Zucchini Pancakes and Creamy Corn with Chives

Zucchini-Pesto Pancakes

Creamy Corn with Chives

Someday, I will learn to be a better food photographer. In the meantime, I'll tell you about the meal we had the other night.

I'd been wanting to make some kind of zucchini pancakes and put them on the menu for the week, figuring I'd find a recipe when the time came. Then Alysha over at The Savory Notebook reviewed some zucchini-corn pancakes she made using a variation on a Mark Bittman recipe from the NY Times. When I went to make my pancakes, all I remembered was the Mark Bittman part, and so I pulled his book How to Cook Everything Vegetarian off my shelf and found a zucchini pancake recipe in it. Even better, there was a variation that called for pesto, which I happened to have in my fridge. So I went with it.

It turns out the two recipes are fairly different- the ratio of eggs and flour to zucchini in the version I made was 1 egg to 1 lb. of zucchini to 1 cup of flour and also contained milk, whereas the NY Times version used 1 egg to 1 lb. of zucchini to only *2 tablespoons of flour*, and contained no milk. The one I made was less like a vegetable latke, and more like a breakfast pancake that happened to contain zucchini and pesto. The texture difference was probably magnified by the fact that I finely grated my zucchini. I thought the pancakes were pretty good, and I made a quick topping of cherry tomatoes that I tossed with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

The other recipe I made was Creamy Corn with Chives, which I originally found on the CLBB. The review mentioned that the dish was like the "essence of corn" and I was intrigued.

Well. I can say that the flavor was very good. But the effort involved- sheesh!

1. Shuck corn.
2. Slice off kernels and use back of knife to squeeze out juices from cob.
3. Puree some of the kernels with the juices.
4. Sieve the pureed corn to remove solids.
5. Cook remaining corn kernels, then add corn puree and cook til thickened.

So, to achieve the essence of corn, I needed a knife and cutting board, a food processor, a sieve, and a skillet. Or, I could have just shucked the corn and given it a quick boil in a single pot. I think I'll stick with that method in the future.

There is nothing wrong with the final product of the recipe- as I said, I liked it- it just doesn't fit with my image of simple summer cooking. So why'd I make it in the first place? I guess I just got carried away when I saw "essence of corn" in the review because, well, I do love corn!