Roast Corn with Cilantro-Lime Butter

I went to pick up my CSA order today and realized that I had accidentally ordered 4 orders of sweet corn, each of which consisted of 4 ears of corn.  So I ended up with 16 ears of corn.  Oops.  I thought that I was just ordering 4 ears of corn.  I guess that will teach me to pay attention to the quantity that I am actually ordering, rather than making random assumptions.  I swear that the last time I ordered 4 orders of corn, it was just 4 ears of corn, rather than 16 ears.  But let's be honest, I didn't exactly pay much attention.  Besides there are worse things that could happen then being surprised with 16 ears of fresh sweet corn, rather than 4 ears.  And if we're being honest, I'm going to continue to not pay attention and blindly order when the impulse strikes.  It's just so much more fun that way.  For dinner tonight we went ahead and roasted 4 of the ears of corn in the oven and slathered them in a cilantro-lime compound butter.  The only thing that would make this dish better is if we could have grilled the corn instead of roasting it.  And, while the flavors of the lime and cilantro in the compound butter were pretty awesome, maybe adding a pinch of cayenne to the compound butter would make it even better.  Roasting corn concentrates the sweetness of the corn, but not to the same degree that grilling it does.  I think that hint of char from the grill really helps to caramelize the sugars and make the corn super sweet.  So in an apartment, I always resort to roasting, although I agree that steaming it is pretty good too if the corn is very fresh and sweet, but if I had my way (and a grill) I would grill corn every time.  Maybe with another 4 ears I will try roasting the corn and then shucking it and charring it up over the stove top.  That's like grilling it, right?  And then with the other ears I was thinking about making a corn soup or a corn pudding and maybe making some vegetarian tacos.

Recipe after the jump!

Roast Corn with Cilantro-Lime Butter

INGREDIENTS:
3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp freshly squeezed lime juice
pinch lime zest
pinch kosher salt
1 1/2 tbsp fresh cilantro, minced
4 ears fresh corn

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Place corn directly on the oven rack (do not remove the husks or the cornsilk) and roast for 30 minutes or until corn is tender.  The husks will look dry and maybe a little charred. Remove corn from oven and allow to cool until you can handle it.  Remove husks.

Meanwhile, combine the butter, lime juice, lime zest, sugar, salt, and cilantro in a medium bowl and mix well.  Set aside.  

Serve corn with cilantro-lime butter and kosher salt.