My primary memory of hominy is a quick Sunday night dish my mom used to whip up with eggs and sausage, but I love hominy as a more unusual side for a good Mexican meal.  I recently made this dish for a gathering of my parents’ friends, and when they realized it was hominy, I got a few looks.  One friend told me she hadn’t had hominy since early childhood, when it was served in the cafeteria during wartime rationing.  Another echoed basically the same idea – it was something only served at school lunches.  Perhaps politely, they all dished out some hominy. And went back.  And scraped the dish clean.  And their plates.  It was also a big hit with my young nephew and niece, who were also interested to learn when one of the guests explained that hominy is basically grits before they are ground up.

This is my jazzed up version of an old community cookbook recipe, sans condensed soup and processed cheese.  It has a bit of a kick, but not so spicy that my spice adverse family couldn’t stand it.  But feel free to pump it up to your taste.  Readily available Monterey jack cheese is perfect for this, but when I find a blend of Mexican cheeses like cotija, queso asadero and queso quesadilla, I prefer that.  You could of course, make up your own cheese blend.  Try this beside Smoky Beef Tacos with a side of Charro Beans.

Creamy Hominy Bake with Green Chiles and Cheese

2 (30-ounce) cans hominy, white, golden or one of each

8 ounces of sour cream

1 cup heavy cream

1 (7-ounce) can diced green chiles

1 Tablespoon lime juice

3 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

Freshly ground black pepper

2 cups grated Monterrey jack cheese, or a blend of Mexican cheeses

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Spray an 8 by 10 inch casserole with cooking spray.

Thoroughly rinse and drain the hominy.  In a large bowl, stir together the sour cream, cream, green chiles, lime juice, salt cumin and pepper.  Blend until completely combined.  Add the drained hominy and gently stir to thoroughly coat the hominy.  Spoon the hominy into the prepared casserole.  Sprinkle the grated cheese over the top.

Cover the casserole with foil and bake the hominy for 40 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake a further five minutes until the cheese is melted and gooey.

The casserole can be refrigerate for several hours before baking.  Serve piping hot.

Serves 8

From the first time I made macaroni and cheese, I’ve used this basic recipe, with the sauce you simply stir up.  We were not a big macaroni and cheese family, and never had any version from the box until college, when the hot pot was our main cooking apparatus and I had an ingenious roommate.  I think I might have originally found the recipe in a kids’ cookbook, but I don’t really remember.  The recipe served me well for years, particularly in a poorly equipped kitchen in graduate school.  And I just thought this was how mac and cheese was made.  It was years before I learned that most macaroni and cheese recipes start with a roux made into a cream sauce.  As I progressed in the kitchen, I started working on recipes made with béchamel sauce, white wine based sauces, an onion soubise, exotic cheeses and the like.  But for simple meals, I always came back to this method.  And I’ve really decided I like it better.  It’s very creamy, very cheesy, and of course could not be simpler.  So now I make it with cheese only, or flavorful add-ins.

This version is my favorite, and based on a macaroni and cheese served at a favorite restaurant.  I am sure they use a great more expertise and skill in making it, but I manage to get the flavors I love spot-on. I like corkscrew-y cavatappi pasta, but regular macaroni, or shells, or farfalle work equally well.  Once you have this simple, basic recipe down, you can alter it however you please – with different cheeses, added spices, bacon or roasted chicken…the possibilities are endless.

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese with Country Ham and Leeks

4 leeks

6 Tablespoons butter, divided

¼ cup white wine

8 ounces uncookedelbow macaroni or cavatappi noodles

8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese

8 ounces white cheddar cheese

4 ounces fontina cheese

2 cups whole milk

1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

salt  and ground black pepper to taste

8 ounces country ham, finely diced

Preheat the oven to 375° Butter a 2 quart baking dish well.

Slice the white and palest green parts of the leek in half lengthwise, then slice into half-moons. Rinse the leeks very well in a colander under cool running water and shake to drain. Melt 4 Tablespoons butter in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat and add the leeks, with a little water clinging to them, and stir to coat.  Pour in the white wine and ¼ cup water, cover the pan and cook, stirring occasionally until the leeks are wilted, transparent and soft, about 20 minutes.  If needed, add a bit more water to prevent sticking.

Meanwhile, cook the macaroni according to package instructions in well-salted water.  Drain and return to the pan off the heat.  Stir 2 Tablespoons butter into the pasta to melt and coat to prevent sticking.  Leave to cool.

Grate all the cheeses and toss together.  In a bowl, whisk together the milk, flour, garlic powder, salt and black pepper.  Shake well for at least a minute until the flour is completely mixed with the milk.

Toss together the cooled pasta and the most of the grated cheeses, reserving a few handfuls for the top of the dish. Stir in the leeks and diced country ham until evenly distributed. Pour over the milk mixture and stir thoroughly until well mixed.  Spoon into the buttered dish and spread out to create an even surface.  Sprinkle over the remaining cheese.

Bake for about 30 minutes, until golden on top and bubbling and heated through.

Serves 6, 8 as a side dish

Soufflé. It’s the word that strikes terror into aspiring cooks. Actually, it can strike terror into the most experienced cook. The idea of any dish that must be treated with such care and delicacy, that a loud noise or simple sneeze might ruin all your hard work. Something thought so difficult that even the tiniest of misteps can turn it into soup or a leaden, burned brick. We’ve seen the TV episodes of the Fifities housewife desperate to impress the in-laws reduced to tears by a fallen soufflé. Soufflé the dread, soufflé the feared! Like the greatest sinners among us, we fear becoming The Fallen.

I have been instructed by experienced chefs, I have experimented in my own kitchen, and yes, I have had a fallen soufflés. But practice makes perfect, and mistakes sometimes take you where you meant to go. I worked on a soufflé recipe for months, making notes, crossing things out, writing in the margins, spilling milk on the ink and somehow I got here. I may not of reinvented the wheel, but I sure made it simple. This is the soufflé for the culinarily challenged. I won’t say it is foolproof; it does take a little patience. But from the first time I accidently stumbled upon the formula to the many times I have made it since, I have never had a dud. My nieces and I used to create “restaurants” at my house. We’d design a menu, plan the cooking, make the signs, take the orders (from indulgent parents and grandparents) and cook and serve the meal. On the first menu of our first restaurant, we offered this Cheese Soufflé, and it was a best seller. So trust me, you can do it.

Cheese soufflé makes an elegant first course, a lovely light luncheon with a salad, or a sophisticated breakfast or brunch treat. Jazz these up with herbs added in, or the addition of a surprise at the bottom of the dish. I always argue for using the best ingredients possible, but in a simple dish like this it is really important that they shine. Farm fresh eggs, quality butter and really good cheese. I use a natural white cheddar.

Cheese Soufflé

It is important that the eggs are at room temperature, and that the cheese mixture has cooled before folding in the egg whites to get the puffy soufflé effect.

5 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 cups whole milk

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon salt

4 eggs, separated, room temperature

Preheat the oven to 400.  Have a sheet pan ready. Butter and flour 6 ramekins, about seven ounces each.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, then whisk in the flour until it starts to bubble and turns white, about 3 minutes. Take off the heat and gradually whisk in the milk. Return to heat and whisk until bubbling and thick. Switch to a spatula or sturdy wooden spoon and add the mustard, cheese, nutmeg and salt. Pull off the heat and add the egg yolks. Stir vigorously until everything is smooth and fully incorporated. Cool.

In an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks. Stir a large dollop of the egg whites into the cheese mixture to loosen it up, then gently fold in the rest of the whites.

Divide the mixture evenly among the ramekins.  Place a baking sheet in the oven to heat for about 5 minutes. Carefully place the ramekins on the heated baking sheet and bake until puffed and golden, about 15 minutes.

Serve immediately. These will deflate as they cool – deflate, not fall or collapse. They are still lovely, light and airy.

You can chill the pre-baked ramekins for up to 4 hours in you prefer. When ready to serve, cook as directed above, though they may take a minute longer.

Serves 6

*For a little flair, spoon an extra into the ramekins such as crumbled blue cheese, chunky salsa or chutney.

There was a pub I frequented when I was a graduate student in England.  I will admit I didn’t eat there as much as my friends and I took a study break for last call at the bar. But they did serve food.  It wasn’t gourmet, it wasn’t even all that great, but they did have these potato cakes that I was very fond of.  They were cheap and filling, which are two of the top criteria for any student’s good food list.  It was only many years later, when I concerned myself primarily in recipe reading and research, that I came across boxty, and realized it was the same dish I’d eaten those years ago. I’ve since searched them out at pubs that do specialize in good food, and found the principle was pretty much the same.

My research revealed that boxty (pronounced bach-shtee) is a classic Irish dish.  A potato cake made with mashed and grated potatoes, often using leftover mash and that last potato in the drawer.  I follow the traditional method I’ve read in recipes over the years, but I add the bite of green onions, as is traditional in Champ, the classic Irish mashed potato dish.  And, as usual, I prefer the tang of buttermilk. Boxty aren’t pretty, but they are tasty.  The creamy mashed potatoes with the texture of the grated potatoes sets them apart from most other versions of potato cake.  I honestly can’t remember how they were served at that pub, but I have since had them as part of a “full English (or Irish)” breakfast, with bacon, sausage, tomatoes and egg all fried in the same pan.  I love them with a good pat of butter melting on top, but they make an excellent side dish, and would be brilliant with corned beef and cabbage or soaking up the gravy from a stew.

Boxty

Irish Potato Cakes

2 pounds (3 to 4 large) baking potatoes

3 spring onions, white and light green part, chopped

¾ cup buttermilk

1 large egg

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

½ Tablespoon kosher salt

4 Tablespoons butter

Heat the oven to 200° and line a baking sheet with paper towels.

Peel two of the potatoes and cut large pieces.  Place the chunks in a large saucepan, salt generously, and cover with cold water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook the potatoes uncovered until fork tender, about 10 minutes.  Halfway through the cooking time, drop in the chopped green onions.  When the potatoes are soft, strain them through a colander and return to the pan.  Mash them with ¼ cup of the buttermilk until they are smooth.  Set aside to cool slightly.

While the potatoes are cooling, peel and grate the remaining potatoes on the large holes of a box grater. Toss with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and place on a clean teal towel.  Gather the towel into a ball and squeeze out as much moisture from the grated potatoes as possible.

Beat the remaining ½ cup of buttermilk and the egg together in the measuring jug.  Fold the grated potatoes into the mashed potatoes and green onions.  Fold in the buttermilk mixture, flour, and salt until incorporated. You should have a pretty stiff batter.  You can add a bit more flour if needed.

Heat a large nonstick frying pan or griddle over medium heat.  Add enough butter to lightly coat the bottom when melted. Drop 3 mounds (about 1/4 cup each) of the batter into the pan and flatten each to about 1/4 inch thick. Cook until the pancake bottoms are golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes. Flip and cook the other side until golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes more. Place on a baking sheet and set in the oven to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining butter and batter. Serve warm.

Makes 12 – 16

Glazed carrots are a classic French preparation.  But I don’t always think about.  Not that it’s difficult, but frankly, I tend to use carrots as an afterthought, raw as a snack, chopped with celery and onions, or simply roasted.  But rarely as a stand-alone star.  Which is a shame, because beautiful, richly colored carrots are a taste treat.  Add a bourbon spiked, cane syrup sweet glaze and the humble carrot becomes a stellar addition to your plate.

I see these rainbow colored trimmed carrots more frequently, and they certainly up the wow factor, but regular orange trimmed carrots work beautifully.  You can also peel plain carrots and cut them on the bias into evenly sized chunks.  Whichever you use, make sure they are roughly the same size so they cook evenly.

Cane Syrup and Bourbon Glazed Carrots

12 ounces trimmed carrots

1 Tablespoon butter

1 Tablespoon cane syrup (or maple syrup)

1 Tablespoon bourbon

½ cup water

Salt

Choose a medium sized skillet, and cut a round of parchment paper to fit inside as a cover. Cut a small hole of slit in the center of the parchment to vent steam.

Melt the butter in the skillet, then add the carrots and gently stir to coat.  Add the cane syrup and bourbon and stir again.  Pour in the water, bring it to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer.  Cover the carrots with the parchment round, pressing it down around the edges of the pan.  Cook until the carrots are tender, removing the paper once to stir the carrots, then replacing it. This should take 15 minutes or so, depending on the size of your carrots.

When the carrots are tender, remove the paper and cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid is evaporated leaving a shiny glaze on the carrots.  Sprinkle with salt and serve immediately.

Serves 4

I love autumn.  I love wearing sweaters, snuggling under a blanket, comforting, slow-cooked stews, steaming bowls of soup.  And my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving, which of course leads to a wonderful Christmas season.  But I will admit, that when fall comes on in earnest, and I see the end of tomatoes at the farmer’s market, my herb garden fades and I am not quite ready to break into the stock of summer vegetables in the freezer I feel wistful.  Then I remember the winter squash.  Orange and amber and green, knobbly or smooth, heavy and solid.  Butternut squash is one of my favorite vegetables.  I love it in soups, pasta sauces, lasagna and even baked in bread.  The color, the flavor, the gentle slow-roasting all sing to me of autumn.

Earthy roasted butternut and slightly sweet, nutty chestnuts are a match made in heaven.  Add some woodsy sage and a swirl of rich crème  fraiche and this is a bowl full of fall.  It is a great alternative to sweet potatoes on the Thanksgiving table, but is wonderful with any roasted meat.

Roasted Butternut and Chestnut Purée

A few sage leaves quickly fried in olive oil until crisp make a nice garnish to this dish.

2 butternut squash, about 1 ½ to 2 pounds each

2 small yellow onions

1 head of garlic

Olive oil

5 – 7 ounces peeled chestnuts, from a vacuum packed bag or jar

10 fresh sage leaves

5 ounces crème fraiche

Salt to taste

½ Tablespoon butter

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Peel the butternuts, cut them in half and scoop out the seeds and fibrous innards.  Cut the squash into evenly sized chunks.  Place the chunks on a rimmed baking sheet. Peel and quarter the onions and place on the pan.  Separate the garlic cloves and peel them then add them to the pan.  Drizzle over a little olive oil and use your hands to toss everything around.  You just want to slick the vegetables with oil, so use a little at first and add a bit at a time if you need more. You’ll only need about a Tablespoon. Don’t go all TV chef and dramatically slosh oil in the pan.  You don’t want puddles of oil, or the vegetables will not get the nice caramelization going. Spread the vegetables into an even layer.  Try to tuck the garlic cloves in on top of the squash and onions; they tend to burn if they touch the pan. Sprinkle over a little kosher salt.  Roast the veg for 20 minutes, take the pan out of the oven and flip everything over using a spatula. Add the chestnuts and return the pan to the oven to roast a further 20 minutes until everything is soft when pierced with a sharp knife.  Leave the vegetables to cool.

When the vegetables are cool, transfer them to the bowl of a food processor.  Add the sage leaves and crème fraiche and puree until smooth.  You may have some chunks of chestnut in there, but it adds a nice texture.  Season with salt to taste.  Scrape the puree into a greased 2-quartbaking dish.  You may refrigerate the puree for several hours at this point. When ready to bake, very thinly slice the butter and strew it across the top of the casserole.  Bake until warmed through and golden on top, about 30 minutes.

Serves 6

Recipe magic.  I love things like this.  I  ran across this recipe in a number of old-school community cookbooks.  Enough times that I finally had to try it, to see if it could really work. I shouldn’t have doubted the vaunted cooks of the community recipe collection.  It works, and it is genius.  Now, it is not quite the same as a delicate French soufflé, one that involves whipping egg whites and gentle folding, but those come with the added risk of the dreaded collapse.  But this is light, and if there is an easier, more impressive recipe I have yet to find it.

Let me say one thing.  Don’t question the recipe. I did, and it was a waste of time.  This works. I don’t know why buttering the bread slices And the blender will be full, but it works.  This soufflé is an amazing accompaniment to roasted meats.  It’s good on its own, or with a good tomato sauce.  It makes a great side dish or a lovely luncheon dish with a light green salad.  Whip this up for a weekend brunch, and your diners will be blown away by your skill in the kitchen.

Blender Cheese Soufflé

10 slices hearty white sandwich bread

¼ cup butter (1/2 stick), softened

8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese

2 cups milk

4 eggs

½ teaspoon ground dry mustard

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Dash of Worcestershire sauce

Generous pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Butter a 2 quart ceramic casserole dish.

Remove the crusts from the bread, then butter each slice.  Cut the buttered bread into chunks and set aside. Cut 4 ounces of the cheese into small cubes, and grate the other half on a box grater and set aside.

Place milk and eggs in the carafe of a blender. Stuff the bread and the cheese cubes into the blender.  The blender is going to be full, so stuff everything in there.  Run the blender a few times to get things going.  You’ll need to push the ingredients down into the blender.  Add the seasonings and blend again until the batter is completely smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared casserole dish.  Sprinkle the remaining grated cheese over the batter and stir to combine with the batter.

Bake the soufflé for 45 – 50 minutes until it is puffed in the center and golden and no longer wobbles.  If it starts to brown too much, loosely cover with foil while baking.

Serve immediately. The soufflé will deflate a little as it cools.

Serves 6 – 8

A good potato salad is something of an essential for the backyard cookout or grilling session.  It can be made ahead, and adds that substantial heft to a burger or hot dog plate.  And a homemade potato salad is so much better than a bag of cheap chips.  Served next to a steak, it’s downright elegant.

A very good cook I know, with, let’s say a few more years of wisdom than me, shared the vinegar secret.  She told me the only way to get any flavor in potato salad is vinegar in the water and vinegar on the spuds.  And I think she’s right.  I prefer mellow cider vinegar, but plain old white works just as well.  This dressing is a garlic-y riff on classic green goddess herb dressing.  I add some crumbled bacon because I like bacon with, well, everything, but feel free to leave it out if you are having a meat-heavy meal.

Garlic Goddess Potato Salad

2 pounds small potatoes, yellow, red or a mix

¾ cup cider vinegar, divided

½ cup mayonnaise

½ cup well-shaken buttermilk

2 green onions

3 Tablespoons finely chopped chives

Generous handful of parsley leaves, finely chopped

2- 3 cloves garlic

½ pound bacon, cooked and chopped into pieces (optional)

Scrub the potatoes well and cut them into bite-sized pieces, all about the same size so they cook evenly. Place the potatoes in a large Dutch oven and cover with water by about 1 inch.  Add ½ cup of the vinegar and bring to a boil.  Cook the potatoes until tender when pierced with a sharp knife, about 15 minutes.  You want your potatoes cooked through and soft, but not falling apart.

Drain the potatoes in a colander, and return to the pan.  Pour over the remaining ¼ cup vinegar and gently stir to coat the potatoes. Leave to cool while you make the dressing.

Place the mayonnaise, buttermilk, herbs and garlic in the carafe of a blender and blend until smooth. Taste it, and if you’d like to add more garlic, feel free.  Pour the dressing over the cooled potatoes and toss lightly to coat without breaking up the potatoes.  Add the bacon if you are using it. Taste, and add salt if needed. Chill until ready to serve.

The potato salad will keep covered in the fridge for up to 2 days, though you might consider tossing in the bacon right before serving to keep it crispy.

Serves 6

I have a shopping problem.  Fortunately, it’s not for shoes or designer handbags, it’s at the farmers market.  I am so enamored of all the beautiful fresh produce and artisan made foods that my eyes are often bigger than my shopping bag.  I try to go with a plan and a list, but I just get so enticed by all the wonderful things.  The fire-engine red tomatoes in every size and shape.  Electric purple and snowy white eggplants.  Rainbow collections of knobbly peppers. Pink and red and soft and fuzzy peaches.  Plums with an inner glow.  Sunshine yellow squash.   And when I see the speckled green zucchini nestled up next to their crookneck cousins, a few inevitably make it home with me.

I have a large repertoire of squash preparations, but my zucchini menu is limited. I haven’t mastered the right zucchini bread recipe.  I love them on the grill, if I have the grill going.  I’ve done a beautiful shaved salad dressed with a light vinaigrette, but found it prettier than it tasted.  So this is my solution for an abundance of summer zucchini.  A simple casserole that highlights the flavor of zucchini, beautifully set off by fresh oregano and salty parmesan. It’s rich with eggs, so it’s sort of a soufflé.  But it’s bit denser, and a lot less trouble to make.  I served this recently to some almost- teenagers, and I’ve got to tell you I was a little surprised, but they cleaned their plates.

Zucchini Sort of Soufflé

3 medium zucchini

1 medium onion

2 Tablespoons butter

1 Tablespoon olive oil

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh oregano

¼ cup milk

4 eggs

¾ cup dry breadcrumbs (purchased work best)

¾ cup grated parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 2 quart baking dish.

Cut the ends off the zucchini and cut into large pieces.  With the grating disk on a food processor or the medium holes on a box grater, grate the zucchini.  You should have roughly 6 cups.  Toss the grated zucchini with 1 teaspoon kosher salt in a colander and leave to drain for at least 10 minutes.

While you’ve got the grater out, grate the onion.  If you prefer, you can dice it finely.  Heat the butter and olive oil in a skillet and cook the onion until it is soft and translucent but not brown.  In the last few minutes of cooking, toss in 1 Tablespoon of chopped oregano and stir to combine.  Remove from the heat.

Place the zucchini on a clean tea towel, roll it up, and squeeze out the moisture.  Place the zucchini in a large bowl, add the onion and stir. Measure the milk into a jug, then crack in the eggs and beat together. Add to the zucchini mixture and stir to combine.  Add the bread crumbs and the remaining chopped oregano, a few grinds of black pepper and a sprinkling of kosher salt and stir to combine.

Scrape the mixture into the prepared baking dish and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the top with parmesan.  Bake until puffed and golden, another 10 – 15 minutes.

Serves 6- 8

My favorite summer treat is definitely fresh corn, straight off the cob. I eat more corn in summer than I ought to admit.  Usually just straight up, with a little butter and salt.  When corn starts appearing in the farmers market, I buy bushels of it to put up for the winter. I ration out those little frozen bags of golden jewels like they really are precious gems.  And when I light up the grill, I love to throw on some corn.  Usually way more than my guests and I will eat, so I can cut the leftovers off the cobs and enjoy it later.

Mexican-style grilled corn, or elote, is another one of those food ideas that I read about for years before ever actually trying it.  When I finally did take the plunge, slathering a freshly cooked cob of corn in mayonnaise and rolling it in salty cheese, I was hooked.  This is now my favorite way to eat corn on the cob.  When I started serving it at cook-outs, many friends were reluctant to try mayo on their corn, but the brave ones who did were hooked too.  Now there is an amazing Mexican deli in town that serves elote, and when I hear folks rave about it, I love to say I told you so.

When I have a smaller group of friends to serve, I grill the cobs and put them on a big platter.  Next to that I put a bowl of mayonnaise for spreading, a dish of chili powder for sprinkling, a plate of crumbled cheese for rolling and some lime wedges for squeezing.  Interactive food is always fun.  But with a larger group, that is not always practical, in part because I only have corn cob holders for six ears.  So when planning a larger gathering once, it occurred to me that maybe I could transform the idea into a salad.  It works beautifully, with all the flavor of a traditional elote.  It’s great for a crowd, but is also a great way to take fresh corn along to a party.  If you don’t have the grill going, it is perfectly fine with just-boiled kernels.

Mexican Corn Salad

Cotija cheese is a salty Mexican cheese you’ll find in with other Hispanic cheeses at most god groceries.  If you don’t find cotija, queso fresco is a good substitute.  I prefer to buy blocks and crumble it myself to get even chunks.

¼ cup mayonnaise (or more to taste)                                                                       

Juice of 2 limes

1 teaspoon mild chili powder

½ teaspoon ground cumin

8 ears of fresh corn, shucked and silks removed

1 cup crumbled cojita cheese (about 4 ounces)

Salt to taste

In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, juice of one lime, the chili powder and the ground cumin.  Blend well and set aside.

Cook the corn on the cob. You can bring a large pot of water to the boil, drop in the cobs and bring the water back to the boil.  Remove the pot from the heat, cover it and let the cobs cook for five minutes. If you’ve got the grill going, you can then place the cobs on the grill to get a nice char on the kernels, but its fine if you don’t grill.  When cool enough to handle, cut the kernels from the cobs using a sharp knife.  Place the corn in a large bowl and squeeze over the juice of one lime.  Toss the kernels around to absorb the lime juice.  Add the cotija cheese and toss to combine.  Stir in the mayonnaise dressing to coat all the corn kernels.  Add salt to taste and mix well.

This salad will keep covered in the fridge for 24 hours.

Serves 6 – 8, can be doubled or tripled