Fresh Corn Pancakes

Gourmet (July 2009)

"Hello. Our names are Clay and Zach, and we're addicted to corn."

This time of year, we see ears of fresh sweet corn everywhere we turn -- tumbling out of crates at the farmers market, piled high at the grocery store, shoveled at us in our CSA share.

We're addicts, and we're in the midst a full-on binge. 

At our house, we're eating corn in succotash or salads, and we're chomping a healthy amount of it right off the cob, boiled or on the grill. 

And now we've found a delicious way to bring corn to the breakfast table.

During the week, we eat simple and light breakfasts, but on at least one weekend morning, we love -- no, not love -- live to make a big breakfast.  Sometimes we make biscuits, or just scramble a big mess of eggs. Occasionally we do egg sandwiches. And when we're wanting something sweet, we go with pancakes. 

We have a go-to pancake recipe from an old issue of Everyday Food that we typically use, unless we have a new one we're wanting to test out. 

Such was the case last Sunday, when we returned from the farmers market, our bags stuffed with a healthy amount of fresh corn. 

This recipe's major deviation from most pancakes is that a portion of the corn, along with the pulp scraped from the cobs, is pureed with milk and then whisked into oil, eggs and butter. 

And due to the sweetness of the corn, this recipe only calls for 1 tablespoon of sugar rather than the 2-3 that are found in most pancake recipes.

Using a cast iron skillet, the cakes cooked up perfectly: beautiful, fluffy discs studded with corn kernels. Drizzled with maple syrup, they were pure ecstasy, making for one of the best breakfasts we could remember in a long time. 

Zach's mom Brenda made a savory version of these when he was a kid. Next time, we'll try these for dinner, with salsa or sour cream, as the recipe suggests. Or, you know, we may just make them for breakfast again this weekend.

Now if we could only figure out how to use corn in a dessert...

Fresh Corn Pancakes
Gourmet (July 2009)
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(This photo: Gourmet)

Serves 4 (Makes about 12 pancakes)
Active time: 25 min
Start to finish: 25 min

INGREDIENTS

    * 1 cup all-purpose flour
    * 4 teaspoons baking powder
    * 1 tablespoon sugar
    * 3 to 4 ears corn
    * 3/4 cup whole milk
    * 2 large eggs
    * 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
    * 1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Accompaniment: pure maple syrup, or salsa and sour cream

Whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, and 1 tsp salt in a medium bowl.

Cut enough kernels from cobs to measure 2 cups. Using back of a knife, scrape pulp from cobs and transfer to a blender with milk and 1/2 cup corn. Purée until smooth, then strain through a sieve into another medium bowl, pressing on and then discarding solids. Whisk in eggs, oil, and butter.

Add to flour mixture with remaining 1 1/2 cups corn and whisk until just combined.

Heat a griddle or heavy skillet over medium heat until hot, then lightly brush with oil. Working in batches, pour 1/3 cup batter per pancake onto griddle and cook until bubbles appear on surface and undersides are golden-brown, about 2 minutes. Flip with a spatula and cook until undersides are golden-brown, about 1 minute more. (Reduce heat if pancakes brown too quickly.) Lightly oil griddle between batches if necessary.