Cheesy Corn Cakes with Avocado Salsa

This recipe just looked interesting and yummy, so I decided to give it a try.  I love corn and it was pretty simple to make, but I think the avocado salsa makes this dish.

I found this recipe on Pinterest but it originated at simply-delicious.co.za.  This isn't the healthiest side dish because it's fried, but if you like corn and avocados, this recipe is for you.  My family gave this dish 8s and 9s on the Melnarik rating scale.

In a large bowl, I combined the creamed corn, corn kernels, eggs, paprika, and salt.

To that mixture, I added the shredded cheddar cheese.  This recipe calls for sharp cheddar, but if you're like me and want the cheese flavor to come through more, use extra sharp cheddar.  I stirred everything together until well combined.

Then I added the flour and baking powder, mixing well.

I added the milk a little bit at a time until the batter was not too thick, yet not making it too thin.  It needed to drop off the spoon easily but not spread like a pancake in the frying pan.

To my frying pan, I added some oil and heated it over a medium-high flame.  Then I dropped in spoonfuls of the batter.  As you can see, the one in the front spread into a wonky shape, but most of them remained round.  Once I could see at the edges that the bottom was nicely browned, I flipped them and cooked the other side.

Once fully cooked, I placed the corn cakes on folded paper towels to let the towels absorb some of the fat.

In the meantime, I began to prepare the avocado salsa.  I'm sure there is an easier way, but I chose to dice the avocado in the skin, so the chunks were more uniform in size.

As I separated the flesh from the skin, using a spoon, it was already in small in cubes.

To the avocado, I added the chopped red onion, and the diced red chili pepper.

Then, I added the salt and pepper to taste plus the fresh lemon juice and tossed gently to combine.

As I said before, I think the salsa made this dish and I would make it again to accompany other meals.

The warm corn cakes are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside and when topped with the avocado salsa are a great side dish to serve with a Southwestern or Mexican style meal.  Enjoy!

Cheesy Corn Cakes with Avocado Salsa

2 cups corn

1 (8 oz.) can creamed corn

2 eggs

1 ½ cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

½ teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ cup milk

salsa:

2 avocados, chopped

1 small red onion, diced

1 red jalapeno, diced (remove seeds if you don’t want it really hot)

juice of ½ a lemon

salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, combine the corn kernels, creamed corn, eggs, cheddar cheese, paprika and salt; mix well.  Add the flour and baking powder; mix well.  Gradually stir in the milk until the batter is not too thick and drops off a spoon easily (it should also not be so thin that it spreads too much when you fry the cakes).  Heat a large frying pan and add some oil.  Fry spoonfuls of the batter until bubbles appear at the top; flip.  Allow to cook on the other side.  Remove from the pan once both sides are browned and cakes are fully cooked and place on paper towels to drain.  In the meantime, combine all the ingredients for the salsa and mix well.  Serve warm cakes with the avocado salsa.