Recipe: BBQ Corn With Chili-Lime Butter

I love the warmer weather, mostly because it means that for the short term, I can pack away my crock pot like so many winter sweaters, turn down the heat on my indoor kitchen appliances and fire up the outdoor grill. Now I'm read to rock n' roll!

Warm weather means trips to the beach, lemonade stands, and best of all, barbecuing. My goal? To see if I can go the entire month of June without having to turn on my oven once to make dinner.

One of my family's favorite activities is barbecuing corn on the cob. This is a rather straightforward dish. After all, corn is corn and there is not much you can do to it on the barbecue but grill it and eat it. It is the surprising addition of a few other simple ingredients that makes this dish sing. The secret? A fabulous chili-lime butter that takes this dish from ordinary to extraordinary.

There are two ways to slather your corn in all this deliciousness. The first way is to prepare lime wedges and squeeze them over your corn while on your plate. Then add butter the old fashioned way (with a knife) and sprinkle with salt and chili powder.  

The other way involves culling the corn from the cob. You will have about 3 to 4 cups of fresh grilled corn kernels, after which you will toss in the butter/lime/chili mixture. You can carefully use a knife or one of those cute little gadgets that cuts the entire cob in one fell swoop. Either way, this is one tasty side dish.

Ingredients:

• 4 ears of corn

• tin foil

• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp chili powder (your preference)

• 1/4 cup butter

• 1 large lime

Directions: Fire up the grill to medium/medium-high heat. Peel back the husks from the corn and discard. Remove the "hairy" bits and give a rinse under cool water. Do not dry. Lay each ear of corn on a piece of tin foil and roll up, folding over the ends to seal the entire ear.  

Place on the hot grill and turn occasionally to cook evenly, about 10 - 15 minutes. The corn is done when it's just fork tender and there are nice grill marks on some of the kernels.

In a small bowl, melt 1/4 cup butter. Add the juice of one lime and the chili powder. Stir well. Salt to taste. You can brush on this mixture, apply it a la carte (everyone limes, butters and chilis to their liking) or you can toss with cut corn.

Enjoy.