Corn Cakes with Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Topping

An eclectic collection of flavor sensations, these corn cakes are topped with sweet red peppers and tangy goat cheese. These little tidbits will add a colorful flair to your holiday hors d'oeuvre tray.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup cornmeal
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 Teaspoon salt
• Corn oil
• 1/2 Cup crumbled goat cheese
• 1/2 Cup roasted red peppers from a jar, drained, minced

Directions

• Bring broth to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Slowly sprinkle cornmeal into broth while quickly whisking mixture. Continue whisking for 3 minutes smoothing out any lumps as mixture thickens. Replace whisk with wooden spoon and cook, stirring constantly until mixture thickens, about 1 minute. Spoon should stand in mixture and mixture will come away from sides of pan. Remove from heat and stir in salt. Transfer to a bowl and cool to touch.
• Form 1/4-inch thick, silver dollar-size patties using 2 teaspoons of mixture for each. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add as many patties as skillet will hold and cook until underside is lightly browned, about 2 - 3 minutes. Flip patties over with a spatula and cook until other side is lightly browned, about 2 - 3 minutes. Remove from skillet and transfer to paper towels to drain of excess oil. Continue with remaining cakes, adding oil to the pan as needed. Cover cakes with foil to keep warm as you cook remaining cakes.
• Spoon 1/2 teaspoon of crumbled goat cheese and minced red pepper on top of each corn cake. Arrange on serving tray and serve immediately.

  Makes about 24 appetizers