What happens when two of my favorite foods collide? You get street corn queso and it is mind-blowing. But before we get to the queso, let me be honest for a sec: I was supposed to share this recipe 2 months ago. Life happens and so sharing the queso didn’t. Then I scheduled it to go live a month ago – that didn’t happen. That brings me to today. I scheduled it for this week and almost thought about not doing it until I got some feedback on Instagram to share the recipe and so here we are. Street corn queso is my jam and I promise you it will be yours.
First thing’s first: queso is delicious. If you disagree, this post is probably not for you. Second (and completely unrelated): since Daylight Saving Time ended, I swear it feels like it’s 9:00pm all the time. Halp.
OK back to the subject: street corn queso. A little background info on the delicious dish known as street corn. Street corn is also known as elote. Though there are a variety of ways to prepare elote, the most common way is by adding cotija cheese, butter, mayo, chili powder and maybe a few other yummy ingredients. All you really need to know is that it’s really delicious.
Street Corn Queso
I don’t know about you but I love ordering queso as an appetizer; it’s honestly one of my not-so-guilty pleasures. Not only do I enjoy chips and queso but what’s even better is drizzling the queso on a taco or whatever you’re eating. Let’s be honest, I can drizzle queso on anything. Even though it’s one of my favorite foods, I’ve never ever tried to make it at home. EVER.
So here we are today – combining the deliciousness of queso and street corn and making one explosively flavorful appetizer. Honestly, I’ve made this queso a couple of times now and each time, I eat it straight out of the skillet. It’s that good.
Since this is based on street corn, you’ll want to either grill or roast the corn you’ll use for this. Unfortunately, we don’t have a grill. I think grilled corn would be great in this recipe but instead, I compromised. There are two things you can do if you’re in the same situation I’m in: (1) prep corn on the stovetop or (2) roast it in your oven. Either way, you’ll want the corn to be charred a bit. Get ready to fall in love.
Notes
*If you like spice, leave the jalapeño seeds inside but remember: it will be spicy. You've been warned.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 jalapeño, minced*
- 2 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 1/2 cups evaporated milk
- 1 cup Quesadilla Cheese, shredded (I used the Olé brand)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups of corn, roasted
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 cup Queso Fresco (Olé Brand)
- Chili powder
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Heat the butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add in the jalapeños and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes - stirring often to be careful not to burn the garlic.
- Add flour and stir until it's all coated - about a minute. Slowly add the milk and whisk until a smooth bubbly mixture forms. Remove from heat then stir in the quesadilla cheese until smooth.
- Season the mixture with salt and stir in most of the corn. With the leftover corn, make little piles or a corn mountain, if you will, in the middle. Top the remaining ingredients (cilantro, queso fresco, chili powder and black pepper). Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Enjoy!
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