Last but not least

Happy Independence Day Venezuela!

We are ending our "Independence Week" with Venezuela, who celebrates their independence from the Spanish, on July 5th.  The country celebrates with big military parades, festivals, concerts and fireworks in the night!  Oh, and feasts!  Of course, there is always food!!  So we made a little Venezuelan dish to share with you.  It uses one of the most "summer-y" foods- fresh corn! YUM!  They can be eaten on their own with a little butter and salt or as a base for some guasacaca (Venezuelan guacamole), meat and queso fresco....

Cachapas (fresh corn pancakes)
For the recipe you will need:

• 4 cups fresh corn- removed from cob
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 2 Tbsp  melted butter
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt

1. Add the ingredients to a food processor or blender and process until it is mostly smooth but still has some chunks.  I kept about 1/2 cup of the corn out of the processor and added it back to the batter after I processed it so it would have some more texture.  The mixture should be about the consistency of thick cream.

2.  Melt some butter on a hot skillet or griddle and pour batter to form a "pancake".  Brown on one side and then flip it over and brown the other side. 

I thought the batter seemed really runny when I made the first one so I added about a few Tbsp of corn meal to add some thickness but I think they were supposed to be runny.  They were good both ways!  

The adults topped ours with some avocado, carnitas meat, queso fresco and salsa.  They were really good- a nice change from just a tortilla but you couldn't really taste them.  The kids were served theirs with just some melted butter and a dash of salt and it tasted just like fresh corn on the cob only in patty form!  They were delicious and a good way to make use out of all that fresh corn that's out there in summer!!

I hope you all had a great Independence Day/Week- I know we did!!!