Corn Cakes

A couple of weeks ago, our little family visited my "back home". It just never seems to fail that food is what pulls everyone together. Whether it was one of the incredible scoops from The Bigger Dipper (the two flavors that I tried were Cardamom and on the return trip, Thai Curry Peanut)... Hello! Amazing! The Cardamom is still my favorite and I can't wait until Christmas so that I can have another scoop.. A simple and perfect dinner of burgers from the Winston Bar or Fish n Chips from the Glass Slipper.. As well as the pleasures of running into people that one hasn't seen for several years. And a very blissful dinner at Isaac's along the Missouri River. There's just something as well about a road trip to please the palette. A journey of about 100 miles for dinner and ice cream.. That's a pretty good road trip!

But then there's the dinners that are prepared together as a family. Grandma Marlene brought dinner to a whole new level with the mention of needing to make corn cakes. What a great side dish and one of my new go-to favorites. And the leftovers are delicious with butter and honey for breakfast - yumm!

1 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 teaspoons sugar

2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

1 cup leftover grilled corn or thawed frozen corn

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 cup finely chopped red pepper

In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. In another bowl, whisk the butter, egg and buttermilk; stir in the cheese, corn, onion and pepper. Stir in the dry ingredients just until combined. Cook on a well buttered griddle over medium-high heat by 1/4-cupfuls. Spread slighty, cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

We served the cakes with pork chops that were grilled and basted with the glaze from the Chili-Barbecue Grilled Salmon recipe. What a great pairing. And for even a little more flair, slice an orange and grill the slices just until caramelized and serve with the chops.