Corn on the Cob with Charred Tomato Dressing
It is hard not to love a chargrilled stick of deeply yellow corn, steaming hot and dripping in butter, or doused in mayonnaise, crumbled cheese, lime juice and chilli as they eat it in Mexico. The corn season, from the end of August until the end of September, coincides perfectly with tomatoes at their best. This tomato dressing, inspired by the style of dry-roasting tomatoes and chillies used in Mexico, is both sweet and rich, and hot and smoky.
Make plenty of the tomato dressing to use throughout the week; it is truly wonderful over roast cauliflower, in the lentil salad below, or any other combination that occurs to you, such as in tacos with avocado and sprouting seeds.
Ingredients
For the Corn:
4 corn on the cob, still in their husks
50g butter, melted
50g feta, crumbled
small handful of coriander leaves, roughly chopped
1 tsp smoked sea salt (optional)
For the Creme Dressing:
1 Scotch Bonnet chilli
3 large, ripe plum tomatoes
1 garlic clove, unpeeled
2 tbsp sherry vinegar
1/2 tsp soft light brown sugar
few pinches of ground allspice
130ml olive oil
Recipe
First make the dressing. Put your oldest, most knackered heavy-based pan over a high heat. Once hot, add the chilli and tomatoes and, turning with tongs, dry-roast on all sides for 10-15 minutes, or until blackened all over. The blacker the fruit, the more flavour will come through in the dressing. After 10 minutes, add the garlic and roast on all sides too (it will cook much faster). Once roasted, peel the garlic and cut open the chilli lengthways and scrape away the seeds and membrane, trying not to touch the seeds or you will have very spicy fingers for several hours. Add the chilli, garlic and tomatoes to a blender, black skins and all, and blitz to a thick purée.
Add the vinegar, sugar and allspice, season generously with salt and, with the motor running, add the oil in a slow, steady stream until the dressing is emulsified. Season to taste; it will need quite a bit of salt. Set aside, or chill in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
When almost ready to eat, place the corn cobs straight onto a hot barbecue and turn them for 10 minutes until the husks blacken and become like tissue paper. Alternatively, cook them in an oven preheated to 220°C/gas 7. Peel back the husks, so you can use them as handles. Brush with the melted butter, spoon over some of the tomato dressing and sprinkle with the feta, coriander and smoked sea salt, if using. If you are serving a larger crowd, cut the cobs into thirds. Devour at once!
Why not try lentil, smoky tomato & feta salad?
Place 200g Puy lentils, 1 bay leaf and 1 garlic clove in a pan and cover with water. Simmer for 25-30 minutes until the lentils are just tender, then drain. Discard the bay and garlic. Add 3 tbsp olive oil, season well and stir in a large handful of chopped parsley leaves (about 100g) and 200g crumbled feta. Toast 150g torn sourdough bread, then toss it in 3 tbsp Charred Tomato Dressing. Toss through the lentil salad, then spoon on more of the tomato dressing to serve. Feeds 4 as a side, or 2 as a main.