Tasty Tuesday: My Dad’s Marinated Roast and Mexican Street Corn

Dear readers and eaters,

With the 4th of July fast approaching, what are your BBQ plans for the day?  Same ole same ole hot dogs and hamburgers?  Girls, put those buns away and shake things up with me this year.  For today’s Tasty Tuesday, I’m sharing what should be on your Independence Day grill.  My dad’s delicious marinated chuck roast and Mexican street corn.

Grab your charcoal and lighter fluid or matches and propane and meet me by the grill!

Let’s Get Cooking: My Dad’s Marinated Roast and Mexican Street Corn

Warning:  because I am sharing 2 recipes, this post is photo-heavy but worth that extra memory it’ll take up on your device.  I promise.

When I think of my dad, I remember a gentle, loving man who was often misunderstood by the people who loved him most and knew him best.  My dad, DeWayne Roberts, was very intelligent.  Had a PhD in pharmacology and worked for years at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as a cancer research scientist, starting shortly after the facility first opened.  Once he retired, my father spent a lot of time writing.  He shared his writing with my mom, my brother and sister and me but we struggled with some of the ideas and themes in his pieces.  In some ways, I think my dad lived a lot of his life seeking to be understood but not ever completely realizing that.  My father was a hard-working family man and patriot and an Army paratrooper.  He was a good man, a very good man.  And I miss him everyday.  Here’s my handsome dad who was coincidentally, except there are no coincidences in life, stationed at Ft. Bliss, here in El Paso, where I met PC.  He’s the soldier on the left.

Ok, let me dry my tears.

My father would make this marinated chuck roast on special occasions when we were young and every time we, his adult children, would come home for a visit.  The meat needs to marinate for 24 hours so this is a recipe for which you’ll need to plan ahead.

The Ingredients for the Meat

For the marinade:

• 2 pound chuck roast or arm roast (my mom says the arm roast is leaner but I couldn’t find it)
• 8 Tablespoons of sherry (my dad used the real stuff, I used cooking sherry)
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 Tablespoons wine vinegar
• 4 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves fresh garlic

For the grilling sauce:

• 2 Tablespoons ketchup
• 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 Tablespoons A-1 steak sauce

If you have joined me for any previous Tasty Tuesday posts, you probably remember I do a lot of subbing on the recipes I share.  And I am not too keen on carefully measuring.  I usually make something once or twice sort of following the recipe and then I just make it my own after that.  But I don’t fool with this recipe.  It is just perfect as is.

The Directions for the Meat

• Trim fat from your piece of meat.
• Sprinkle with meat tenderizer (which my dad really disliked using but makes cheaper cuts of meat better).
• Pierce with a fork.
• Return the meat to the refrigerator in a zip-lock bag for an hour.

• In the meantime, mix up the marinade.
• After an hour, remove meat from frig and pour marinade over the tenderized beef in the bag.

• Return to the frig for approximately 24 hours.

The next day:

• Preheat grill.
• A standard roast 1 1/2″ thick will take about an hour grill time.
• Mix up the grilling sauce.
• Brush onto the meat a few minutes before the meat has finished grilling.

My dad always sliced the roast with an electric knife.  Mmm, so good!

Ingredients for the Mexican Street Corn

Mexican street corn is an El Paso staple.  It is sold at carnivals, outdoor music events, farmers markets, on street corners from food carts and food trucks.  And it is so good!  There are lots of great recipes on Pinterest for this west Texas delicacy.  I combined two recipes for my Mexican street corn.  A pin from Pinch and Swirl, here and another from Genius Kitchen, here.  Here’s what you will need to make MY Mexican street corn.

• 4 ears of fresh corn, shucked and cleaned
• butter flavored cooking spray
• aluminum foil
• 1/4 cup low-fat or fat-free mayo
• 2 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese
• 2 Tablespoons crumbled cotija cheese
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon chili powder (I used chipotle chili powder for a smokier flavor)
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• pinch of ground red pepper
• 2 teaspoons lime juice

The Directions for the Mexican Street Corn

• Spray corn generously with cooking spray.
• Wrap in aluminum foil.

• Grill 15-20 minutes over a medium-low flame, turning several times to ensure even charring.
• While the corn is grilling mix lime juice, Parmesan cheese, chili powder, cumin and ground red pepper into mayonnaise.
• Remove aluminum foil from grilled corn.
• Brush each ear with the mayo mixture.

• Roll each cob in crumbled cotija cheese and chopped cilantro.

I served the my dad’s marinated chuck roast and Mexican street corn with au gratin potatoes.  It would be good with a green salad, too, or maybe just fresh fruit melange.  My mom says ‘melange’.  Sounds so fancy.  But at my house it is just strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, melon mixed together.

Hope you will give these recipes a try.  If your fam is reluctant to give up their traditional hamburgers and hot dogs this 4th, maybe you can shake things up with this savory corn.  Would love to hear back if you try the marinated chuck roast or the street corn.

Your Turn

Do you have a meal that reminds you of childhood?  I have talked some about the homemade bread I make from my mom’s and her mom’s yeast starter.  She did the cooking at our house so I associate most of my favorite childhood meals with my mom.  But I will always cherish sitting with my dad in lawn chairs in the backyard as he grilled this meat or while he churned a tub of homemade ice cream.  Thinking of you, daddy!

Thank you for joining me today.

Hugs and kisses,