corn patties

Frozen corn is processed to bits and combined with diced onion and grated cheese. 

A egg is separated. The yolk incorporated into the corn mixture, the whites beaten to stiff peaks. The corn mixture folded into the beaten egg whites. The combined mixture is spooned onto a skillet and fried as small pancakes. 

Very sweet white onion. 

At one time my dad underwent some kind of enhanced training for electronics at an AFB in Biloxi Mississippi. I recall the tour of the AFB quite clearly. It looked remarkably like all the other AFBs I ever saw. There is a unifying appearance to them no matter where they are located or when they were built. There is a feel to them, a vibe that one senses immediately that goes beyond the generally uniform architecture, the unnecessarily white-painted rocks that line walkways, and the impossibly high-gloss polished linoleum floors, the photograph portraits of the current president that greet upon entering important buildings no matter how loved or despised outside the universe of the base itself. Dad wanted his family around him so off we went even though we were comfortably ensconced at another AFB in Bossier City Louisiana next to Shreveport, the B-52 capital of the world apparently. It is a huge base with gigantic airplanes running touch-and-goes continuously. It takes miles and miles of tarmac to get the planes airborne even though the runway is at sea-level. One of my grandmothers couldn't take the noise. To us it was a comfort. 

Back at Biloxi, on the first day there, we peered out a restaurant window and noticed a little chameleon on the outside pane. We couldn't wait to race outside and catch it. Our amazement with these little green lizards that changed color from green to brown was thorough. As thorough as our amazement with armadillos in Louisiana and with hummingbirds in Colorado. We were staying off base in a gigantic rented wooden house, exactly like the sort of thing you see in A Streetcar Named Desire, where we resumed our hunt for chameleons. They would show up in great numbers for about a half hour or so during the day and then disappear completely. Most frustrating, but we did manage to catch a few. 

Sitting out on the covered porch on the second floor, back from the beach, we observed one of the local fellows at street level take a scoop out of a jar of peanut butter, smear it on a white onion, then chomp on the onion as if eating an apple. He devoured the whole onion this way, and that was his lunch. We were dumbfounded. We discussed what we saw. Was this a poverty thing, or what?  It must have been an onion like this one, a sweet onion, probably a Vidalia from Georgia, with more sugar than volatile oniony sulfide compounds. But we knew nothing of those. 

Queso means cheese, quesadilla means little cheese thing (fem.) So this label is completely unhelpful in identifying the type. It is white. I do not know why the photo below shows it to be yellow. I think it has something to do with white balance and being next to the whiter onion.  

This is where I went wrong ↑. I was so impressed with the processed corn with masa harina mixed with a smashed potato that I wanted to try it again repurposed. I neglected to add the masa harina which would have aided in binding. I did not realize the problem until the first batch spooned into the pan to fry was so tender that they tended to break apart instead of flipping easily. The egg was insufficient to hold the mixture together. I adjusted after that first pan with a tablespoon of sifted flour, but by then it was too late. The egg white had already been incorporated and any vigorous mixing would deflate the beaten egg white. You can avoid this problem by adding a tablespoon of masa harina or flour at this point. 

Two beaten egg whites are stabilized with cream of tarter, approximately 2/3 level teaspoon. 

This is a common technique for getting a thick heavy mixture combined with a light fluffy mixture. Approximately 1/3 the beaten egg white is combined with the denser corn mixture, then the lightened corn mixture is folded back into the remaining egg white. 

Well, these turned out well.  They are all I wanted, but they can be improved. 

These corn patties shown here are obviously lightened mechanically by beaten egg white, but that is not necessary. They could instead be lightened chemically with a touch of baking powder. Not baking soda, unless an acid is also included for it to react with. Or not lightened at all. 

This is one of my favorite things that Mum made. But she didn't make these very often, and for a large family, I can see why. I think she used canned cream corn and hers were very flat so I'm guessing no leaven. Hers were also very sweet, that's why I like them so much, so I imagine she included sugar. These shown above are relying on the onion to provide the sweetness. You might want to adjust that. 

The rest of the plate is just mixed deli sandwich meat for subs, ham and turkey. 

Small tomatoes with sea salt.