Mock Maque Choux (Gesundheit)

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Today’s post is literally short and sweet, and just in time for the Labor Day holiday here.

It’s another little recipe for using fresh corn off the cob, one based on a traditional Cajun recipe, but mine took a small departure with the ingredients I had on hand, and hence its name: “Mock” Maque Choux. For one thing, I wanted some of that smoky flavor you get with using sausage or pork in this dish, but I had no sausage. What I did have was chipotles in adobo, and since the adobo sauce has some smoky heat that goes so well with sweet…how about that as a substitute?

In the end, this is a vegetarian version that acts as more of a side dish, but you could easily add some andouille sausage or tasso, or top it with some grilled shrimp to this if you like. Meat or no, it’s a wonderful, sweet, spicy and rich corn preparation, perfect for a holiday grill out or any time.

“Mock” Maque Choux
Makes 6 servings

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
5 ears of fresh corn, husks and silks removed
1/2 of a peeled and finely diced red onion
1 cup of finely diced celery
1 small orange bell pepper (or you can use red or green), seeded and finely diced
1 1/2 Tablespoons adobo sauce from canned chipotle chilis
2 Tablespoons of finely minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
2 teaspoons kosher salt A few grinds of fresh black pepper
1 1/2 cups small diced grape tomatoes
1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil leaves
Additional chiffonade of basil leaves for garnish

Cut the kernels of corn off the cob with a sharp knife into a bowl, cutting about 3/4 through each kernel. Take the reserved cobs and scrape the back of your knife down the cob to extract any milk, letting it run into a separate small bowl. Reserve the corn milk.

Melt the butter in a large skillet, preferably cast iron, over medium heat. Add the corn, onion, celery, bell pepper, adobo sauce, thyme, a couple of grinds of black pepper and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cook for 15 to 18 minutes, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are tender. Add the garlic, tomatoes, corn milk, 1 tablespoon of fresh basil and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Continue to cook for another 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste for seasoning and add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt, if desired, and a bit more freshly ground black pepper. Serve with a garnish of more fresh basil and enjoy!

Corn milk…not exactly milk, not exactly corn!
First round of veggies and corn.
Add tomatoes, garlic and corn milk.
Add the basil and you’re almost done.

*****

This is our other kitty girl, Cinderella. She is very flighty and hard to snap. She's pretty disgusted with staying in the basement while the workmen are here.

This is our other kitty girl, Cinderella. She is very flighty and hard to snap. She’s pretty disgusted with staying in the basement while the workmen are here.

42 thoughts on “Mock Maque Choux (Gesundheit)”

  1. Any name you call this Betsy, I’m all over it! The smoke from the adobo peppers combined with the gorgeous sweet fresh corn? What is not to love. But you also mentioned the sausages and that really made my ears perk up. Add a poached egg and that’s a breakfast. I may have to borrow this for when Paul and T come for a visit from Illinois, they would really love the flavours.
    Hope your chimney was repaired and all is back to normal. We wound down the studio to the owner in late July, so at this time I’m finding myself a free agent; I took the month of August off and will hit the pavement running in September! Wish me luck, it’s a fairly strange time.

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    • Hi Eva, I’m so glad you like this dish! Sausage would be wonderful with it of course. I’d love to try it with grilled shrimp for me and grilled sausage for the hub! Your breakfast idea sounds delish, too.

      We finish the chimney tomorrow, then next week they do the roof and hopefully the following week we will paint. So still in the midst but can see some light starting to shine at the end of the tunnel! I wondered if your time off was a job change. I have also been having enforced time off trying to deal with all of this this summer, which can be a slow freelance time anyway. I’ll be hitting the pavement soon, too. Good luck to you and keep me posted!

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      • Glad to hear things are coming to an end with the repairs, it’s really so upsetting to have your home in disarray due to repairs or renovations. Seven years ago we did our kitchen and lived in boxes and used a bedroom as our make shift kitchen and one of the sinks in the bathroom as the kitchen sink (the other sink was for tooth brushing and spitting, non of that in the kitchen sink!). It was such a relief to get everything back to normal. It’s such a state of mind. But I’m glad to hear things are moving forward.

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        • Thanks, Eva! We’ve had another delay in that they just finished the flashing on the roof today, gutters on Thursday and painting next week. I’m having to move 2/3 of my house into the other 1/3 of my house including my office, so living and working in this is VERY upsetting. I’ll be working from my dining room while they paint the 2/3 of the interior, then we have to re-carpet my office. It’s crazy! And once they start painting it will be even harder to get into the kitchen, but I will be SO glad when it’s all done. Fingers crossed for that being the end of next week… if the painters can still schedule us and if I can get carpet in right after that!

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  2. I love how you named your cat, ‘Cinderalla’. She looks like she’s very cross. I hope you have a lovely long weekend. Your corn dish looks very good and it would definitely be full of flavour xx

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    • She is very cross at that moment, Charlie. She didn’t want her photo taken at all, and is over not having the freedom she is accustomed to here lately. Plus she’s a tortie so her personality is generally sweet but kind of crazy! 🙂

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  3. Adding the sausage would make this a meal, add a salad and it is a balanced meal.
    Glad to read from your reply to Eva that your chimney will be finished tomorrow next come the roof, repairs are moving along smoothly and hopefully on schedule.

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    • Yes indeed. We actually had ours with a salad as a light meal, too. So far we are on schedule once we finally got started. The weather is the moving target with all of the outside work, which must be completed before plaster repairs and painting are done. Fingers crossed! Thanks, Norma! Have a happy Labor Day holiday weekend.

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  9. I’ve never heard of, much less tried a maque choux, Betsy, but I’ll take care of that soon enough. This sounds great and another way to take advantage of the season’s corn. I’d enjoy this with or without the sausage, too. Thanks for the lesson. 🙂
    Glad to read that you can finally see a light at the end of the construction tunnel. I know you’ll be happy to get your home back, whole and without workers milling about. I wonder how long it will take Cinderella to forgive you? 🙂

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    • Hi John, and I’m so glad to be able to teach you something, especially as a mutual fan of corn! 🙂 It’s a great dish, traditionally made with green bell pepper and andouille sausage instead of the chipotles. All good. Cinderella won’t forgive me until after the painting is done and we are probably 2-3 weeks away from that date. She still doesn’t know that she’ll be back in the basement week after next, but at least she gets a breather next week while the roofers are working outside! 😉

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  10. I love corn and am enjoying seeing all the various recipes folk are posting right now. I’d love this as a main with or without meat. If I had the meat version, I’d share a little slice of sausage with Cinderella of course!

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  12. I’ve never heard of a maque choux before at all – must go and look up what a “non” mock version looks like! Love the idea of using the fresh corn off the cob… I actually have two ears at home right now. I usually just cook them as-is and eat them like that but now I think I need to try something a bit different… like this! Looks lovely… I even have chipotle too!

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    • Hey Charles, the traditional version of this dish uses bell pepper instead of sweet, regular onion instead of red, andouille sausage or tasso instead of chipotles and no basil. Both are delicious and my version is a bit sweeter and vegetarian. I hope you’ll try it and love it! I have more corn in the fridge destined for another batch! 😉

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    • Thank you, BAM. This dish is so sweet, it doesn’t seem like veggies at all, so I’ll bet your picky boys would love it! Hope you are doing well. I haven’t been out and about as much as I’d like. Too many things going on here. 🙂

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  16. Hope that your September is off to a good start! It sure has turned cold here…but I’m not complaining, as the sun is still shining (today anyway). I’ve wanted to make Maque Choux and yours looks like it would be delicious — with or without the sausage! My girls are dying for a cat or a dog. Can they borrow Cinderella for a few days?

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    • Hey Barb. Well, September has been a challenge so far, as was most of the summer. I am now aiming for October to be better! We are enjoying a lovely cool spell, though, and quite windy today, too! So glad you like the Maque Choux. I can tell you that it is wonderful both ways, the all veg which is so sweet and delicious, and with the andouille sausage, which adds and richness, and meat, of course! Cinderella’s sister might never forgive me if I loaned her out, LOL. I think maybe you need a kitten or two. I recommend two because they keep each other company! 🙂

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