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Golden Corn Cakes

These light and succulent fresh corn cakes are adapted from the recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi, a chef with four cafés in London, and Nopi in Soho NYC - http://www.nopi-restaurant.com/ - Yotam celebrates Middle Eastern flavors and vegetarian virtues. These corn cakes are light, crunchy and flavorful and accent the best of fresh summer corn from your roadside stand.

                                Corn Cakes

½             cup quick-cook polenta or fine-ground cornmeal

1 ¾          cups corn kernels, cut from 1-2 ears of corn, blanched in boiling water for 1 minute

1              small shallot, diced fine – about 3 tablespoons

½             cup chopped red pepper

½             jalapeño, seeds and membrane removed (more if you like heat)

½             teaspoon cumin seeds, roughly smashed

¾             teaspoon salt, plus extra for seasoning at the end

¼             teaspoon black pepper, plus extra for seasoning at the end

¾             cup Greek yogurt

3              tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for frying

3              eggs, separated

Cilantro Salad

4              cups arugula

1              tablespoon lemon juice

½ - 1        cup cilantro leaves
                     olive oil to taste

Garnish

                Sour cream

Preparation:  (1) In a large bowl mix the corn meal, corn, shallots, jalapeño, cumin, salt and pepper. Add yogurt, 1 ½ tablespoons of olive oil and one egg yolk (reserve the other two yolks for another use). Mix well with a fork. It will form a fairly thick paste.  (2) In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Carefully fold the whites into the corn paste in two stages. This will change the consistency to a batter. Let rest for 5 minutes.  (3) Make the dressing by whisking 1 ½ tablespoons of olive oil with lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.  (4) Set a large nonstick frying pan on medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Pour in 1 teaspoon olive oil. When hot, spoon 2 tablespoons of batter per cake until the pan is full. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until they are golden. Flip and cook 1 minute. Transfer to a paper-lined tray.  (5) Toss the cilantro and arugula. Add the dressing and toss again and season.

Presentation:  Serve the corn cakes with a dollop of sour cream and the salad on the side. We served this with an heirloom tomato and mozzarella salad with basil vinaigrette, along with a crisp Italian white wine - Italian Gavi, Mosby Cortese.