Roasted Corn Guacamole & Carne Asada Soft Tacos

Chewy sweet niblets of grilled corn crowded into spicy, herby, citrusy guacamole is fantastic on just about anything.  On soft flour tortillas loaded with chili-rubbed, grilled steak, ha cha cha.  Ole!

 
It was a slow burning, blue-hot August afternoon.  The stillness in the forest begged to be quenched.  From somewhere in the house, Chris Isaak sensually crooned of a Wicked Game.

A pair of pebble skinned, dark green avocados stared at me, unblinking.  Hot chilies lay helter skelter on the kitchen counter taunting me.  A heat-blasted whisper of a breeze rustled the silk of fresh picked corn cobs that lazed on a nearby table top.  Plump limes eased out of the fruit basket landing on the floor with a soft plop, plop.  A stack of soft flour tortillas were emitting some sort of primal chant honouring the searing summer sun.  Spicy flecks of chili powder were dive bombing a tiny dish of salt splashed olive oil, then rebounding onto a tender flank steak, spelling out the words, 'grill me'.

Ay, ay, ay, carumba!!!  ALRIGHT ALREADY!  I get the drift! 

That's how it all came together that one hot August afternoon I was persuaded into my forest kitchen to conjure.

First up, spicy guacamole loaded with grilled corn.  Two of my flavour favorites, together, at last.  Yum-O!  This corn blessed guac is great as a dip with crispy tortilla chips or dolloped on fried chicken or grilled fish, or just about anything else you can think of.  But it's killer fantastic on steak tacos!  Which brings me to another one of my fave foods, carne asada. 

It was quickly becoming deliciously obvious, that I had no choice but to give a flank steak a good massage with olive oil, sea salt and lots of spicy hot Hatch chili powder.  Post massage, a little chill time before grilling that baby to tender scrumptiousness.

It was all we could do to stop ourselves from sampling the grilled steak while it rested so all those precious, luscious juices stayed put.  When we couldn't wait another second, a slicing frenzy followed and before we knew it we were tucking mouthwatering steak into warm soft tortillas with big plops of grilled corn guacamole on top.  Mmmmm....mmmm....mmmmm!

Muchas gracias to I Will Not Eat Oysters food blog for the delicious dog day afternoon inspiration.

ROASTED CORN GUACAMOLE & CARNE ASADA TACOS
Serves 4-5

Carne Asada
1 1/2 pound flank or skirt steak
2 tablespoons good quality extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sea or Kosher salt
3 tablespoons, mild, medium or hot chili powder (we use Hatch's Hot, cuz we like it 'hot'!)

Guac
4 fresh cobs of corn, husked
2 medium, perfectly ripe avocados
Juice of 2 plump limes
1/2 Walla Walla, Vidalia, Maui or sweet onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
2 fresh jalapenos or other hot chile pepper, seeded, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon sea or Kosher salt

8-10 small flour tortillas
Lime wedges, for squeezing

For the carne, mix together olive oil, 1 tablespoon salt and chili powder and massage over entire surface of the steak.  Cover or pop into a large ziplock bag and refrigerate 1-6 hours.

Meanwhile preheat barbecue to medium high.  Place corn cobs directly on the grill and close the top.  Grill corn 12-18 minutes, turning every few minutes, until some kernels are bright yellow, some deliciously brown and caramelized and some slightly charred.  Let cool.

Mash avocado with a fork, leaving it a bit chunky.  Put mashed avo into a large bowl with lime juice, chopped onion, chopped hot pepper and cilantro.  Mix to combine.  Cut kernels off the cob and add to avocado mixture. Season with sea salt, to taste.  Cover and chill under ready to serve.

Preheat barbecue to high.  Place steak on grill and reduce heat to medium-high and grill 5-9 minutes per side, turning once, until medium-rare to medium.  Remove the steak to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes to allow the juices to settle.  While steak is resting, pop tortillas on the grill for 20-30 seconds on each side.  Keep grilled tortillas warm by wrapping in a clean kitchen towel. 

Thinly slice steak across the grain on a diagonal.  To make tacos, tuck a few steak slices into a warm tortilla, top with a good scoop of grilled corn guacamole and a squeeze of fresh lime. Devour. Repeat. If you want to make a full meal deal, these tacos go rather fantastico with frijoles and Mexican rice.