Dreamcakes

For whatever reason, I spent much of the night dreaming about making pancakes -- cornmeal pancakes specifically.

I have never liked sweet, syrupy pancakes or even pancakes with fruit in them. I much prefer something savory.

My mind settled on cornmeal. I then tried out things like onions, garlic, and hot peppers. By the time I woke up, I had decided on most of the ingredients in the following recipe.

The pancakes were delicious, not leaving me with that heavy flour feeling. Jake enthusiastically ate one as well.

Cornmeal pancakes
Yield: Twelve 4” cakes

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon sugar
1 cup boiling water
1 large egg
½ cup milk
2 tablespoons canola oil
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup cooked yellow corn kernels
1/2 green pepper, diced
2 spring onions, including green part, diced
Sweet butter for serving, optional

Combine the cornmeal, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Pour boiling water over the mixture, stir well, cover and set aside for 15 minutes.

Saute green peppers and spring onions in a small amount of canola oil.

In a separate bowl beat the egg, milk and oil until combined. After 15 minutes, add to the cornmeal mixture and stir until smooth. Meanwhile in a small bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Stir into the hot cornmeal mixture, then add corn, green peppers, and spring onions and mix well.

Heat a pancake griddle or 12” lightly oiled skillet until hot. Drop the batter by spoonfuls onto the griddle. When the pancakes begins to bubble in the center and start to dry around the edges, turn and cook until done. The second side takes only about half a long as the first side and never browns as evenly, so serve them first side up.

Remove the cakes and keep warm in a 200 degree F oven while you make the remaining cakes. Do not stack or they will be come soggy. When all pancakes are done, serve immediately with sweet butter if desired.