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Posts tagged as “mexican spice”

Elotes (Mexican Street Corn)

Elotes (Mexican Street Corn)Elotes / Mexican Street Corn recipe From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)

Updated 11/23/20 to include a variation on this recipe for when corn is not in season—making it a perfect side-dish for any season! Click here to see recipe variation at the end of this post.

This is not a sponsored post or endorsement made in coordination with or paid by any of the brands mentioned here—only offering a few suggestions based on things my family and I have tried and enjoyed.

Elotes, otherwise known as Mexican street corn, is a hot food trend right now for good reason: it's really, really good.

The topping is a perfect, creamy addition to fresh, sweet, in-season corn that gets sprinkled generously with Mexican-style seasoning blend and and cotija cheese.

It's very easy to make your own spice blend but you can also use one that's pre-made, if you don't have the time, such as from McCormick or tajin, which is chili and lime flavored.

Cotija is a firm cheese that typically comes wrapped in a small wheel and can be easily crumbled, similar to feta but much milder in flavor. If you can't find this in a store near you, substituting a shredded Mexican-style cheese blend or cheddar cheese blend works. Definitely try the cotija, if you have that option!

The recipe makes enough topping for about 6-8 medium ears of corn. You can always cut the corn in half, too, to double the number of portions—this is a nice idea for a buffet when you have multiple side dishes that people can choose from.

Mexican-style Spice Blend

Mexican-style Spice BlendMexican-style Spice Blend recipe From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)

This is not a sponsored post or endorsement made in coordination with or paid by any of the brands mentioned here—only offering a few suggestions based on things my family and I have tried and enjoyed.

This is an easy Mexican spice blend that uses just five spices from your pantry. You can use it as a topping for elotes as well as for tacos, fajitas, or grilled meats—I like it on chicken or steak.

Toast your spices for maximum flavor—it's an extra step that brings out their flavor. (Admittedly, I don't always bother doing this, but here it makes a huge difference.) You can buy spices pre-toasted and ground, such as McCormick's, or make your own.

One of my favorite places online to buy spices is My Spice Sage. They have a nice assortment of whole spices, spice blends, and other pantry ingredients available in different size containers—from 2 oz bags to small glass jars, larger 8 oz and 16 oz bags, and even larger wholesale sizes. I like their lemon pepper spice blend a lot.

To toast spices, you'll need a small skillet, whole spices, and a little bit of time and attention. Add the spices to a cold skillet and turn the heat to medium. You'll want to keep the pan moving so the spices don't stay in one place for too long and burn. It only takes a couple of minutes for them to toast and during the process, they may start to crackle and pop a little bit, but they shouldn't blacken or darken considerably—if that happens, they're burnt and will taste bitter, so it's best to start over.