Author Notes
I first tasted this corn cake at Kerry Diamond's quaintly Southern restaurant Seersucker, where it was strewn with a tangle of raw corn kernels and heirloom tomatoes -- and that's what you should do to it too. (Two seasonal birds, one stone.) The thing lasted a mere 3 minutes on the table, and around minute 1, it occurred to me that this was the only responsible way to navigate corn fatigue: let the sweet, starchy kernels stage a little healthy competition with basil and red onion, and then mellow it all out in a hot, buttered skillet.
If you're wise, you'll top it with a poached egg, like Seersucker does. A fried one works just as well, so long as there's a runny yolk to mediate between flavors, to make them place even nicer than they're told they should.
Recipe adapted from Seersucker. —Kenzi Wilbur
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Ingredients
- For the cakes:
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2 cups
corn kernels, divided in half (from about 3 ears)
-
2 tablespoons
butter, plus more for cooking
-
1/2 cup
buttermilk
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1/2 cup
red onion, finely diced
-
1/2 cup
basil chiffonade, plus more for garnish
-
3/4 cup
all-purpose flour
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1/2 cup
cornmeal
-
1 teaspoon
baking powder
-
1/2 teaspoon
baking soda
-
Pinch of salt and pepper
- For the topping:
-
2
heirloom tomatoes, diced
-
1/2 cup
corn kernels
-
2 tablespoons
olive oil
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Salt and pepper
-
Eggs, poached or fried or left off if you're lazy
Directions
-
In a blender, purée half the corn kernels, butter, and buttermilk until mostly smooth. Transfer to a bowl. Mix in remaining corn kernels, onion, and basil.
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In a separate bowl, thoroughly combine all of the dry ingredients.
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Add wet ingredients to the dry, and mix until just combined.
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In a skillet, melt some butter over medium heat and about add 2 heaping tablespoons of batter for each pancake. (You can customize this based on how big you'd like your cakes to be, of course.) Cook about 2 minutes per side or until cooked through. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
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For the topping, combine tomato and corn with olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Spoon mixture over the corn cakes.
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Top each cake with an egg, salt, and pepper, and garnish with basil.
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