Grilled bread appetizer and grilled corn

I had bruschetta at a restaurant recently, but this is something you can easily make at home and you can change it to suit your own tastes. For instance this recipe has olives which I love, but some people hate them. Just leave them out if that’s the case.

To this recipe I might also add balsamic vinegar. And some Parmesan cheese never hurts.

Technically, the bread has to be grilled to be a bruschetta. If the bread is only toasted it’s called a crostini. Either way it will work for this recipe.

Tomato Bruschetta

1 cup pitted kalamata olives, finely chopped

1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil

4 medium (about 1 lb) ripe tomatoes, cored and diced

Kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper to taste 1 (12-ounce) loaf ciabatta,

1 (12-ounce) loaf ciabatta, sliced 1/2 inch thick on the bias (about 12 alices)

1 clove garlic halved lengthwise

Toss the olives, 1/3 cup oil, basil, tomatoes, salt, and pepper in a bowl.

Heat a cast-iron grill pan over medium-high. Brush the slices of bread on both sides with the remaining 3 tablespoons oil. Grill the bread, flipping once, until crisp and slightly charred at the edges, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Or just toast in the oven.

Move the bread to a cutting board and immediately rub one side of each slice with the cut side of the garlic. Top each slice of bread with a scant 2 tablespoons tomato mixture and, if desired, drizzle with oil. Serve immediately.

—kwc—

If you’ve fired up the grill for the bruschetta then throw some corn on and make this delicious side dish. This is called Mexican street corn, but the sad thing about corn in Mexico is that it’s not the sweet kind we get here this time of year.

You can substitute the crema with sour cream, but Brookshire’s has both crema and cotija cheese in the dairy case.

Mexican Street Corn

6 to 8 medium ears sweet corn, husks removed

1/2 cup Mexican crema, or sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp ground chipotle pepper, to taste

2 tsp finely grated lime zest

2 tbsp lime juice

1/2 cup cotija cheese, crumbled

Lime wedges, to serve

Heat a gas or charcoal grill to 400. Clean the grates once it has heated.

In a bowl, whisk together the crema, mayonnaise, cilantro, garlic, chipotle pepper, lime zest and lime juice. Taste and season the mixture with salt if needed. (Crema has a little salt already, so add extra judiciously.) Set aside.

Place the husked corn directly onto grill grates. Grill the corn for about 3 minutes, undisturbed, or until kernels begin to turn golden brown and look charred. Turn over and repeat. When all sides are browned, remove from the grill onto a plate.

Using a brush, coat each ear of corn with the crema mixture. Sprinkle with cojita cheese. Sprinkle with additional chipotle pepper, if desired. Serve immediately with extra lime wedges.