Name: Charcoal-Grilled Corn with Cream, Cheese, and Chile
Yield: Makes 6 servings
Ingredients: 6 ears fresh sweet corn, in their husks; 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted; About 1/2 cup Thick Cream or commercial sour cream mixed with a little milk or cream; 1/3 cup crumbled Mexican queso anejo or queso fresco, or cheese like Parmesan, feta or farmer's cheese; About 1 tablespoon hot powdered chile

Elote Asado

Out on a walk in practically any Mexican town, who can pass up the always-present fresh ears of chewy field corn, turning and crisping over the coals? Who isn't attracted to the smoky-smelling, pit-roasted ears (pibinales) when they're poured from gunnysacks in Yucatan? And who doesn't like the fried corn kernels with epazote and chiles in Toluca (esquites), or the ones served from big boiling cazuelas in the capital's Alameda Park, or the ones topped with cream, powdered chile and cheese in the northeastern states?

Our sweet corn isn't the same to me, boiled and buttered and served as a summertime vegetable. It lacks a little backbone. So when I'm having it, I usually give it a taste of an open fire, a squeeze of lime and a sprinkling of hot powdered chile…or the lavish spread of butter, cream and cheese of this recipe. Serve it anytime you're grilling, and you'll please practically everyone.

Recipe notes

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