Johnny Blaze Cakes

These crispy corn cakes are all-purpose. You can serve them as an appetizer topped with Rainbow Chow Chow, as a main dish with Chilled and Grilled Okra, Corn, and Heirloom Tomato Salad and of course you can’t go wrong serving these with Strawberry and Slightly Hot Pepper Jam for breakfast.

• In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, and cayenne. Set aside.
• In a small saucepan, bring the rice milk to a boil then slowly pour it over the cornmeal mixture, stirring as you pour. Add the jalapeño to the batter, mix well, and refrigerate the batter for 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 250°F.
• Warm a large, nonstick skillet or a griddle over medium-high heat and grease well with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add 1⁄ 4 cup of batter to the skillet per cake. A large skillet should comfortably fit two to three. After about 1 minute, when the bottom starts to set, reduce the heat to mediumlow, and use a wooden spoon to shape the cakes, pushing them in and up so that they are about 3 inches wide and 1⁄ 2 inch thick. Cook the cakes for 8 to 10 minutes per side, adding more oil after turning, until they are golden brown and crispy on the outside (do this in several batches). Transfer the cooked cakes from the skillet to a baking sheet and keep them warm in the oven until all the cakes are cooked.