NYC Apartment Elote

Filed under: Recipes

Inspired by Serious Eats

Makes: 4 servings

Gather

  • ½ cup crumbled Cotija
    (or ½ cup grated cauliflower mixed with 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast)
  • ¼ cup mayonnaise (or Dig's Garlic Tofu Aioli)
  • ¼ cup sour cream (or Greek yogurt)
  • ½ teaspoon guajillo chili powder (plus more for garnish)
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • ¼ cup cilantro leaves, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons avocado oil
  • 4 ears fresh summer corn, shucked and halved
  • 1 limes, cut in 8 wedges

Create

  1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the mayo, sour cream, Cotija cheese, guajillo chili powder, garlic, and chopped cilantro. Mix until you’ve got yourself a nice homogeneous sauce goin’. Set aside
  2. In a large cast iron skillet, heat two to three tablespoons of avocado oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, carefully place each piece of corn in the pan and charr for one to two minutes per side.
  3. Transfer hot corn to the sauce bowl and use a spoon (or your pro tossing skills) to coat the cobs. Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with more cheese (MORE CHEESE!), a sprinkle of chili powder, a few cilantro leaves, and the lime wedges.

Pro tips: Living in NYC can be hard. Unless you tricked your landlord into putting a grill on your fire escape, getting that summer charr can be hard to come by at home. But as the old adage goes: “Fake it ‘till you make it!” Mimic that glorious grill by using avocado oil for it’s super high smoke point and a medium-high flame. Careful for curtains.