Small Town Summer: Grilled Corn and Tilapia

Every cook has their secret ingredient that makes their food stand out from the rest. And no one stood out better than Julia Childs. For her, butter was the name of the game and I tend to agree with her.

My favorite ingredient has always been butter. And not the low fat, oil infused, hoity-toity stuff they pretend is "butter." I'm talking about the real deal.

In the summer we tend to do a lot more grilling and therefore more olive oil than butter. But sooner or later every cook must return to their roots, and my roots are saturated in butter.

Now don't get me wrong, I am much more Julia than I am Paula Dean when it comes to butter or fatty foods. I believe you can enjoy rich satisfying meals without having to deep fry it or throw marshmallows in it. I also think you don't have to settle for chomping on a celery bean sprout wrap when you are hungry. Cooking, as in life needs balance and variety.

That's where butter comes in. You only need a few tablespoons instead of say a couple of sticks in order to have a beautifully cooked meal.

So when I saw Grilled Corn on the Cob by Good Eats Girl, I had to try it.

The recipe is simple but incredible! It was perfectly with our grilled tilapia and it was all delicious. We ate it with a loaf of Olive Bread from a favorite local bakery and it was definitely comfort food, but “good” for you.

The tilapia was grilled simply and served with my mom’s Cilantro Lime Butter Sauce that makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

To match the flavor of the fish, I added cumin and fresh cilantro to the butter mix, but I have no doubt that Good Eats Girl’s version is just as delicious. To see her original recipe please visit her site.

What’s nice about this meal is that you can make both the fish and the corn on the grill with minimal fuss or clean up. Sounds good to me.

In recap, for dinner we used butter as the finishing touches. Healthy and tasty, if I do say myself.

Grilled Corn and Tilapia with Finishing Butters:

Grilled Corn on the Cob (adapted from Good Eats Girl)

Ingredients:

6 Ears of Corn, husked

5 tblsp. Salted butter, very soften

1 tblsp. Ground pepper

1 tblsp. Salt

3 cloves of fresh garlic, minced

½ tsp. Cumin

¼ cup chopped fresh Cilantro

Directions:

Mix softened butter, pepper, salt, cumin, garlic and cilantro in a bowl.

Place each ear of corn on a piece of aluminum foil (about 8x8)

With a knife, evenly spread butter all over the ear of corn.

Wrap up each ear individually in its own tin foil.

Place on grill for 30-35 minutes.

Take corn out of the foil and serve.

Grilled Tilapia with Cilantro Lime Butter Sauce

Ingredients:

4 filets of tilapia

salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste

Olive oil

For finishing butter:

4 tblsp. Salted Butter

Juice of 3 limes

1 cup of chopped cilantro

Directions:

Pour Lime juice in a small sauce pan, let it boil for 2-3 minutes and remove from heat.

Melt butter in the pan along with cilantro.

Stir until well mixed. Serve over any fish such as red snapper, salmon, or tilapia.

For Fish:

Place four tilapia filets in a large piece of tin foil, making a packet.

Add salt, pepper, and garlic salt evenly to taste to the tilapia filets.

Drizzle the filets in olive oil and close the tin foil over fish.

Grill for no more than 3 minutes. Make sure the fish is cooked, but you don’t want to over cook it either.

Serve with Cilantro Lime Butter Sauce. (And if you have grilled corn and fresh bread too.)

What's your favorite summer recipe?

Enjoy!

Love,

The College Cuisiner