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Prep Time: 0 Minutes Cook Time: 15 Minutes |
Ready In: 15 Minutes Servings: 4 |
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My husband saw a picture of this recipe in our Sunday newspaper, and thought they looked too good not to try. The recipe said fresh sweet corn was essential, and ours is just beginning to come into season here, so I cut the recipe out and we tried them last night. Read more . They needed a few alterations to spice them up (the original is a tamer version with goat cheese and no hot peppers). After tasting them, we thought these would also be good topped with some salsa or a a little scoop of guacamole or sour cream - the added bacon to the top of the corn cakes really wasn't necessary and I will omit it next time and only use the bacon called for in the batter itself. Ingredients:
4 thin slices bacon, diced |
2 ears fresh sweet corn |
1 or 2 jalapeno peppers (to your liking), cut in half and seeds removed, then diced finely |
1 small sweet onion, diced (a good cup or so) |
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal |
1 or 2 tablespoons sugar (depending on how sweet you like your corn cakes) |
1 teaspoon baking powder |
1/2 teaspoon sea salt |
1/4 teaspoon baking soda |
a pinch or more of cayenne pepper (or to your taste) |
5 tablespoons buttermilk |
1 medium egg |
4 ounces grated pepper jack cheese, or mexican blend grated cheese |
topping |
2 green onions, sliced (whites and part of the greens) |
2 ounces crumbled queso fresco cheese |
salsa, optional |
guacamole, optional |
sour cream, optional |
peanut oil (or whatever oil you prefer to fry in) |
Directions:
1. Fry diced bacon in a cast iron skillet (or any heavy skillet that doesn’t have a non-stick coating…pans with non-stick coatings will tend to not give you the browning you want for this recipe).
2. Remove bacon from skillet and drain on paper toweling, leaving 2 tablespoons bacon grease in the pan.
3. Stand corn cobs on end in a deep bowl and use a very sharp knife to run down the sides of the corn, top to bottom, cutting the kernels from the cob; measure out 1 heaping cup of kernels (save any extra for another use).
4. In the hot bacon grease in the skillet, sauté the corn, diced jalapeno, and diced onion until onions turn golden, about 10 to 12 minutes; remove pan from heat and set aside.
5. In a mixing bowl, combine corn meal, sugar, baking powder, sea salt, baking soda and cayenne pepper.
6. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and egg; gently stir into cornmeal mixture just until moistened.
7. Add bacon, sautéed veggies and grated cheese to batter, stirring only enough to incorporate all of the ingredients together.
8. Return cast iron skillet to medium/medium-high heat, and add oil to generously cover the bottom of the pan.
9. When oil is sizzling hot, drop the corn cakes into 4 “patties” in the skillet; fry for approximately 2 minutes, until well browned on bottom; flip corn cakes and fry an additional 2 minutes on the other side.
10. NOTE: It is very important to have a very hot oil when you fry the cakes – if the cakes linger too long in the pan to brown, they will become dry. The key is quick, HOT frying!
11. Serve immediately, topped with green onions, crumbled cheese, and any other optional toppings
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