Grilled Mexican Street Corn (Elote)

If you aren’t able to find traditional Mexican crema in your local grocery store, by all means, use regular sour cream. You can also substitute grated Parmesan cheese or crumbled feta for the cotija.

Ingredients:

• 6 to 8 medium ears sweet corn, husks removed

• 1/2 cup Mexican crema, or sour cream

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise • 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper, to taste

• 2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest, from 1 lime

• 2 tablespoons lime juice, from 1 lime

• 1/2 cup cotija cheese, crumbled

• Lime wedges, to serve

Instructions:

Heat a gas or charcoal grill to 400F:

Clean the grates once it has heated.

Whisk together the sauce:

In a bowl, whisk together the crema, mayonnaise, cilantro, garlic, chipotle pepper, lime zest and lime juice. Taste and season the mixture with salt if needed. (Crema has a little salt already, so add extra judiciously.) Set aside.

Grill the corn:

Place the husked corn directly onto grill grates. Grill the corn for about 3 minutes, undisturbed, or until kernels begin to turn golden brown and look charred. Turn over and repeat. When all sides are browned, remove from the grill onto a plate.

Top the corn with sauce and cheese:

Using a brush or a spoon, coat each ear of corn with the crema mixture. Sprinkle with crumbled cojita cheese. Sprinkle with additional chipotle pepper, if desired. Serve immediately with extra lime wedges.