This story starts with the fact that since Jake is working a lot, when we do get to hang out, we try to really spend quality time together. And somehow even though he isn't around much, it's ok because we're practicing savoring what we get. So this past weekend was a treat because Jake had both Saturday and Sunday off. He still had to study but we were able to spend a lot of time together. Saturday night we got the idea that we wanted to cook a romantic dinner together. We were housesitting for my parents and decided it might be fun to cook over there since the UT game wasn't available on our u-verse TV.
When making our menu, we turned to Pinterest. We ended up deciding to make a grilled pork tenderloin with
this rub, green beans, and something I had been wanting to try for a while - Mexican Street Corn.
So with our ingredient list in hand, we headed out on our adventure. The first stop was Whole Foods. I had actually never been to Whole Foods and we had so much fun exploring the store. I snapped a few pictures for fun:
After getting our ingredients, we went to my favorite, Muddy's Bake Shop. We got a sampling of some of my favorite cupcake flavors - Grasshopper, Strawberry Fields Forever, and Frankly Scarlett. After all, if it is going to be a date night dinner, you have to get decadent.
So back at the homestead we started to cook. I snapped this picture of my mom's pyrex print because I love it so much:
My mom is so legit that she has had this pyrex for so long. She had this pyrex before pyrex was cool.
But back to the food and specifically the street corn. We used this recipe for the street corn, taken off Pinterest:
http://pinterest.com/pin/105412447498728973/
I had never had street corn before but the pin just looked so appealing that I had craved it ever since I pinned it months ago. And finally I got to make it - so glad I did.
So here we are in my parents' kitchen, cooking:
Tenderloin was rubbed, green beans were chopped, and we were ready to go. Even had the best helpers ever, my parents' dogs Rusty and Daisy:
So it was time to make the street corn. Recipe recapped below. First I boiled the corn (you could grill or put in the oven, however you prefer to make corn):
Then once it was finished I added all the toppings. These are going to sound crazy but they were delicious together - mayonnaise spread on the corn with a knife while corn was hot, then parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, cilantro, lime juice, and my favorite Mexican seasoning (from the Target hispanic food aisle, called
Tajin seasoning.
And that is all you do. It is ready to eat. So easy, so delicious.
Really, I hear it is rude to call your own food delicious but I can't tell you how many times I've fantasized about this corn since I made it. It probably is weird to fantasize about corn. I guess there are worse things...
Daisy and Rusty agree.
So our little date night adventure ended well with a delicious meal, a reasonably priced and good tasting bottle of wine, and time spent together eating outside on the patio. It was very civilized, grown-up, and fun:
So you say you want to make your own Mexican Street Corn?
You'll need:
- ears of corn
- mayonnaise
- parmesan cheese (the recipe calls for queso fresca but it was $7 for a block and so I used parm. cheese and thought it was really good)
- freshly chopped cilantro (I could have chopped mine finer)
- salt/pepper
- juice of limes (about 2)
- mexican seasoning (I used Tajin but the recipe calls for chili powder - I think Tajin is far superior and gives it a different taste)
You'll do:
1) Cook your corn (boil, put in oven, grill, whatever)
2) While warm after cooking, take a knife and spread mayonnaise over all sides of the corn
3) sprinkle cheese over all of the corn
4) put salt, pepper, and mexican seasoning on corn
5) sprinkle chopped cilantro on the corn
6) squeeze lime juice over all of the pieces
Eat! Enjoy!
In easy recipes and romantic dinners,