Corn and Poblano Rajas

  

  
Today is the 50th anniversary of Ted Williams' final game.  The greatest hitter of all time capped off his baseball career by hitting a home run in his final at-bat.  Charles McGrath in the New York Times helps us remember Ted Williams through the eyes of John Updike, who was there on that day and wrote his paean to Williams in Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu.   McGrath focuses on Updike's phrase, "For me, Williams is the classic ballplayer of the game on a hot August weekday, before a small crowd, when the only thing at stake is the tissue-thin difference between a thing done well and a thing done ill."  McGrath believes that Updike identified with Williams, both in their physical similarities, both were were tall and slender, but also as artists committed to their craft.  Updike found the hero in Williams as a "player who always care[s]; who care, that is to say, about themselves and their art."  Although, for McGrath, the difference of Williams "was not between a thing done well and a thing done ill, but between a thing done well and a thing done even better."
    
What does this have to do with a corn poblano cheese mixture recipe from a petite Mexican-American chef from Baja?  McGrath, Updike, Williams, and even Marcella Valladolid in Fresh Mexico all remind us that every day, whether on those hot August weekdays before a small crowd, or on those dark weekday evenings before no one, we have the opportunity to be better.  I took that opportunity, as I try to do regularly as reflected in this blog, to do better at a Sunday afternoon tailgating party.  As with the ancho tequila salsa featured yesterday, I tried to do better than just dogs and brats on the grill by featuring the last of these recipes I tried from Valladolid.  It makes a wonderful feeling for a quesadilla, or even just in a small soft taco shell.  A Mexican theme for the party was surely fun, and pulling off recipes fulfilling, but the combination of new and different made everything special.  The important thing, though, is to feel that feeling of being special, not just for and in front of a crowd, but when you are alone, and no one is looking.  That is the sign of someone devoted to a higher calling in pursuing their craft.  It is also the sign of someone who derives joy from practicing their craft.  None of us will ever be Ted Williams, and few of us will ever be a celebrity chef, but we can all be special to ourselves, and to those around us, because we care and choose to do things better.
    
Ingredients:
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cups corn kernels
6 poblano chiles, charred, peeled, seeded and sliced into long strips
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup Mexican crema or creme fraiche
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
tortillas
salt/pepper
     
Directions:
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the onions and soften for 5 minutes.  Add the corn and and chile strips and cook for 5 minutes.  Add the heavy cream and and crema and cook for 8 minutes, gently simmering.  Add the cheese and stir until melted.  Season to taste the mixture with salt and pepper.  Serve with tortillas.