Matt Degen

Homemade Johnnycakes: Quick, Delicious, and Versatile!

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “less is more.”

This idea of simplicity can apply to a lot of things, and I love when we can associate it with food. Specifically a recipe as simple a johnnycakes.

Johnnycakes are a perfect example of a less is more meal. We’re talking only a couple of Ingredients and one pan. But the results are fantastic – little cornmeal patties that are crunchy on the outside, soft within, and totally snackable for a variety of meals and occasions. And they are sooo easy to make!

What Is a Johnnycake?

A johnnycake is simply a cornmeal cake griddled in a skillet or on a griddle. You can think of it as a thicker and denser pancake but made out of cornmeal.

To make johnnycakes, you only need two main ingredients: corneal and water — though some salt and sugar are highly suggested when making the batter. Unlike yeast-risen breads or even pancakes, no leavening agent is used in johnnycakes, meaning you don’t even need baking soda or baking powder.

Cornmeal is inexpensive, and water is nearly free, which means johnnycakes are very inexpensive to make.

They also happen to be a gluten-free food, or at least gluten-friendly. If you require gluten-free foods, buy cornmeal that specifically says gluten-free, as some boxed versions are processed in factories where wheat may also be processed.

About Johnnycakes

Johnnycakes are also known as or spelled as johnny cake, shawnee cake, johnny bread, and journey cake. I call it satisfying.

Johnnycakes are hardly new. They are actually believed to predate pancakes. Johnnycakes date to at least the 1700s and are American in origin. But they are also popular in the Caribbean. In fact, I first had them while visiting Sint Maarten.

Finally, johnnycakes can be made savory or sweet. The recipe below is on the savory side. To make them sweet, simply add more sugar or sweetener of your choice.

Easy Homemade Johnnycakes Recipe

2 cups cornmeal
2 cups boiling water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar

Step 1: In a bowl combine all ingredients in and stir well. The cornmeal to water ratio is 1:1, so make more or less if desired. For example, for a small batch use 1 cup of cornmeal and cup of boiling water. For a larger batch, go with 3 cups of each, and so forth. Also note that you can play with the ratios. For denser johnnycakes, use less water, or add more for a thinner cake.

Step 2: Let batter sit for about 10 minutes. This will help the cornmeal absorb the water.

Step 3: Heat a pan over medium low. I recommend a skillet that is 10 inches or larger. Stainless steel, cast iron, or non-stick all work great.

Step 4: Add 1 tablespoon of butter or vegetable oil. When butter sizzles, plop small mounds of the johnnycake batter in pan. I like to use a dough scooper for this.

Step 5: Let cook for 10 minutes, then flip and cook for 10 more

Congratulations! You’ve just made delicious, versatile johnnycakes. I like to serve these with maple syrup for a sweet approach, or you can have them as a side like a biscuit with any meal.

How To Pan Broil Anything

During your time in the kitchen, you’ve surely boiled, baked, sauteed, and maybe even shallow fried. These are all common cooking methods that enable us to make a variety of foods and meals. But there’s one you may have never even heard of, yet alone used: pan broiling.

Wait, what? Yes, pan broiling. Also potentially spelled pan-broiling or panbroiling. But no matter where you put the space or hyphen in its name, it refers to a special method of cooking.

As its name suggest, this unique method is related to broiling but, well, uses a pan in a specialized manner. Cooking this way is both exciting and yields super tasty results.

Corn Salad: You’ll Love This Easy, Epic Recipe

There’s something inherently delicious about corn. And I’m not just talking about its sweet, earthy flavor. There’s the crunch factor that is so satisfying in the mouth. And then the visual appeal: Who can turn down a vibrant yellow ear of freshly cooked corn on the cob or a bowl of steaming kernels topped with butter?

Corn is even better when joined by friends. Exhibit A is my Easy & Epic Corn Salad. Here individual corn kernels are joined by hearty black beans, ripe grape tomatoes, creamy avocado, tart red onions, and sauteed peppers that give this otherwise uncooked salad bit of smokiness.

As a salad, it also needs a dressing. Here it’s simple yet flavorful: Some Mexican crema mixed with lime juice. Think of it as a creamy vinaigrette. Garnish simply with cilantro or Italian parsley, and you have a dish I like to call a culinary orchestra — a recipe filled with several talented ingredients that sound… er, taste, better as a whole.

Parsnip Puree Will Make You Say Hooray!

Hey, I’ve got a secret to tell you: You know how homemade mashed potatoes are delicious? Parsnip puree is even better.

And here’s where you might want me to back up a moment, as you could be thinking: What’s a parsnip? Read on, my friend.

Shirred Eggs Are Sure Easy To Cook

Eggs are pretty ubiquitous for breakfast and beyond. Surely you’ve had — and probably cooked — them as scrambled eggs, an omelet, and hard-boiled.

But there is myriad other ways to cook and prepare eggs. One you’ve perhaps never heard of are shirred eggs. And even if you have heard of them, you might have thought: “Wow, that sounds super special and difficult to make.” You’re correct about one of those things. Special, yes. Difficult, hardly.

So what are shirred eggs? Shirred eggs are simply baked eggs with a few other ingredients. To make them don’t have to whisk anything, nor do you even need to heat up a pan. If you can crack an egg into a dish, add some milk, cheese, and seasonings, then turn on an oven (even a toaster oven), you can make shirred eggs.

Grilled Radicchio Is Totally Rad

Think of grilling on a barbecue and you’re likely to imagine a lot of meat. Sure, there might be a token vegetable thrown in, but usually grillin’ is about burgers, hot dogs, steak, chicken, and the like. But one of the best things you might just ever eat off a grill is a vegetable, and an unusual one at that: Radicchio.

Radicchio might be mistaken for purple cabbage because it looks quite similar to it. They are both leafy vegetables in a round shape (or, oblong, in the case of radicchio treviso), and can’t help but stand out in the produce section with their purple color.

You can easily tell radicchio apart by its white striations, beautiful lines that remind me of a tiger.

Rice Pudding Brulee Is an Easy Yet Amazing Dessert

Rice pudding brulee is a delicious take on a classic dessert.

Rice pudding. It’s a tasty, sensible, inexpensive, and non-daring dessert. But one small change to the top transforms it from simply tasty to surprisingly wonderful. And that top involves sugar and fire.

Before diving into how to make my special take on rice pudding, a quick background.

Rice pudding is a mixture of rice, milk, eggs, and other ingredients such as sugar and flavorings like vanilla extract and cinnamon. It is highly customizable. While short- or medium-grain white rice is the traditional stuff used for the main component, there’s no reason you can’t use long-grain white rice, jasmine rice, brown rice, etc.

Enchilada Casserole Is Amazingly Easy

I’m a fan of recipes whose results have family and friends thinking you’ve spent hours slaving away to create the delicious meal they’re so eagerly eating, but which in reality was a snap to make.

One such example are enchiladas, a Mexican dish that you can think of as burritos smothered in spicy sauce and then baked until soft and hot – a bubbly bit of cheese heaven. Like their tortilla-clothed brethren, enchiladas can be filled with any manner of goodies, from just cheese at their simplest to chicken, carnitas, or even lobster at the other end of the spectrum.

But making traditional enchiladas has its downsides, namely getting the tortillas pliable enough to roll in the first place, not to mention the messiness involved when it comes to rolling the things.

Enter the enchilada casserole. You get all the delicious benefits of a regular enchilada, but in an easier-to-make, easier-to-serve format. The dish is made by simply layering tortillas with cheese, sauce and your favorite ingredients (a perfect way to use leftover meat, chicken, veggies, etc.).

Shishito Peppers Only Get Better With Char

When it comes to chile peppers, you might fall into one of two camps: You either love them or you fear them. If you know me, you know that I am firmly in group one. Like, cemented in. I absolutely love the heat, flavor, and rush I get from eating spicy foods, chiles key among them.

My daily drivers are often serranos and jalapenos, habaneros, and specialty peppers like Hatch chiles when they’re in season. Oh, and I’ve been either brave or dumb enough (likely both) to gobble a ghost pepper and try Da Bomb Beyond Insanity hot sauce, the infamous widow-maker from Hot Ones.

But chiles aren’t just about tongue-searing heat. A good one should prioritize flavor and, heck, maybe even fun. And here we get to the star of this post: shishito peppers, which pack a whallop of both.

Orzo Salad Ain’t Your Average Pasta

We usually think of pasta as something to be drenched in a rich marinara or a heavy, cream-based alfredo sauce. We also usually think of it as something that comes in long ribbons or strands.

Orzo is a type of pasta that turns that latter notion on its head, and used in the recipe here, does the same for the sauce that it’s served with.

Upon first glance, you might mistake orzo for rice. That’s because it is shaped just like those little grains. But orzo is indeed pasta, and is made from the same kind of wheat used for more familiar shapes like fettuccine, spaghetti, and angel hair.