Corn Pancakes with Smoked Salmon and Lemon-Chive Cream

Last week I made Cooking Light's Corn Pancakes with Smoked Salmon and Lemon-Chive Cream and it was delicious!  I've only recently started eating fish and haven't been able to bring myself to try smoked salmon.  But I've been trying to branch out in what I'm eating so I gave the smoked salmon a try.  I wouldn't say that it's my favorite but it definitely added a flavor element to this meal.  The smokiness almost made it seem like you were eating bacon instead of salmon.

The only substitutions that I made were frozen corn instead of fresh and plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.  Otherwise I stuck to the recipe.  The name makes it seem like an elaborate meal but it took less than 30  minutes to prepare.  And we even had corn pancakes leftover for breakfast!

 Ingredients 

• 1/4 cup light sour cream (I substituted plain Greek yogurt)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives (from my garden)
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh lemon rind
• 2 1/4 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 1/4 cups fresh corn kernels, divided (about 3 ears) (I used frozen corn instead)
• 2/3 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted 
• 1 large egg 
• 12 thin slices cold-smoked salmon (about 6 ounces)

Preparation 

Combine first 3 ingredients in a small bowl; chill. 

Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through pepper) in a medium bowl. Combine 1 cup corn kernels, buttermilk, butter, and egg in a blender; process until coarsely pureed. Add pureed corn mixture to flour mixture, stirring until just combined. Fold in remaining 1/4 cup corn.

Pour about 2 tablespoons batter per pancake onto a hot nonstick griddle or nonstick skillet; spread gently with a spatula. Cook 3 minutes or until tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked. Carefully turn pancakes over; cook 3 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Arrange 2 pancakes on each of 6 plates; top each pancake with 1 slice salmon and 1 teaspoon lemon-chive cream. Serve immediately.

Happy Cooking!

Jenny