Grilled Corn on the Cob with Garlic Butter, Fresh Lime and Cotija Cheese

Two things led to me making this grilled corn recipe. One: the movie Nacho Libre. Two: a favorite NYC food stop of mine, La Esquina Tacqueria in SoHo. Both make me salivate like a hopeless dog.

If you've ever had a great Mexican corn on the cob that is seasoned well and loaded with Cojita cheese, you'll know just what I'm talking about. My husband used to work right in SoHo somewhat near La Esquina. So we enjoyed this spot immensely. Now, we can't visit New York City without hitting up La Esquina Tacqueria. (If you go get the taco of your choice and the ELOTES CALLEJEROS!)

What's not to love about corn? It is summer's sweet candy. It's full of fiber. You can grow it here in Utah. And it is delicious when grilled! And who better to look to for the best grilled corn recipe than the grill master himself, Bobby Flay.

I found this recipe for Grilled Corn on the Cob with Garlic Butter, Fresh Lime and Cotija Cheese on FoodNetwork.com and immediately fell in love with the idea. Then when we had a family bbq, I offered to bring it. Make sure you follow the recipe exactly cause it is great. The garlic butter is has a great kick from the habanero and honestly, the corn is nothing with out the Cotija cheese. Okay, let's cut to the recipe. You gotta try this!

Grilled Corn on the Cob with Garlic Butter, Fresh Lime and Cotija Cheese

by Bobby Flay from Food Network Website

Directions

Preheat grill to medium. Peel back the husks of the corn without removing them. Remove the silks and recover the corn with the husk. Soak in large bowl of cold water for 30 minutes. Remove corn from water and shake off excess. Place the corn on the grill, close the cover and grill for 15 to 20 minutes.

Unwrap corn and brush with the garlic butter. Sprinkle with the cotija cheese and squeeze with lime. Sprinkle with chopped chives, to garnish.

Garlic Butter:

2 sticks unsalted butter, slightly softened

8 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped

1/4 habanero pepper, seeded

1/4 bunch fresh chives

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine butter, garlic, habanero, and chives in a food processor and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside until ready to use.

* One note I'd make. Next time I'd love to make all of this, strip the cobs and serve in a large serving bowl...just to save time. As much as I love eating this on the cob, it might be nice for serving to small kids and grandparents.

Read my other posts that include corn.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Cornmeal & Fruit Loaf

I've had the worst luck with apples since they passed their prime a while back. I have pretty much sworn them off until Utah's apple season this fall. (Side note: if you live in Utah, you have to get your apples at Allred Orchards, man are they delicious.)

Anyway, this week's Tuesdays with Dorie pick was a Cornmeal and Fruit Loaf. Since I was on said anti-apple-until-fall kick, I wasn't to excited. I mean, I could have used pears, but I didn't, those aren't really in season either.



I didn't leave too many notes in my cookbook, but I do remember thinking this was good but not amazing. I did enjoy the nutmeg hint and cornmeal texture. I'm sure during the peek of fall it would rock and I'd love to try the pear version this winter.

Visit Caitlin's blog, Engineer Baker for the recipe and be sure to see how the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers liked this loaf.

On a side note, I am cruising through this game I call catchup. Instead of 86 recipes to make I am now closer to 60! Isn't that awesome? I am so looking forward to December when I can say I've made very single recipe in Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

Next week: Chocolate Spice Quickies
Last week: Tropical Crumble
1 year ago: {Faux} Espresso-Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
2 years ago: Applesauce Spice Bars
3 years ago: Granola Grabbers

Other quickbreads I enjoy:
Oatmeal Breakfast Bread
Fresh Mango Bread
Date-Nut Loaf ( A FAVORITE!)
American Irish Soda Bread (Perfect for St. Patty's Day Menu)
The Best Banana Bread Recipe from Cook's Illustrated

Utah Local Love: Provo Farmers Market Miss Arepas & Limeade Stand

I frequent the Provo Farmers Market from June-October. I enjoy buying honey, eggs, pepper jellies and produce. But this year I have a new favorite: Arepas from the Miss Arepas: Venezuelan Food stand. These flavorful, meat-n-cheese filled corn-patty sandwiches are delicious. I crave them. 

Miss Arepas has both chicken and beef varieties. They are then put to bed with cheese and rice, if I remember correctly. You also have the option to get a mild or spicy green (tomatillo) sauce. My take: go for the spicy, it's not too spicy and perfect...in fact get an entire side. It's that good!  

And while you are eating lunch at the Provo Farmers Market this Saturday, make sure you get a nice big limeade from these two guys. It's absolutely refreshing and made with organic sugar in the raw, fresh mint and squeezed-on-the-spot limes. 

By the way, I've got a Project Domestication Facebook Page up with lots of fun. Head on over there, I'm constantly posting updates straight from my kitchen and other adventures.

Our Week in the Kitchen: Feeling Creative (#3)

I'll be honest. I don't remember much from this week except for I felt creative in the kitchen and used what I had really well. When I can just whip up dinner without planning and use what I have on hand I give myself one giant pat on the back. It makes me feel confident and actually, quite responsible. I'm saying to myself, "Yeah, that's right...you show that grocery store you don't need to spend more money!" Another line that comes to mind is, "Yeah, you stick it expiration date! You ain't sneaking up on me no more!"

Red Pepper & Ranch Pasta 
This was a first-time concoction. I had a ranch dip packet, sour cream, farfalle pasta, and tons of veggies in the fridge. Bippity-boppity-boo and we've got pasta salad. It was killer warm and great over a bed of romaine lettuce.

Siracha-Sesame Meatballs with Asian Cucumber Salad from Kalyn's Kitchen
I'll admit, I subbed beef for turkey...but remember I didn't want to run to the store. I loved using up the last of my cucumbers from Jacob's Cove and finding a new way to use that awesomely-underused siracha! Again, can't speak enough of Kalyn's blog, I make her recipes all the time!

Caprese Salad
I love buying Mozzarella from Costco. It may not be the best Utah offers, but I enjoy it. The big perk is it comes in a 2-pack and I keep one on hand for anytime I want to bust out a Caprese Salad with my Jacob's Cove Heirlooms. Such was the case this week when I made my little sissy a caprese-a-la-becky and she loved it. I think I could drown in a pool of balsamic reduction. Couldn't you? Actually maybe we wouldn't drown, we'd just get stuck, right?

Brunch by Becky
I played bed and breakfast owner and served my lil' sis a great brunch full of honey-nut scones, herb-roasted red potatoes from the in-law's garden and made-to-order eggs. I even pulled out my fancy milk frother I got last Christmas for hot chocolate.

This week also included a much-needed trip to J-Dawgs for a polish and to The Awful Waffle (more on that later) for some great crepes and Belgium waffles. We also made room for a couple fend-for-yourself and leftover nights. I am going to slack on my baking updates because my mind is mush. I do, however, know that I probably made like five Tuesdays with Dorie recipes, two of which were brownies.

Check out my other Our Week in the Kitchen posts.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Tropical Crumble

 

Bananas in a crumble? Boy was I nervous. And rightly so, I'm didn't eat bananas from the age of six to twenty-six. I'm barely getting used to them again and to be excited to put them in a dessert. I think not. But since I'm a Dorie-recipe purist, especially on the first shot,  I followed the recipe exactly and it yielded delicious results.

I was happy it was paired with one of my favorite fruits: mango. It also included more of my favorite flavors like lime, fresh ginger and pecan. The balance was awesome and the topping ultra-buttery and special.

Go ape and get this banana crumble recipe from Gaye's blog, Laws of the Kitchen. There were a lot of substitutions this week from the Tuesdays with Dorie group, so check out our Leave Your Link post.

Next week: Golden Brioche Loaves
Last week: Carrot Spice Muffins
Most Recent Catch-up: Quick Classic Berry Tart
Last Year: Oatmeal Breakfast Bread
Two Years Ago: Brownie Buttons
Three Years Ago:  Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

Our Week in the Kitchen: Beautiful Veggies & Great Leftover Usage

Two things happened this week. I received amazing vegetables from Jacob's Cove (as evidenced by the photo above) and I managed to make these meals with one single grocery trip to get fresh cilantro.going [Enter sigh...yes my garden herbs died.]

I'm not sure how appealing the word leftover is to you but I love it. Leftovers mean a quick and delicious dinner that I know my family loves. If we are willing to eat it a second night in a row then that is great news. 

There's another phrase I'm going to introduce to you and that is "Leftover Usage." This means, I have a certain ingredient or dish that I had in one meal and I'm introducing it into another meal in new way. Many cooks use this method and have their own name for it. I just call it smart. I hate being wasteful and I love being creative. This week was full of successful "Leftover Usage."

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Shirley J Onion-Braised Beef Brisket Alfredo, leftover green beans and steamed asparagus.

Okay, this was incredibly delicious. We shredded up some leftover brisket (from French Dip Sandwiches), then added it to a mixture of Shirley J Universal Sauce, water and Parmesan to make our Alfredo. Then we added the leftover onions from the brisket. This was all ready in less than 10 minutes, no joke.

 

Mexican Baked Eggs with Black Beans, Tomatoes, Green Chili and Cilantro

I was in the mood for a meatless meal. Why not, right? Plus I had the ingredients for this baked egg dish that I pinned a while back. If you are not familiar with Kalyn's Kitchen. Head over now, it is one of my very favorite food blogs that I cook from often. I thin what I love about it most is she is from Utah and I tends to have the exact same produce at the exact same time as me. It's awesome.

Quinoa Salad

I can never get enough of this power food. I'm still working on my ultimate quinoa salad recipe, but basically I used all a bunch of produce I had from my CSA share, especially the baby heirloom tomatoes.

Dressed-Up BLT Bar

Best BLTs ever. We dressed 'em up with herbed mayo and used the most incredible heirloom tomatoes. If you missed my post out, check it here, yo.

Fend For Yourself Night: Thyme-Roasted Veggies & Chili Mac 

We usually have a night or two a week where we go out to dinner or have a FFY night. This is where you fend for yourself. We don't plan a meal, we just eat leftovers or create our own dish according to what we're in the mood for. This week it consisted of using my leftover fresh thyme from the brisket recipe and roasting them with a slew of CSA veggies, to my husband mixing Kraft Mac n' Cheese with Stagg Chili. Don't snub this Chili Mac...you may end up craving it the next day like I did. 

Little Cheddar Meatloaves with Roasted White Pepper Green Beans

This meal is special to me. It's one of the first meals I made as a wife. I got the recipe from my neighbor in our apartment complex. The meatloaf is cheesy, it's mini, has oatmeal and tons of glaze. I've been making it for years and at the end of the meal we are always smiling, satisfied and proclaiming, "Why don't we make this more?" Would you like the recipe? Let me know and I''ll do a special post.

Baking Efforts:
I had another insane week, or rather, weekend in the kitchen. I hosted a dessert and game night and took full advantage to make as many desserts as my free time would allow. Tuesdays with Dorie recipes included:
* Lots of Ways Banana Cake
* Black and White Chocolate Cake
* Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler
* Chewy Chunky Blondies
* Unbelievably Good Chocolate Blueberry Ice Cream
* Vanilla Ice Cream
* Bourbon Bread Pudding


Read last week's update.
Our Week in the Kitchen: Take 1 

Dressed-Up BLT Bar

Some meals were just meant to become build-your-own bars. You know, those meals I'm talking about. The recipe only has a few components. And that certain someone likes this dish a little more of a certain something, and if this dish is put together by someone else it "just doesn't taste right." You hear me? Build you own bars are great so everyone gets exactly what they want.

BLTs are the perfect candidate for a build-your-own-style dinner. You've got five basic components to BLTs: bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, bread and mayo. I swear, the BLT is nature's answer to a summer dinner. So let's talk a bit about the BLT bar and subsequent deliciousness I built last week.

5 Ingredients to the Perfect BLT
Bacon - Buy your favorite bacon and instead of shoving it into the microwave or making a mess on your stove, try baking it. It takes a little more time, but I always get perfectly crispy results. And you are able to make a lot more bacon in one shot, which is perfect for this BLT bar.

Lettuce - You can go with any type of lettuce. This week I had romaine on hand so I ran with that.

Tomatoes - Tomatoes are the real star. That's the only reason anyone has BLTs anyway, right? You must get your hands on garden tomatoes.  If I've got garden tomatoes then bang-diggity we are having BLTs! For these dressy BLTs I used the lovely-and-ever-so-flavorful Jacob's Cove Heriloom Tomatoes from my CSA share. Honestly, I've never had better tomatoes...ever.

Bread -  I grew up having Grandma Sycamore's white bread or Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat. We had leftover hoagie rolls from our French Dip Sandwiches a day or so prior so toasted them up and they worked perfectly. I love my toaster oven!

Mayo - I had a a few sprigs of fresh thyme leftover from the French Dip Sandwiches so I thought I'd make an herbed mayo. I added a few tablespoons of the fresh Thyme and a splash of lemon juice and had a wonderful Thyme-Lemon Mayo for my sandwich. This is when I realized I was making dressed-up BLTs. I knew these were going to special.

I hope you'll grab the best tomatoes you can find and start making your Dressed-Up BLT bar today! You won't regret it.

Dressed-Up BLT Bar
Serves 2-4

Ingredients:
4 Hoagie Buns
8-10 romaine lettuce leaves
4 md-lg heirloom tomatoes
12 slices of oven-fried bacon
1/2 cup thyme-lemon mayonnaise (ingredients below)

For Thyme-Lemon Mayonnaise
1-2 TB fresh Thyme
2 tsp-2 TB lemon juice
1/2 cup Mayonnaise

Directions:
Preheat oven 400 degrees. Place slices of bacon cookie sheet. Bake bacon for 12-15 minutes in oven, rotating pan halfway through. Meanwhile, slice all heirloom tomatoes about 1/4-1/2 inch thick, place on individual plate. Cut, rinse and dry lettuce leaves, assemble on its own plate. Combine thyme, lemon juice and mayonnaise in a small bowl. Next, slice hoagie buns and toast to your liking. Take bacon out of oven and set on individual plate on top of a few paper towels. Set up your BLT bar and let guests assemble their BLTs as they like. Enjoy!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Carrot Spice Muffins

 

Dorie's done it again! I'm continually surprised at how much I enjoy muffins. These carrot spice muffins were just what I needed one morning. They have loads of carrots, plump currants and I even used an extra splash or two of my favorite Tahitian Vanilla.

We ate ours plain the day of and then toasted with butter afterwards. Delicious both ways.

You can find the recipe on Nancy's blog, The Dogs Eat the Crumbs. And make sure to see how the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers liked these special Carrot Spice Muffins. You can purchase Baking from My Home to Yours (and you should) on Amazon.

 

 Other recipes you may like:

Chocolate Chunk Muffins on Project Domestication

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins on Project Domestication

Peaches n' Cream Muffins by Two Peas and Their Pod

Best Blueberry Muffins on The Vintage Mixer

Egg Muffins by Kalyn's Kitchen

Our Week in the Kitchen: Take 1

I document my baking adventures far more thoroughly than I do my everyday cooking. I pride myself in being a good baker and always say...I don't cook as much. But when it comes down to it I guess I do. Family dinnertime is extremely important to me and well, I actually do cook. I'm just not setting up great photo opps all the time. My mother had dinner on the table every night growing up and I guess that incredible deed has stuck with me. I want to be like that.

I thought I'd start to post the prior week's menu each Monday. Sometimes I plan well and sometimes I wing it. Fresh produce is plentiful in August and our meals and inspired by my CSA share, Farmers Markets and my in-laws incredible garden. One thing is for certain, we are not lacking in the produce or inspiration department. In fact, some days we have to force a few more zuchinni, kale or green beans down our throats. But hey, it's a good problem to have, right?

Garden Omelets

Adam made some amazing omelets using a ton of produce we needed to use up. I loved the asparagus in mine. And a side note: don't you think a lot of omelets found in US should be called Frittatas? Thoughts?

Buffalo Chicken Quesadillas 

This recipe was in Cook's Illustrated. I'm unsure of the issue, but it was under 30 minute meals. It didn't take 30 minutes, it took 60 with all the prep. But I'm wondering if they say 30 minutes cooking time. Either way, this was super delicious and will be a staple whenever we feel like splurging on a great bleu cheese. I don't like to post America's Test Kitchen recipes. But I will say this: tortilla, buffalo chicken with Frank's Red Hot Sauce, and bleu cheese sour cream spread. Killer! We ate this up like slop.

Kale Ragu over Whole Wheat Spaghetti

Onions, garlic, kale, diced tomatoes, red pepper flakes. Bam! Pour it over spaghetti and you've got yourself a meal. We both love the flavor of Kale and love it's nutritional benefits even more.

Chipotle Bean Burgers and a side of Swiss Chard with Olives 

I wasn't something quick, so I pulled out the bean burgers from the freezer. No shame in that. And we had some beautiful Swiss Chard from our CSA that I wanted to put to good. Use I love the recipe from Power Foods for Swiss Chard and Olives.

Sauteed Zucchini & Summer Squash over Whole Wheat Spaghetti 

I sauteed up some onions, garlic and a bunch of summer squash (as seen at the top of this post) then added some homemade marinara I had in the fridge. Second night this week we had spaghetti but hey, who is counting? I need to post my homemade marinara recipe. It's easy peasy.

Sunday Dinner: French Dip Sandwiches with Spicy Sichuan Style Green Beans

I am more than upset that I didn't take time to snap a gorgeous picture of our Sunday dinner. We spent some wonderful moments (and maybe a minor meltdown over a pint-to-ounces conversion mistake for our blueberries) in the kitchen. The French Dip Sandwiches were beyond perfection. We made an onion-braised brisket for the meat and an amazing au jus. The recipe came from America's Test Kitchen's "Best Make Ahead Recipe" cookbook.

Baking Efforts:

I went into overdrive this week. I'm really getting into catching up with my missed Tuesdays with Dorie recipes. It's actually insane. You wouldn't believe the amount of butter I'm going through. And just in case you are wondering...yes, we shared ALL of these desserts. I think I would have gained 15 pounds if we didn't.

Carrot Spice Muffins

Cocoa Almond Meringues

Double Crusted Blueberry Pie - I haven't posted this yet, but you will be in heaven when you make it for yourself. I think I may have executed my best pie crust yet!

Classic Brownies - I made these for a family reunion. Excellent. I should be posting these soon.

Kids' Thumbprints - These are basically peanut butter thumbprints and they are good. I also made these for the family reunion and they are so fun. Totally a pb&j-type cookie. Post coming.

What was on your menu last week that you loved?

Carrots with dirt on them...

Nothing like picking carrots straight out of the garden and then eating them on the same day!

August is plentiful in Utah. I can't wait for all the wonderful produce that is emerging from the in-law's garden, in farmers markets and my CSA.
Just heaven I tell you, heaven!

What are your favorite carrot dishes?

PS. Download this "Utah's Seasonal Produce in August" desktop photo from my friend Becky's blog,  The Vintage Mixer. I add it to my work desktop, as well as print it out so I can check off each food as we use them in our cooking or eat them fresh!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Cocoa Almond Meringues

Meringue still intimidates me. Thankfully these chocolaty, almond cookies turned out wonderfuly.
I love recipes like meringue and cheesecake that have you start out at a higher temp and lower it or turn off the oven completly and let the treat stay in the oven for an hour or so. For some reason I just think it's cool!

If you want the recipe, Mike of Ugly Food for an Ugly Dude has it on his blog. And, I love his blog. It's one of my favorites in the group. And don't forget to see how all the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers liked this recipe for Cocoa Almond Meringues.

And if you are wondering what Tuesdays with Dorie is...read this post.

Travel Bug Becky: Oceanside California

We recently returned from a relaxing, beach house vacation in Oceanside, California. This is the view from our deck. Isn't is stunning?
We got to watch this sunset every night. Lots of reading, boogie boarding, pier-walking, frisbee, puzzles, scum, settlers of catan and good-ol-family time.
It's great to be back.

More posts about my travels:
The Brunswick Inn (Brunswick, Maine)
Desserts in South Dakota
California Cupcakes (aka I finally tried Sprinkles!)
Bear Lake Raspberry Shake
Back from Paradise