Cheese on a Cob

  I'm stuffed.  Tonight we had a lovely dinner, mainly made on the grill.  Baked sweet potatoes with cinnamon honey butter, grilled NY strips, and cheese on the cob.  Cheese on the Cob - yes, this would be a Paula Deen recipe, although it's roots are Mexican street food.  Don't turn your nose up when you look at the ingredients - the mayo is just glue.  This is one of my hubby's favorite ways to eat corn.  This is not a recipe of exacts, and one of the few you'll see with me not giving quantities; I'm a geek and I like my measurements where they are necessary.

Cheese on the Cob

Yields 4-5 ears of corn

Ingredients

4-5 ears of fresh corn, husked and silks removed
mayonnaise
grated Parmesan cheese*, about 1 cup (see note towards the end of the post)
chili powder
salt and pepper to taste

Special equipment: aluminum foil, cooking spray, grill

Start off by preheating your grill and ripping off enough aluminum foil to wrap your ears of corn.  Dump the grated Parmesan on a plate.

Brush the corn with a thin layer of mayo.  Roll the cobs in the Parmesan cheese until you get a nice, thick layer of cheese.  Sprinkle all sides of the corn with chili powder, salt and pepper.

Spray one side of the aluminum foil pieces.  Lay the corn on the sprayed side and wrap up the cobs.  I put my corn in the center of the foil, pull up the sides and roll them down like you do an open chip bag, and then roll in each side so the corn is fully closed, but you aren't going to mess up your cheese coat.

Put the corn on the grill for about 10 minutes, turning them every few minutes, or until the kernels start to show a little brown.

Notes:

* Now, back to the Parmesan - use the green can.  Y'all know what I'm talking about- the can of pre-grated cheese that sits next to the pasta on the store shelf.  This is one of the occasions that it really is the best for the job.  I tried this once with nice, freshly grated Parm, and promptly went back to the green can.  Fresh Parmesan just didn't melt the same and the taste just didn't meld as well with the chili powder.  

**  Come in close - you can totally do this when corn is out of season or you don't have a grill.  Frozen corn - no problem.  Just cook the corn slightly under package directions, and pick up from the beginning once the corn is cool to the touch.  No grill?  Preheat your oven to 400°F and put the foiled corn in for 10 minutes.