The last time my sister (the soon-to-be-famous writer) was in town we ate at a wonderful place called Tweet and I knew she had out-ordered me when I tasted her arepas.  They were heavenly corn pancakes served with salsa, black beans, avocado and sour cream.  I may have tried to convince her that she had been given way too much food and should not feel obligated to finish it and that I would take it off her hands as any helpful big sister should.  I do know that I thought about those pancakes for a long time afterwards and was, therefore, delighted to find a recipe for something very similar in Miss Sara’s book.

This is some seriously good stuff but it caused me some concern as I was making it.  The picture in Miss Sara’s book shows a corn cake that, texture wise, looks a lot like a traditional pancake.  My batter, however, was thick and did not spread the way pancakes do.  Tablespoon by tablespoon I ended up putting an extra 1/2 cup of buttermilk and it all turned out beautifully but still not pancake-like.

I emailed Miss Sara to ask, ever so politely, if there might possibly be an error in the amount of buttermilk?  No, she assured me, it was supposed to be a nice, thick batter that doesn’t spread much.   I’m still not sure I believe her but why would she lie to me, a nice little Midwestern blogging lady?

Sara suggests adding a fried egg or some grilled shrimp or chicken to make this a heartier main dish and I think those are great ideas.  As written, the fresh corn, cherry tomatoes and basil make it a little summer party in your mouth.

The recipe can be found here.