Corn & Chile Pepper Pancakes with Smoked Salmon & Horseradish Cream

Who packs canapés for their lunch when working at an industrial site? I do! Yes, this is totally over the top, but I wasn't hosting any cotillions this week, so I made these smoked salmon canapés which I packed for my lunches. I ate them in my office with the door closed so I wouldn't be judged. That said, they were spectacular little treats and when I was caught by a colleague stuffing one in my mouth he said, "That looks delicious." He was correct. 

One can adapt this recipe to cut out all cooking by replacing the savoury pancakes with pieces of rye or pumpernickel bread. Your 30-40 minute prep time will become 10-15. While you miss out on the great flavour of the pancakes, the salmon and horseradish cream combination are a treat in and of themselves.

Thanks to my mom who gave me it's source: High Plains: The Joy of Alberta Cuisine. The original recipe suggests smoked trout, but I wasn't able to find any. I'm going to have to dig a little deeper into this cookbook. It's got other locally inspired menu items that caught my eye.  

From:  Cavich, Cinda. "Corn and Chile Pepper Pancakes with Smoked Trout and Horseradish Cream" High Plains: The joy of Alberta Cuisine.  Calgary: Fifth House Ltd. A Fitzhenry & Whiteside Company. 2008. 7

Serves 8 as a starter

Ingredients

• 180 g cold, smoked salmon, thinly sliced

Pancakes

• 3 cobs of corn or 2 cups frozen corn, thawed and cooked
• 2 fresh jalapeños, chopped
• 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red or yellow pepper, chopped
• 6 green onions, chopped
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 t salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 plain low-fat yoghurt
• 3 T chopped, fresh cilantro
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 T canola oil

Horseradish Cream

• 1/3 cup spreadable cream cheese
• 1 t prepared horseradish
• 1 t wasabi paste/powder
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 green onion, minced

Method

If using fresh corn, bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the corn. Boil for five minutes then remove the corn from the pot and set aside. Once cooled, slice the corn kernels from the cob.

In a bowl, combine the corn kernels, jalapeños, chipotle, red/yellow pepper, garlic and green onions. 

In a food processor, combine the eggs, flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, milk and yoghurt and blend until smooth. Stir in the cilantro and black pepper. Let stand for 20 minutes.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Pour in batter to make pancakes 1-2 inches in diameter for cocktails or larger if you want them as a side dish. Cook for about 1-2 minutes on either side. Drain the pancakes of any residual oil on a plate layered with paper towel. 

To serve, place a dollop of horseradish cream on each pancake. Separate the slices of salmon and cut each in half. Roll each piece into a coronet and place on top of the cream. Sprinkle with any remaining onions and/or cilantro.