Sweet Corn Pancakes with Triple- Cream Cheese
Puffy in the centre and crispy at the edges, the crunch of corn inside and melted triple cheese on top — this one’s from Stuart Brioza of the restaurant State Bird Provisions in San Francisco. ( Published in Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs All- Star Cookbook, edited by Dana Cowin.)
3 cups ( 750 mL) corn kernels
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 ½ cups ( 375 mL) all- purpose flour
1 ½ tsp ( 7.5 mL) salt
1 tsp ( 5 mL) baking powder
½ cup ( 125 mL) finely chopped scallions
¼ cup ( 60 mL) canola oil, plus more as needed
2 oz ( 57 g) triple- cream cheese, such as St. Andre, cut into ½ - inch ( 1 cm) wedges
Freshly ground black pepper
In a large saucepan of salted boiling water, cook the corn until crisp- tender.
In a large bowl, beat the egg with 1 ¼ cups ( 310 mL) of water. Sift the fl our, salt and baking powder over the egg and whisk until a batter forms. Stir in the corn kernels and scallions.
In a large non- stick skillet, heat the ¼ cup ( 60 mL) of canola oil until simmering. Spoon a scant ¼ cup of the batter into the skillet for each pancake, and cook over moderate heat until browned on the bottom, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes and top each with a piece of cheese.
Cook until the cheese just starts to melt and the pancakes are cooked through, about 2 minutes longer. Transfer the pancakes to a platter and season with black pepper. Serve warm.
Makes 4 to 6 starters.