  Enjoy!

Shopping

1. Buy high quality tuna (usually the one that is the most expensive).  If it smells like cat food, it will taste like cat food.

2. Buy whole mushrooms as they are cheaper and easier to clean.  A lot of sliced mushrooms still have dirt on them.

3. Make sure to clean the leeks thoroughly by running them under cold water after cutting them in half lengthwise.  Hold them top side down when you do this so that the dirt runs out of the leek.

4. Ricotta cheese is sold in a tub in the deli section.

Options:

1. You can sauté the garlic, leeks, and mushrooms ahead of time.  You can even do a double batch  and freeze the extras for next time.  This will save you a lot of time and clean up the next time you want to make this.

2. You could also make this with leftover chicken.