grilled corn salsa

grilled corn salsa, originally uploaded by riptideredsf.

Yesterday I had a day off. I made a promise to myself to do two things. Cook something and write something and it didn't have to be related...just post something. Finish something.

Clearly there's been an appalling lack of content here. The month is half over and I've only posted once? What the hell have I been doing?

It's not due to lack of kitchen exploits. I've got 5 posts sitting in draft suspension because I just can't seem to finish anything these days. It's not due to lack of time because I've had more of that than usual. I've just hit a wall and I am trying to crash through it.

I'm calling this a salsa until I can come up with a better word. It's much more than a salsa. Salsas are usually simple. This is anything but. It's a mash-up of all my favorite sweet, savory, slow-roasted amigos...and an ungodly amount of work if attempted all at once. Don't do that.

It started last week when out of sheer boredom a rare and leisurely day in the kitchen produced bacon jam, caramelized onions and slow roasted tomatoes. A few days prior to that I'd made a batch of Chipotle Cilantro Butter, most of which got slathered onto corn on the cob.

This Smitten Kitchen recipe for Charred Corn Tacos is the bomb. I discovered it last year and have been torturing adapting it with my mad skills ever since. SK's simple and beautiful corn saute is all one needs to do. Not this hot mess.

Yesterday, I sauteed about 4 cups of fresh corn kernals (2 of the 4 cobs were charred over a medium flame on the stove top) in the Chipotle Cilantro Butter over medium heat. Then I added about 2 t.of ground cumin, 1 t. of ground coriander and 1 t. of cayenne,. In goes about 1/4 c. of Bacon Jam, 1/4 c. Caramelized Onions, the zest and juice of two limes, about 1/2 c. of slow roasted grape tomatoes and 2T roughly chopped cilantro.

Anyone can get by perfectly with the saner and simpler version that inspired me to begin with. I make a huge batch and throw some in an omelet, in a quesadilla, in a salad or a just as a side dish....oh I almost forgot... I threw a cup of this into a skillet cornbread I made last night! Stay tuned.