Steel City Endurance Racing

While corn has gotten its share of bad press (i.e., the health burdens of high fructose corn syrup), there are wonderful uses for this beautiful food! Growing up in the Midwest, we always looked forward to the first crop of sweet corn in the summer.

Arepas, originally from Venezuela, could be described as a tasty variant on corn muffins. This sounds like a delicious, healthy, gluten-free recipe, and is taken from the New York Times, published 8/28/2009.

– 1 cup yellow cornmeal, finely ground

– 1/2 teaspoon salt

– 1/2 cup grated Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese

– 1 cup milk

– 2 tablespoons butter, more for serving, optional

– 1/2 cup fresh sweet corn kernels, or frozen kernels, thawed

- 1/4 cup chopped scallion

- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

- 1 small serrano or jalapeño chili, seeded and minced, optional

- 3 tablespoons corn, canola, grapeseed or other neutral oil

- Cooked black beans or vegetables or sour cream for stuffing, optional.

1. Put cornmeal in a large bowl with salt and cheese. Put milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until steam rises, then add butter and stir until melted. Remove from heat and stir into cornmeal mixture until a thick batter is formed. Fold in the corn kernels, scallion, cilantro and chili if using.

2. Let batter rest until it thickens into a soft dough, about 15 minutes. Gently form 3- to 4-inch balls from mixture and flatten with palm of your hand to a 1/2-inch-thick disk. (You can cover and refrigerate disks for a few hours if you like.)

3. Heat oil in a large skillet and cook arepas, working in batches, until golden brown, about 5 minutes, then flip and cook for another 3 minutes on other side. When all arepas are cooked and cool enough to handle, carefully slice them through the middle. If desired, serve with butter or stuff with beans, vegetables or sour cream.

Yield: 8 to 12 arepas.

Thank you, Barb, for forwarding the recipe!