Variations on a summer classic

Idon’t know what all fathers are like, and I certainly don’t want to stereotype, but mine is the kind of guy who always fires up the grill.

Usually he would make steaks or chicken, sometimes veggies, but his favorite is lamb chops.

There is more to grilling than just meat, especially as the weather heats up and the early harvests from pandemic gardens start to pile up. For this Father’s Day, I suggest grilling up a few husks of corn slathered in a spicy lime sauce.

I learned about grilled corn, not from street vendors, but former New York Times food writer Mark Bittman. He, too, is responsible for my discovery of the creamy lime sauce used to slather on the corn.

The sauce, which I also use on fish tacos, beans and really anything that needs a little something extra, was truly a revelation for me and there is always a jar in my refrigerator.

The recipe below calls for making more secret sauce than you probably need for just a few husks of corn, but the key is understanding that making the sauce is more of a taste issue than one of exact amounts.

The original Bittman spicy sauce uses mayonnaise, but I’ve moved to a combination of mayonnaise and sour cream or yogurt. His original recipe calls for chile powder, but I find the hot sauce, Tapatio, or its cousins Valentina or Cholula, add a lot more flavor than just chile powder. I also add chopped garlic.

Bittman suggests a total of five alternative corn coatings to the spicy sauce. They are not my first choice, but I present them as options. They are more outlines than specific recipes.

• Olive oil, chopped basil and Parmesan cheese

• Crumbled feta cheese, plain yogurt, lemon juice, oregano and cumin

• Mayonnaise, minced garlic, paprika and parsley

• Coconut milk, cilantro and mint

• Butter, salt and black pepper The key to grilling corn is to get the grill really hot. Some of the kernels will pop while on it, but that’s natural, so don’t be too alarmed. That hot grill will blacken or brown the corn and the sauce already put on it.

Bittman adds the sauce to the corn after it has been grilled. I prefer to put it on prior to grilling and then maybe a bit afterward. I find the taste, and experience, to be more subtle.

If the grill is already fired up, why not add some green chiles to it, or some zucchini or other summer vegetables?

Whatever you do, I think you’ll be making dad proud.

GRILLED CORN Ingredients

For the corn

2+ husks of corn