Jalapeño Corn Cakes

It's been a tough, tantrum-filled couple of weeks (more on that soon), so not a whole lot of inspired cooking/blogging has been going down in our house. Just a steady diet of beans, rice, quesadillas - anything that you can easily reheat or whip together in 10 minutes or less. For a two hour stretch over the weekend, though, I found myself with an empty house and a few ears of corn. It was time for some comfort food.

Start off with a couple eggs, some flour, parmesan cheese, and a little salt...

...blended until smooth...

It seems like we've always got fresh ears of corn around in the summer. As a result, I've gotten in the habit of saving nearly every corn recipe I come across. This one, for Corn-Jalapeño Fritters from Bon Appetit (they ended up being more like a corn pancake, hence the name change) - sounded especially save-worthy. Fluffy, rich, a little spicy, easy to make.

Into the food processor goes the uncooked corn kernels, green onion, and diced jalapeño. 

A quick pan-fry in some vegetable oil...

By the time the wife and kids made it home, I'd already wolfed down three of them. The five-year-old wandered into the kitchen, grabbed one off the counter and tried a bite. "Good," she said, her mouth full. "More."

"Yum," said the wife taking a taste after dipping hers into some sour cream.

I'm sure these would make a great appetizer or side for a proper meal. These didn't make it out of the kitchen. But coming off the heels of one of more challenging stretches of parenting we've had thus far, this felt like a little victory.

Comfort food, indeed.

Jalapeño Corn Cakes

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Adapted from Bon Appetit

Quick, easy, full of flavor. These corn cakes make a great snack, appetizer, or a tasty side for a full meal. Not very spicy with the jalapeño deseeded. Keep the seed pod in if you want some extra heat.

Yield: 10-12 corn cakes
 

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs, beaten lightly
  • 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 2 heaping tablespoons finely grated parmesan
  • 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more to season
  • 2 cups of fresh corn kernels - about 3 medium ears-worth
  • 1 scallion, thinly sliced
  • 1 jalapeño, seeded and diced
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • lime wedges and sour cream for serving
     

Directions

  1. Add eggs, flour, parmesan, and 1/2 tablespoon of kosher salt to a food processor. Pulse until blended.
     
  2. Add corn kernels, scallion, and jalapeño. Pulse 2-3 times, until nicely mixed but still chunky.
     
  3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add oil. Working in batches, cook a heaping tablespoon of corn cake batter until nicely golden brown. About 4 minutes per side.
     
  4. Season corn cakes with a little kosher salt. Serve with lime wedges and sour cream.