"corn cakes" news and stories

And now, as the Monty Python group would say, for something completely different . . . and, in truth, something wild, we offer up a Wednesday side of ramps. A little bit garlic, a little bit leek, ramps are wild members of the Allium family. If you're lucky enough to find them growing rampantly (sorry!) in a field or being offered at the farmers market, grab them and sauté them with olive oil, salt and pepper, and eat them just like that. Or sauté the bulbs with garlic and sherry and wilt the leaves with lemon and shallots, as blogger garrettkern did, above, and serve them with griddle corn cakes and a swirl of sour cream.

Ramps are delicious in a creamy soup that also includes sweet onions (keeping it in the family). But I think my favorite ramps dish is one from Manhattan restaurant Babbo, which one of its former chefs, Yoshi Yamada, shared with Gourmet readers a couple of years ago. The recipe uses both bulb and leaf, mixes in breadcrumbs, and is a beautiful celebration of spring.

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As you know, there is an enduring battle at breakfast time for me between Savory and Sweet. For almost all of my life, I've loved sweet breakfast foods, whether that was cold cereal in the form of Cinnamon Toast Crunch or Belgian waffle with sweetened fruit and whipped cream. However, savory has taken the lead in recent years, and it's everything I can do to keep myself from ordering the same egg white, vegetable, and cheese omelet.

Food blog What Did You Eat has put a break in the battle, if at least for one morning. Jalapeno Corn pancakes (a recipe from Ask.com) look like normal pancakes, and with a small amount of sugar in the recipe that "lends a subtle sweetness to the pancakes," may even taste like regular pancakes, but the addition of masa flour and jalapenos, makes these all kinds of spicy and savory. You could eat them as is (I don't think I'd add any syrup), or do like Sher did and throw a fried egg on top!

• It's the Boston Globe Magazine's Restaurant Issue, with a list of the places to get the best service, five places where you should eat at the bar, and the anatomy of an order, from the opening cocktail to the check.
• Add a pickle or two to that lunch you're having today.
• How to make chickens lay better eggs.
• Behind the scenes of CookingWithAlicia.com.
• Wagamama is opening a location in Harvard Square.
• This week's recipes: Buttermilk Pancakes, Corn Cakes, Smoked Mussels, Corn Relish, and Too Simple For Words Roasted Peppers.