Barbecued corn with bacon and chilli butter
Serves 4
Corn on the cob is one of those things that’s enjoyed by the whole family. I love that it’s such a simple thing to cook and that eating it is so hands-on. If you prefer not to use chilli in the butter, use parmesan or anything you fancy. I’ve often come across corn recipes like this one while researching American barbecuing techniques. Here, I have combined the flavours with a barbecued corn dish I had in New York at a funky Cuban diner. The highlight that day was not the corn but that I saw Meg White from the White Stripes there having lunch. The lime-chilli butter they served with the corn was great though.
Ingredients

• 4 corn cobs, in their husks
• 8 rashers smoked streaky bacon
• freshly ground black pepper

Chilli Butter

• 100 g unsalted butter, softened
• 1 red chilli, chopped
• zest of 1 lime
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Method
Prepare your barbecue for cooking over a medium heat.
Prepare the corn by pulling back the outer husks and removing all the strands of ¬bre, but without removing the husks.
Place a bacon rasher on either side of each cob and season with pepper. Wrap the corn cobs back in their husks and secure with string at the top and bottom.
Cook the corn cobs for 30 minutes, continually turning them to prevent the husks burning.
Meanwhile, make the chilli butter by combining the butter, chilli and lime zest, and seasoning with salt and pepper.
When the corn is cooked, remove to a serving dish, untie the string and peel back the husks. Serve with a dollop of chilli butter.

This recipe first appeared in Ben’s BBQ Bible ($39.95) courtesy of Hardie Grant.