Corn and Coconut "Hoecakes"
Until a few days ago Paula Deen had little influence on my life. I am more Southern Manhattan than Southern Comfort (although I love me some Tim McGraw). Her butter, bacon and sugar laden recipes hold no appeal for me. In fact I get a little sick just reading one of them.
When she went public with her type 2 diabetes I cannot say I was surprised. The hiding of her disease while still encouraging her fans to cook with pounds of sugar and butter, and her endorsement with diabetes drug Novo Nordisk shocked and appalled me. Anthony Bourdain said (or tweeted) it best, “thinking of getting into the leg-breaking business, so I can profitably sell crutches later."
This news is still very new and I hope Paula will eventually use her celebrity for good. She should take a note from her son Bobby and his new Cooking Channel show, “Not My Momma’s Meals.” Bobby’s healthful makeovers of his mother’s recipes inspired me to take a stab at southern comfort myself. My version of Paula Deen’s notorious “Hoecake” is vegan, naturally gluten free and even contains veggies! Like I said, I am more "downtown" than "down south" so forgive me if these are a bit of a departure from Paula’s.
Corn and Coconut “Hoecakes”
- ¼ cup flax meal
- ¼ cup water
- 1 ½ cups almond milk
- 1 cup coconut flour
- 1 ¼ cup raw corn kernals
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 10 drops liquid stevia
- coconut oil
- In a small bowl combine the flax and water to make “flax eggs”. Set aside
- In a high-speed blender or Vitamix combine the almond milk, coconut flour, lemon juice, sea salt, stevia and 1 cup of the corn. Blend until a very thick batter is achieved.
- Transfer the batter to a mixing bowl and add the remaining corn and the “flax eggs.” Stir to thoroughly combine.
- Heat a skillet with just enough coconut oil to cover the bottom.
- Use a spoon or ice-cream scoop ladle out about ¼ cup of the batter onto the hot pan.
- Cook for about 3 minutes, the underside should be browned, the top still wet. Flip the cakes and cook until both sides are browned.
- Serve plain or with a little maple syrup
