Tex-Mex Style Maque Choux with Chorizo Beef Cheeseburgers

[FTC Standard Disclousre] I receive no compensation for this post. 

Have you ever had the Louisiana side dish Maque Choux? It's a creamy, delicious, and slightly spicy corn dish that I learned from a Cajun friend that relocated to Knoxville after Hurricane Katrina. 

I was thinking about this recipe and it occurred to me that it is pretty close to Tex-Mex style dishes. I made a few tweaks and turned it into a Tex-Mex Style Maque Choux. We made some burgers featuring a chorizo and beef blend patty, so I thought the Maque Choux would be a fabulous accompaniment. Here is what we did for this cook. 

After making this recipe a third time in less than a month, it dawned on me that Tex-Mex Style Maque Choux is really just a form of Mexican grilled street corn (aka Elote) taken off of the cob. So call it Tex-Mex Maque Choux or call it Elote, I don't care. 

Tex-Mex Style Maque Choux 

Ingredients 

• 4 ears corn 
• 4 tablespoons butter (or bacon grease) 
• 1/2 cup Vidalia onion, peeled, diced chopped, (about 1/2 onion) 
• 1 medium jalapeno, seeded and finely diced 
• 1/4 cup roasted red bell pepper, finely chopped 
• 1/4 cup cotija cheese 
• 1.5 tablespoons NMT Fajita Seasoning recipe
• 1/2 cup half and half 
• 1 green onion, finely chopped 
• 2 tbsp cilantro finely chopped (optional) 
• 1/4 cup crema 

Instructions

1. Cook the corn. This can be on the grill, boiled, or even microwaved. Then slice the kernels from the cob. Make sure that you get as close to the cob as possible to get the most pulp and juice from the corn. This will add more starch for creaminess. 
2. Preheat an 8" cast iron skillet over 350°f fire or medium heat on the stovetop. Add the butter and melt. Then sauté the onion for 2 minutes. 
3. Stir in the jalapeno and cook for 4 minutes. 
4. Stir in the corn cook, cook for 2 minutes. 
5. Stir in the cotija cheese and fajita seasoning and cook another minute. 
6. Stir in the roasted red bell pepper and half-and-half. 
7. Simmer until thickened, about 5-10 minutes. 
8. Remove from heat and fold in the crema, cilantro, and green onion, then serve. 

This recipe moves fast, like stir-fry, so it's wise to have everything ready to roll. Mise en place is French for ducks in a row (no, it's not). 

To cut the corn off of the cob, hold the corn upright with your non-cutting hand and slice downward to the cutting board. Rotate and repeat. Stay close to the cob, you don't want to leave any golden goodness behind.

When cooking this on a kamado grill, having the grill lid open so much for frequent stirring will cause your temps to rise. So make sure it is pre-heated and stable first. Then when you start cooking, cut your lower vent to maybe a half-inch open while you have the lid open (which will be most of the time). 

Cooking in a cast-iron skillet over red hot coals is one of those skills that separates a grill master from the rest.

Fold the crema or sour cream in immediately after taking the skillet off of the heat. The residual heat will finish the dish.

Creamy, golden, and delicious! Don't ask me for a calorie count on this one.

The chorizo burgers were pretty simple. I mixed a third-pound of Mexican or raw chorizo with 19 ounces of ground beef and divided it into three 8-ounce patties. 

I cooked them 4 minutes a side on the Blackstone 17" flat top griddle and then topped them with American and shredded cheddar. I thought I had pepper jack cheese, which would be more fitting, but this still works. 

I have a 4-burner Blackstone, but I use this 17" one most of the time. It fits perfectly on my Big Green Egg modular nest with a stainless top - easy cleanup!

Cheese melting tips:  Leave your cheese out at room temperature for an hour before grilling. If you forget, like I did this time, just cover the burgers with a stainless steel bowl and toss an ice cube under there. It will steam the cheese beautifully. You can do the same in a lidded skillet.

Nice and melty!

More gratuitous cheese action.

I put the burgers on toasted buns with bacon and chipotle-mayo (about ½ cup Dukes mayo and 1 tablespoon of chipotle puree). 

Together these were an awesome combo. Alexis used some of the Tex-Mex Style Maque Choux as a topper for her burger, she's a visionary 😊 

This is a basic maque choux. It's like a stir fry, you can add whatever. You can add shrimp, tasso, okra, tomatoes, or other things. It will be phenomenal in tacos, enchiladas, and burritos. We were eating this at a friend's house and thought you could make a killer chowder by adding this to a creamy soup base and shrimp, crab, or lobster.