Corn Cakes and Guacamole

After starting out the day with a jog across the Williamsburg Bridge, (@ 2:30pm) I made an impromptu Sunday brunch for me and Jean which turned out niiice. It took less than 20 minutes to make and was satisfying, flavorful and CUTE!

I made some corn cakes, known in olden times as “johnny cakes,” which are basically just corn pancakes. Instead of syrup (I am recovering from oral surgery and anything too sweet=pain) I grabbed the two avocados that have been nicely ripening atop the fridge all week and made my standard guacamole as a topping for the cakes. The two went together like burros and embroidered saddlebags. Armoniosamente.

As mentioned below, you could also skip the guacamole and serve the cakes with honey instead.

Here is the recipe:

Corn Cakes

½ c. yellow cornmeal
½ c. semolina flour
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 tbp. sugar
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. chili powder
1 c. soymilk (or milk)
1 egg
1/8 c. canola oil, plus more for cooking

Warm a griddle or heavy pan over medium heat. Combine all dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, whisk to combine, and set aside while you oil the griddle.

Use a small measuring cup to drop batter onto heated griddle in 4-5” circles. Cook until golden and crisp (2-4 minutes), then flip and cook other side. Oil griddle between batches and turn down heat as necessary.

Makes about 15 cakes

Anita’s Guacamole

Good guacamole is like good jazz, you just use the measurements in a recipe as a loose frame for your own style. This one is pretty mellow, but you may like to spike it with some jalepeno, or prefer to sweeten it up with a teaspoon of honey. Others may choose to add less cilantro, or more tomato…you know what you like, so go with it

To speed preparation, prepare the guacamole while you mind the griddle/in-between flipping corn cakes.

2 ripe avocados
2 scallions, finely chopped
½ tomato, diced
1 handful cilantro, rinsed and chopped
juice of 2 limes
1 tbp. vinegar
1 tbp. olive oil
¼ tsp. chili powder
¼ tsp. ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Half the avocados, remove the pits, and scoop meat into a medium-sized bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mash together with a fork. Season to taste and serve alongside corn cakes.

As an accompaniment, I halved a potato legthwise, steamed it, and sprinkled each half with Old Bay seasoning. We ate the whole meal with our hands, scooping up big dollops of guacamole with the cakes and the potato halves. Without my tooth malady, it might have been nice to save the last cake to drizzle with honey instead.