Improv Challenge: Corn & Butter

The ingredients for July's Improv Challenge are corn and butter and, as much as I wanted to bathe roasted corn-on-the cob in a fancy-schmancy compound butter and call it a day, I felt I should push myself. That's why it's called a challenge, right?

So I made pancakes. But not just any old pancakes. No, I made The College Culinarian's savory "Bacon-Cheddar Cornmeal Pancakes". The runny egg, the smoky bacon, the hearty cornbread texture ... please excuse me while I wipe the drool from my laptop ...

Nom!

Seriously delicious pancakes, darlings. And, happily, the recipe serves one so there can be no guilt over having eaten all the pancakes and not shared them with other, possibly deserving (but probably not), family members!

Bacon-Cheddar Cornmeal Pancakes
From The College Culinarian (reproduced with permission from Katie)
Serves: 1

Ingredients
1 egg, beaten
½ cup cornmeal
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 [heaping] Tbsp bacon bits
1 [heaping] Tbsp shredded cheddar
[½ tsp sriracha, just because it goes so well with cheddar and bacon]

¼ cup + 2 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp butter, melted

1 more egg (for frying)
Sour cream (optional)

Directions
Stir cornmeal, baking powder, salt, bacon bits, and cheddar cheese together in a bowl. Whisk in the milk and butter. Add one tablespoon of the beaten egg -- discard the remainder. Stir well and set aside. [I cooked the remainder & fed it to my very happy cats]

Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add a pat of butter (or cooking spray) and scoop pancake mix by 1/4 cup measurements. Cook until one side is golden, flip, and repeat the process. Remove to a plate and keep warm. [I ended up with 3 pancakes, but my measurements were loose approximations]

Add a bit more butter to the same skillet. Heat over medium and crack in the egg. Cook until the whites are almost set, add a teaspoon of water to the skillet, and cover. Let cook for 20 more seconds, or until the white is set but yolk is still runny. Set the cooked egg on the pancakes, sprinkle with pepper, and serve with sour cream.

I'd never attempted a sunny-side up egg before, but Katie's method worked out really well and I think I will be doing many more sunny-side up eggs in the future. When I left college, I could only boil or scramble an egg. Now I can boil, scrabble, and fry them over-easy or sunny-side up ... if only I could master poaching!