September in Baltimore is a beautiful thing. It’s not cold, but you can finally wear a sweater. It’s the best of both worlds. And while we’re excited about fall, there’s still a little bit of us that wishes every day could be a pool day. We’re working hard to squeeze the last few drops out of summer this month, and we’re starting with these corn tortillas and warm Mexican corn salsa!

For the corn tortillas:

· 1 c. masa corn flour

· 2/3 c. water

· Heavy pinch of salt

· Teeny tiny bit of olive oil

For the salsa:

· 3 ears of corn

· ½ red onion

· 1 medium tomato

· ½ jalapeno

· 2 tbsp. chopped cilantro

· ½ lime, juice

· Salt to taste

Start with the tortilla, and you can do this all ahead of time. It’s so simple: just three ingredients. Throw the masa, water and salt into a bowl and mix with your hands. Really knead the dough. Because masa is gluten free, unlike other doughs, you can’t over work it.

If you have a tortilla press, put plastic wrap on the top and bottom plate, and squish a ball of dough. If you don’t have a press, just roll it out on the counter to about the thickness of a penny and use a large cookie cutter to cut out rounds.

Using a sauté pan or a griddle, cook the tortillas for a minute on each side, with a tiny bit of olive oil.

You can store the warm tortillas in a ziplock bag until you’re ready for them.

For the salsa, cut the kernels off the ears of corn and cook them on the same surface as the tortillas. Cut the jalapeno in half and put it, cut side down, on the cooking surface. Cook both until charred.

Small dice the onion, dice the tomato, mince the charred jalapeno, and rough chop the cilantro. Toss all in a bowl with the corn, and squeeze the lime over. Adding salt here is purely a taste thing.

Feel free to make the salsa up to 24 hours ahead of time, because it only gets better with age.

Fill the taco with whatever you want, and top with salsa. There should be plenty left over for chips!

Recipes and Tips

Corn Tortillas and Mexican Corn Salsa