Corn Pancakes with Bacon

I love savory pancakes, and these are no exception. There are only 3 things you absolutely have to follow to give these little corn cakes the best flavor. A well seasoned cast iron skillet, lots of bacon and corn flour. Oh, and corn of course. I used fresh corn here since its so plentiful right now, but frozen corn that has been thawed out should work great too.  

Even though this is a savory pancake, I adore them with lots of good maple syrup. They're good enough to eat plain, yet the syrup paired with the smoky bacon is a winning combo. With some perfectly ripe tomatoes, this is pretty much a quintessential summer meal that is great for any time of day.

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup corn flour
1/2 cup AP flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp sugar
1 cup whole milk
2 large eggs, whisked till very frothy
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 Tbsp canola oil
2 medium ears of corn with the corn cut off and the  
   ears scraped of all the 'milk', or 1 1/2 cups frozen
   thawed corn
6 strips good quality bacon, bacon fat reserved for
   frying the cakes

Set an 8 - 12" well seasoned cast iron skillet over medium heat and add the bacon. Cook till very crisp. Once the rendered fat left in the pan has cooled some, pour it into a glass bowl and set aside.

Sift dry ingredients into a medium glass bowl. Add the milk, melted butter and oil to the beaten eggs. Cut the corn kernels from the cob right in the bowl of milk and eggs, taking care to scrape the cobs well with the back of your knife to get all the sweet corn 'milk' from the cob. Add the sifted dry ingredients and crumble the cooked bacon into the wet ingredients. Whisk together till just combined - be careful not to over mix. 

Reheat your cast iron skillet over medium low heat. Add a scant Tbsp of reserved bacon fat.  Place just under 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake into the skillet, and cook till there are quite a few air bubbles on top of your pancakes and the edges start to turn golden brown. Flip and cook a minute or 2 more. Set the pancakes aside. Add some bacon fat into the skillet before each batch of pancakes, and fry them up till all the batter is used.

Serve the pancakes straight out of the skillet as they're ready, or keep warm in a 200* oven. Top with lots of butter and warm maple syrup.

Recipe adapted from Blueberry Flax Pancakes, which was originated by Lucian Truscott IV