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One of my favorite summahtime memories was in college. I got a job on a film set in Maryland for a few days and instead of flying, which they offered, I took it as an opportunity to go on a solo road-trip through the south.
It wasn’t too far, actually, maybe six or seven hours. And instead of opting for highway only, I went for the route that took me on a lot of one lane roads, running straight through a bunch of small towns in North Carolina and Virginia.
I packed a large sweet tea, made a super long mix-CD and filled up my Jetta.
Nothing crazy happened. I stopped off at a diner, had hoecakes and ate Western North Carolina BBQ. At dusk, fireflies helped light up the roads. I listened to music my parents did. But mostly I remember thinking that everyone seemed so happy and normal and maybe this whole idea of moving to Los Angeles to work in the film industry, which is inherently sort of abnormal, was maybe flawed. Maybe they had it right and I had it all wrong.
I often times think about that road-trip. I still think about moving back sometimes.
A few weeks ago I watched all of the Sean Brock, Mind of a Chef, in nearly one sitting. I haven’t eaten at Husk, but man do I want to. The way he cooks Southern food makes me so happy. Not everything is fried, not everything is pork-driven and not everything is bad for you. It’s actually quite the opposite; vegetable-driven, even.
In one episode he makes a rendition of these rice hoe cakes with Carolina rice. It’s like a combo of cornbread with rice folded in. The patties are pan-fried in not too much oil and in my case, I topped them with a succotash, which really is just a medley of fresh vegetables.
Instead of the vegetables being cooked in bacon fat, I chose to fold it in after. I didn’t want it to taste just like bacon. The vegetables are SO good this time of year that I think we should taste the zucchini and sweet corn and spicy hatch chile. The mix-in of diced bacon adds just the right amount of smokiness and salt.
Unlike a lot of pancakes or griddle cakes, these taste really good hours after. I ate two cold and was OMG I LOVE LYFE.
Rice Hoecakes with Succotash
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup long-grain rice
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup, plus 1 tablespoon, buttermilk, shaken
- 1/2 an egg, beaten
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 1/2 tablespoons diced fresh chives
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 shallot, minced
- 1 zucchini, diced
- 1 corn on the cob, kernels cut off
- 1 small yellow summer squash, diced
- 1/2 hatch chile, seeds and membrane removed and diced
- Salt
- Pepper
- 2 slices of bacon, cooked and diced
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
- Combine the rice and water in a bowl of a rice cooker and cook until the rice is cooked. Alternatively, you can cook this in a small saucepan. Combine the rice and water and bring the water to a simmer over medium-low heat. Cover the pan and cook until the rice is tender and the water has evaporated, about 10 to 15 minutes. You should end up with about 1 cup, plus 1 tablespoon, of rice. If you end up with more, only use 1 cup, plus 1 tablespoon; consider any leftovers a snack! Place the rice in a bowl and transfer to the fridge so it can dry out a bit, about 1 hour. You can also cook this the night before.
- In a measuring cup, measure out the buttermilk, and whisk in the half of an egg and melted butter. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the cornmeal mixture and whisk until combined. Fold in the cooled rice and chives.
- Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot and shimmering (you can test it by dropping a few pieces of rice in it; if it sizzles, it's ready), drop a few tablespoons of the rice mixture, pressing them down gently to flatten. You may also find it helpful to shape the cakes a bit with a spatula. I did this so they were more perfect circles. Cook them until golden brown and crispy on both sides, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the cakes to a bed of paper towels to drain.
- To make the succotash, melt the butter in a medium saute pan, set over medium heat. Throw in the shallot, zucchini, corn kernels, yellow squash, hatch chile and a few pinches of salt and pepper. Cook for about 2 to 4 minutes, until the zucchini bright green and tender. No over cooking veggies here! Fold in the diced bacon and cook for an additonal minute, just until it's warmed.
- To serve the cakes, divide amongst plates, I gave people about two per person. Top with a few spoonfuls of succotash. Yum!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
We did a road trip through the south at went to Charleston just to eat at Husk. Totally worth it.
Oh man, I just marathon’d the crap out of Sean Brock’s season, too, and the first thing I thought when I saw this post pop up was of those ho-griddled ho cakes and how entirely smitten I’ve become with ol’ Brocky boy after just a few hours. (I even dedicated a post of my own to it. Does he know he’s got the food blogging community worshipping at his feet?) These look amazing and I absolutely loved hearing about your solo road trip through the South. It’s both ballsy and sort of romantical — two of my fave things. (Er…) xo! Em
Considering I have no idea what hoecakes are they look amazing. I think I want to know them better.
Have you been to Charleston? If not, you definitely should visit! I’m going to college there and grew up one town over and it’s definitely not over hyped (in my opinion). The food is amazing! 🙂
Also, this recipe looks amazing, and I actually haven’t ever had hoe cakes! I’ll have to try these 🙂
Where exactly does the corn (from the cob) come in to this? I see NO mention of it other than in the title, in the ingredients lineup picture and in the finished product picture. I bought two ears of corn JUST for this recipe. Thanks!
Sorry about that! I just added it. The actual hoecakes use cornmeal and the corn kernels are added to the succotash.
Adrianna! I need to try hoecakes… a new concept to me! Awesome.
I’ve been seriously jonsing for a little road trip action… your story swept me away for a moment to that peaceful, reflective, expansive feeling that only road trips can bring. Sadly my boy Otis gets carsick, so I haven’t had a good road trip in ages!
oxoxo to you,
E
Kathryne! I need to try hoecakes… a new concept to me! Awesome.
I’ve been seriously jonsing for a little road trip action… your story swept me away for a moment to that peaceful, reflective, expansive feeling that only road trips can bring. Sadly my boy Otis gets carsick, so I haven’t had a good road trip in ages!
oxoxo to you,
E
Good lady, why I wrote *Kathryne*…. I don’t know!
xoxo to you! E
So embarrassing. I think I must be following in my mom’s footsteps. When she says something to me, she calls me at least 3 other names before settling on “Erin.” And usually one of the earlier names includes that of her dog, Rosie;) Ugh!
HAH! It’s not a big deal at all. My mom calls me three names too. There’s Daniela (my cousin), Iris (my aunt), Gina (my other aunt) and then she finally comes around and calls me Adrianna.
These look perfect for breakfast, lunch AND dinner!!
First time hearing this recipe! Sounds delicious! Oh and love the name:) lol