Corn Pancakes

These little pancakes are similar to tostadas--delicious and fun to eat. Plus, they're really very easy and good for when you're rushed.   I've  been longing for some sopas, those little Mexican "boats" filled with goodies. But, decided to fix this recipe, because it uses less fat than sopas.  A friend of mine calls them gorditas, but that isn't accurate. Gorditas are rolled thinner, then split and stuffed with filling.  Whatever they're called, these pancakes have a nice crunch as you bite into them, but are slightly creamy on the inside.  I love them.

I've found that keeping a bag of masa harina in your pantry is a great thing, because you can make these so easily. You don't need a tortilla press because they're meant to be a little thick.  You just pat them out and cook them in a skillet.

In about 4 minutes you have delicious pancakes that can be topped with anything you like.  Resist the urge to eat the pancakes right out of the pan.

Then you can put the pancakes on the table and let people place toppings of their choosing on them. 

Enjoy. We did!  You can also make these smaller in diameter and use them as appetizers. 

Corn Pancakes (Martha Stewart Living)

1-1/2 cup masa harina
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup roughly grated cotija cheese (or romano peccorino)
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups roughly chopped fresh or frozen corn (pulse it in a food processor a couple of times)
1/2 teaspoon salt.
1 cup warm water
3-4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Mix the masa, flour, salt and baking powder together in a bowl.  Add the cheese, corn and stir together. Add water, starting with 1/4 cup water, adding more in 1/4 cup increments until the dough forms a soft ball. It only took about 1/2 cup water for me.  Scoop up a heaping 1/3 cup measure of the dough and pat it out into a pancake about 1/3 inch thick. Do that with the rest of the dough. You should get 8 pancakes. 

Heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium high heat in a non-stick or seasoned iron skillet until the pan is hot.  Cook the pancakes--4 at a time--until golden brown on each side. It should take about 4 minutes--2 minutes on each side.  Add a little more oil if you need it to cook the second batch.  DON"T eat them up, control yourself. You have to share with others.

You can hold the pancakes for about 30 minutes, but then they will start to lose their light crispness and get a little heavy. NEVER reheat them in a microwave. NEVER!!!!!!!  A hot skillet is a good method to reheat them.

Serve the pancakes with toppings of your choice: chicken, beef, pork, beans, avocado, cheese, etc.  Let people help themselves. 

Comments

[albert]

Sher,

forget the Law field. I think you should open up a culinary school.

And when you do, I will send you a student.

I think she can definitely use your skills.

[Kristi]

mmmm... pancakes. Those pictures are making me hungry. And I second the culinary school idea!

[ann]

yum!
after eating so much seriously pure mediterranian cuisine all i want to eat now is purely ethnic american melting pot chow, and this is perfect!
now, if only i didnt have so much work to catch up on....

[s'kat]

I would not resist the urge to enjoy a burning hot bite straight from the pan.

[steven]

Sher, after I talked about arepas the other day I went ahead and looked at recipes and saw Martha's recipe for corn cakes. They were similar to a recipe for arepas on Food Network's site, so I split the difference and fused them.

2 cups of Masa Harina (yellow)
1 t salt
2 t baking powder
1 cup of pulsed corn
1 cup of queso quesadilla
1 T melted unsalted butter
1 cup boiling hot water
grind of black pepper

combine the ingredients and let stand for 1 hour. The dough is wet, but firm and I plopped a lump of it into an oiled cast iron skillet and flattened the lump with a spatula. The rest of the cooking instructions are similar, but I turned them twice to get them really crispy.

I topped mine with sliced, grilled chicken that I marinated in Goya Chipotle Mojo and topped it with avocado chunks in a lime vinaigrette and a sprinkling of cotija cheese. No pictures though :-(

[Shannon]

I adore savory pancakes! I'll have to invest in some masa harina (never heard of it until now!).

[sher]

Albert & Kristi,

You are both sweet, but I still have far too much to learn myself!!

Ann,

These are actually very fast--so if you ever feel like making them, i think they take about 15 minutes--from mixing the ingrediants to cooking all of them. But, I've also been so busy that even 15 minutes is too much!

s"kat,

I couldn't resist eating them out of the pan. But, once I started, I was afraid I would eat half of them right there.

Steven,

That is quite similar to the Martha recipe I used. But, yours has 2 teaspoons of baking powder, so I can see how they would be even thicker. YUM. I must make these. Thanks for the recipe.

Shannon,

Masa is usally in bags where they sell oatmeal, wheat germ or different kinds of flour, and so forth. Mine is from that brand Bob's Red Mill. You just add water to it and make your dough. There is also fresh masa where you don't have to add water, but they don't have that in the store very often.

[Rosie]

Ok - these are definately winners. My salivary glands just went into overtime looking at the pictures.

Sher - if we lived closer together we would start a public access show together! I can see it now! Lights! Camera! Food!

[Cate O'Malley]

Mmmmm, corn AND avocado? I am so there!

[anne]

Good Lord do those ever look fantastic! My mouth is literally watering, looking at those photos. Thank you for the next dish I'm going to try out! I've long been curious about working with masa harina - this'll give me a good excuse to buy some. I've been told the texture is lovely to feel.

[Glenna]

Sher, Sher, Sher,
Doing the skippy dance tonight, yes I am! Went out to lunch with some school friends (I'm 40, I swear, not a kid although I seem to have been drinking like one for the last year ... nevermind) and then by the grocery to get masa harina (Bob's Red Mill) to make this recipe. It was fabulous (pronounced "Fab-a-lust"). Even my meat and potatoes husband loved it both piled up and the corn pancakes by themselves. Yummy to the tummy.

Also, let's all stand and sing the hallelujah chorus for deli roasted chicken. Dinner in under 30 minutes? Almost better than sex. Got to have sex because dinner was on the table in under 30 minutes and... nevermind.

[Barbara (Biscuit Girl)]

Yum all of my favorite things on one plate!

[sher]

Rosie,

Oh yes!! I can see us in that show too!!! It would never be dull, I can tell you that!

Cate,

Yes, I'm a sucker for anything with avocados and corn.

Anne,

Masa is very easy to use. It's like a very soft, silky cormeal. And even though using a tortillas press is very easy, there are recipes where you don't have to do that--like arepas. I'm going to make them soon, to see what they are like.

Glenna, Glenna, Glenna,

Don't do the skippy dance!!! :):) Oh alright, do it. After-all you just graduated and are now a few tests away from being a state sanctioned repiratory therapist, with the right to handle sputum and phlegm. Now start that blog so that you can regale everyone about that!!

Barbara,

I know! Me too. Wish I had a corn cake now!

[Glenna]

Sher, Sher, Sher,

You mean regale people with stories like you know you've adjusted to the medical field when you can eat lasagna in the hospital cafeteria while discussing someone's open belly wound or compare someone's sputum culture to the green goddess dressing on the salad bar? Yep. Only twisted people go into medicine.

[Gabriella True]

Drool. Drool.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I am in love with your blog!!

[sher]

Gabriella,

No way!! I love yours too! :):) That red background you have is beautiful.

[Gabriella True]

hee hee. I was just messing around with colors when I first started and I did not even look at a list of colors. I just typed in numbers and got that one and I kept it.