Sweet corn definitely reminds me of summertime. If you’re from the Midwest, you know what it means when it’s knee high by the 4th of July!
My grandpa used to have huge gardens (at least they seemed to be huge when I was 5 years old, maybe it wasn‘t all that big of a garden). He planted everything from corn, to tomatoes, to green beans. I remember my Granny hating canning green beans from the garden. It makes me laugh every time I’m snapping fresh green beans in my kitchen. But, there is nothing better than an ear of sweet corn straight from the stalk. It is so good!
My godmother (my grandpa’s sister) also grew sweet corn. Each time we would come over she would send us home with bags of creamed corn to stash in our freezer to enjoy later. It was so good. I wish I had that recipe!
Instead of our usual corn dishes, we’ve literally spiced our corn up! Jon and I have been eating a lot of Mexican inspired meals, so we’ve made a corn fiesta with poblano peppers, red peppers, red onions, and chipotle seasoned bacon for that sneaky hint of heat. And because we can, we top it all with a couple pads of butter.
Ingredients:
2 large ears corn, kernels cut off, or 2 cups corn kernels
2 slices bacon, chopped into 1 inch pieces
¼ tsp chipotle powder (optional, or you can adjust to your heat level preference of less or more)
¼ cup chopped poblano pepper
¼ cup chopped red onion
¼ cup chopped red bell pepper
1-2 tbsp butter
Salt and ground black pepper to season to taste
Season the bacon with the chipotle powder and cook on medium heat until the bacon is crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan and set aside. You will use the grease from the bacon to cook the rest of the veggies.
Add the chopped peppers and onions to the pan and cook on medium heat until softened, about 2-3 minutes.
Add in the corn and cook an additional 1-2 minutes to heat through. Season the veggies with salt and ground black pepper to taste. Keep in mind that the bacon will go back into the veggies, so be careful to not add too much salt.
Turn off heat and stir in the butter.
Add the chopped bacon back into the Corn Fiesta.
Serve the Spicy Bacon Corn Fiesta as a side dish to our favorite Arroz Con Pollo. We also like adding the Corn Fiesta to taco salad and tacos.
- 2 large ears corn, kernels cut off, or 2 cups corn kernels
- 2 slices bacon, chopped into 1 inch pieces
- ¼ tsp chipotle powder (optional, or you can adjust to your heat level preference of less or more)
- ¼ cup chopped poblano pepper
- ¼ cup chopped red onion
- ¼ cup chopped red bell pepper
- 1-2 tbsp butter
- Salt and ground black pepper to season
- Season the bacon with the chipotle powder and cook on medium heat until the bacon is crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan and set aside. You will use the grease from the bacon to cook the rest of the veggies.
- Add the chopped peppers and onions to the pan and cook medium heat until softened, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add in the corn to the pan and cook an additional 1-2 minutes to heat through. Season the veggies with salt and pepper to taste. Keep in mind that the bacon will go back into the veggies, so be careful to not add too much salt.
- Turn off heat and stir in the butter. Add the chopped bacon back into the Corn Fiesta.
