- 1 cup unbleached white flour
- ½ cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal (or ¼ cup each stone-ground yellow cornmeal and masa harina)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ onion, finely chopped
- 3 scallions, trimmed, white and green portions thinly sliced
- Kernels cut from 3 ears of fresh corn (about 1½ cups)
- ½ to 1 green chile, finely minced (with seeds for heat, without for mildness)
- Vegetable oil cooking spray
- Combine the flour, cornmeal or cornmeal and masa harina, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl, stirring well. Set aside.
- Combine the buttermilk, egg, and sugar in a second, smaller bowl, whisking together. Set aside.
- Combine the onion, scallion, corn, and chile in a third bowl. Set aside.
- Using as few strokes as possible, stir the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture until the two are barely smoothed out. Then stir in all the vegetables.
- Spray a heavy nonstick skillet with oil, then place over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, ladle on the batter; using a ¼-cup ladle will yield about 12 good-size pancakes, which will make 4 Mexi-Stacks, see below (a slightly smaller size is good for these when you’re using them as a side dish). Flip the cakes when the tops have plenty of bubbles and the sides look done, 2½ to 3½ minutes. The second side takes 1½ to 2 minutes.
- Serve hot from the griddle.
- Variation: Mexi-Stacks
- Make the masa variation of the cakes. Open a can (15 ounces) of black beans and pour the contents, juice and all, into a small saucepan. Heat the beans through while you assemble the following on a tray:
- 1 cup grated sharp Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
- 2 or 3 ripe Hass avocados, peeled, pitted, and coarsely mashed in a small bowl with the juice of ½ lemon and a little salt
- Homemade or bottled salsa
- Dairy or tofu sour cream (optional)
- Chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
- Have 4 heated plates ready. As the cakes come off the skillet, lay 1 in the center of each plate. Spoon the hot black beans over them, dividing equally. Sprinkle the grated cheese over the beans, and top with a second cake. Quickly spread the mashed avocado over the second cake layers, and top with a third cake. Spoon the salsa on top, add a dab of sour cream and a snowfall of cilantro, if using, and serve immediately—to many wows.