Savory Corn Cakes with Rhubarb Avocado Salsa

My never ending quest to eat rhubarb in different ways (other than baked goods) came in the form of a simple salsa yesterday. After sweating some red onions and rhubarb, I gently tossed it with avocado and seasoned with sea salt. It was a mild and delicious combination that paired great with these corn cakes.
 

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Crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, these corn cakes are filled with just that- corn! Topped with a cooked rhubarb avocado salsa and you've got yourself a new and unusual way to eat rhubarb.

Savory Corn Cakes
makes 8-10 medium sized cakes
1 ripe banana, mashed
1 1/4 cup almond or coconut milk
1 cup fresh or frozen and thawed corn kernels, divided
1 tbl extra virgin olive oil 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup minced red bell pepper
1/2 cup minced green onions (green parts only)
3 tbl cilantro, roughly chopped
3 tbl canola oil, for frying

In a food processor, combine the mashed banana, 1/2 cup corn kernels, milk and olive oil and blend until smooth. Add the flour, cornmeal, baking soda and salt. Pulse a few times to combine. By hand, stir in the remaining 1/2 cup corn, red bell pepper, green onions and cilantro.
Preheat the oven to 350.
Heat a large non stick pan with canola oil. Use an ice cream scoop or a large spoon and drop balls of dough into the pan. Use a spatula to flatten out each cake. Saute until golden brown on both sides, 10 minutes total. Transfer all of the corn cakes to a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

Rhubarb Salsa
1 tbl canola oil
2 large stalks rhubarb, 1/2" sliced
1/4 cup minced red onion
1 ripe avocado, cubed
salt, to taste

Saute the rhubarb and red onion in oil until tender but not complete mush, about 7 minutes. Let cool for 5-10 minutes then toss with the avocado and season with salt to taste.

Corn Cakes with Crispy Plantain, Roasted Tomatoes & Pineapple Salsa

Thin, savory corn cakes studded with fresh corn kernels and jalapeno, layered with roasted tomatoes, crispy plantain chips and sweet, chilled pineapple salsa.

Corn Cakes
1 tbl extra virgin olive oil, plus more for cooking
1/4 cup yellow onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 jalapeno, seeded, minced
1 tsp cumin
1 cup yellow cornmeal
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup fresh corn kernels
2 tbl chopped, fresh cilantro
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 1/2 cup vegetable broth

Saute the onion, garlic and jalapeno with cumin in 1 tbl of olive oil until soft and translucent, 5 minutes.
Combine the cornmeal, flour, corn kernels, cilantro, baking powder, salt and pepper in a bowl.
Add the broth to the onion and bring to a simmer. Pour the broth and vegetables over the flour mixture and mix into a thick batter.
Pour 1-2 tbl of olive oil in the saute pan and scoop medium sized spoonfuls of batter, spreading lightly into thin cakes. Cook until golden brown on both sides.

Crispy Plantain
1 plantain, thinly sliced on a diagonal
2-4 tbl coconut oil
1 tsp turbinado sugar
pinch of salt

Cook the slices of plantain in 2 tbl of coconut oil until just softened but not browned, 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and gently press down on each to smash and flatten. Season with sugar and salt and add back into the pan to crisp until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel to remove any excess oil.

Roasted Tomatoes
1 heirloom or hot house tomato, 1/2" slices
1 tbl extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 425.
Drizzle the tomato slices with oil, salt and pepper and roast on a baking sheet for 15 minutes.

Pineapple Salsa
1/3 fresh pineapple, small dice
1/2 jalapeno, seeded, minced
4 oz jar chopped pimentos, drained
2 tbl chopped, fresh cilantro
2 tbl fresh lime juice
salt and pepper

Combine all of the ingredients and season to taste with salt and pepper. Let chill for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Asian Style Terrine

I went a little mad scientist with this dinner. Half way in I didn't think it was going to work, but I put it together anyways and it came out great. All the flavors meld and mix together so there is a little of everything to taste, spicy, sour, sweet and salty.

Crispy tamarind potato, spicy green beans, cilantro corn cake, compressed marinated avocado, garnished with crunchy asian slaw, black sesame, scallion and soy glaze.

Corn Cilantro Pudding Cake

3 cups corn kernels
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
8 oz extra firm tofu
2 tbl fresh chopped cilantro

Line a loaf pan with foil covering the bottom and entire sides and spray with cooking spray.
In a small sauce pot, add the corn and coconut milk, salt and pepper and simmer for 10 minutes.
Transfer to a blender and add the tofu. Blend until smooth. Taste and season with more salt if needed. Stir in the cilantro and pour in the loaf pan. Bake for 30 minutes until the corn cake just barely moves when you shake it. Let cool completely then chill for 1 hour.

Tamarind Potato

2 large, wide russet potatoes, whole and peeled
1/4 cup water
2 heaping tbl seedless tamarind paste
1 shallot clove, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 serrano pepper, halved vertically
2 tbl organic light brown sugar
2 tbl tamari


Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, with the whole potatoes and boil until they are completely cooked. Cut to square off the potatoes. Once square, cut into large 1/4 inch slices. Lay all the potato slices in a baking dish and make the marinade.
In a small sauce pot, heat up the water and add the tamarind paste. Mash and whisk until it dissolves into a paste. Add the shallot, garlic, pepper halves, brown sugar and tamari. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
Pour over the potato slices and let cool. Cover with seran wrap and let marinade for 2-6 hours.

Compressed Avocado

1 tbl sesame seeds
4 tbl rice vinegar
2 tbl mirin
4 tsp tamari
1 tbl sesame oil
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 avocado, sliced thin

In a small bowl combine all of the marinade. Divide in half and set half of the marinade aside for the slaw.
Place the avocado slices in a small plastic bag. Pour one half of the marinade and gently massage to combine. Close the bag and make sure all the air has been shut out. Let sit for 10 minutes to marinate.

Green Beans

1 tbl extra virgin olive oil
1 cup green beans, ends trimmed
1 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 425.
Toss the green beans with oil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper on a baking sheet.
Roast for 5 minutes until just starting to get tender but still crunchy.

Crunchy Asian Slaw

1 cup shredded purple cabbage
1 carrot, shredded
1 tbl fresh chopped cilantro
1/2 of the compressed avocado marinade
1 tbl black sesame seeds

Combine the cabbage, carrot and cilantro with the marinade. Let sit for at least 20 minutes. Top the terrine and garnish with black sesame seeds.

Assembly:
In a loaf pan lined with foil on the bottom and coming up both sides (enough to then cover over the top of the terrine to wrap), lay the marinated potato on the bottom, then the green beans, corn cake and avocado. Wrap the side foil over the top tightly and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Serve with the slaw and garnish cold or at room temperature.

Summer Corn Cakes and Black Bean Sauce

Now that corn is available fresh and by the dozens, I like to take advantage of it as much as possible. You know the corn is good when you don't even have to cook it. While I love eating it straight off the cob, I've never made it into a patty type cake, so I came up with this recipe using fresh zucchini as well and it turned out awesome!
Summer corn cakes with zucchini, cilantro and jalapeno, avocado pico de gallo and black bean sauce.

Corn Cakes
3 tbl extra virgin olive oil
1 small zucchini,shredded
4 ears of corn, kernals removed
2 scallions, chopped (whites and greens)
1 small sized russet potato, fully cooked
1/4c breadcrumbs
1/4c cilantro, minced
1/2 jalapeno, seeds and membrane removed and minced
3 cloves garlic
juice of 1/2 a lime
In a food processor combine the cooked potato, kernals of corn from 3 cobs, scallions, cilantro, jalapeno, garlic and lime juice. Puree until almost smooth but still slightly chunky. In a bowl combine corn mixture with remaining corn kernals, shredded zucchini and breadcrumbs. Mix together, form patties (around 7) and chill for 30 min. Heat oil in a large skillet and cook patties until golden brown on each side.

Black Bean sauce
1-15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
4c vegetable broth or water
2 bay leaves
2 cloves garlic, crushed
stems from one bunch of cilantro, chopped small
salt and pepper
Place beans in a large sauce-pan and add all remaining
ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer,
uncovered, for about 15 minutes. Add additional water if needed.
Remove bay leaves, then transfer the bean mixture to a food processor.
Process well, adding water if needed to make desired consistency.

Avocado pico de gallo
1 avocado, diced into small cubes
1 red pepper, small dice
1/4 sweet yellow onion, small dice
1/4c cilantro, minced
Juice of half a lime
1/2 jalapeno, seeds and membrane removed and minced
salt
Combine all ingredients.