Corn Fritters

I was eating some steamed frozen corn one day last week and I thought there has got to be a way liven these up a bit. Well a couple of days later while perusing the Whole Foods deli I ran across some corn fritters and picked up a couple. They were good but not quite good enough so I started thinking and looking at corn fritter recipes. The ones at Whole foods were a bit too heavy with the flour and some of the recipes I researched looked to thin. I wanted something with some body but not to thick and floury. So I came across this recipe and modified it a bit.

What you will need.
Six ears of corn
2 eggs beaten
4 scallions finely sliced
1 Tbs chopped fresh sage
1 cup cheddar cheese. I used a nice 15 month aged English cheddar I found at Whole Foods
½ cup or more all purpose flour
about ¼ cup milk
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
Sweet Pepper Bruschetta

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the corn and cook for four minutes after the water returns to a boil. After the corn has cooled a bit slice the kernels off of the cob then reverse the knife blade and run it down the length of the cob to milk it.
Mix the kernels with the scallions, sage, cheese and salt and pepper and set aside. In a separate bowl combine the flour, eggs and enough of the milk to make a smooth batter. Add the batter to the corn mixture and stir to mix well. Preheat your cast iron skillet for several minutes until light wisps of smoke appear then add a few tablespoons of canola oil. Drop by large spoonfuls into the hot skillet and shore up the edges of the fritter with a spatula until they hold shape. Cook about four minutes per side until golden brown. Top with sweet pepper bruschetta and enjoy!

On a side note, bruschetta has come to mean something it's not. In it's classic sense it is toasted bread with olive oil, rubbed with garlic. The garlic oils released on the hot toasted bread produce a wonderful aroma and taste. It is the best garlic bread you will ever have. Bruschetta has come to be toasted bread with olive oil and a variety of toppings and now the topping itself has acquired the name bruschetta.

Classic Bruschetta

The asparagus dish I served with the corn fritters is an easy rustic dish. Simmer the asparagus in about an inch of water for 6-8 minutes until slightly cooked but still has some snap. Shock the simmered asparagus in cold water to stop the cooking and return to the still hot pan used to cook it in. This will help evaporate the moisture on the asparagus.
Wrap the asparagus in a couple of thin pieces of prosciutto and arrange on a serving platter. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice and an aged balsamic vinegar. Top with Parmesan-Reggiano and oregano and serve at room temperature. Yeah you could whip the ingredients into a balsamic vinaigrette but I like the way you get different melding of the flavors with each bite. Hence the rustic!

Chili Black Bean Patties

Sometimes meat just isn't on the menu. I had this idea for black bean patties stirring around in my head for a while when I stumbled across just the right recipe from Cooking Light. I modified the recipe slightly (I always do) and came up with chili style black bean patties served with pineapple and red pepper couscous. The pineapple couscous plays well off of the spiciness of the black bean patties.

What you will need.
1 can 15oz black beans drained and rinsed.
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1 tbs chili powder I used my homemade powder
½ of a red onion finely minced
1 large egg white
2oz shredded Monterey Jack cheese plus more for topping
½ cup panko bread crumbs
coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
sour cream

Place 2/3 of the black beans in a bowl, season with salt, pepper, and chili powder and coarsely mash with a fork or potato masher. Place the remaining 1/3 black beans and the egg white in a food processor and process until smooth, about 30 seconds. Add the bean puree to the mashed beans and stir to combine. Add the minced red onion and cheese to the bean mixture and stir to combine. Divide the bean mixture into four even portions and shape into ½ inch thick patties. Place the patties into the panko bread crumbs and press to coat. Fry in your favorite cast iron skillet for about 4 minutes per side. Top with the remaining Monterey Jack cheese and sour cream. Enjoy!

On a side note, a good thing about mashing the beans is that it breaks down the fibers in the beans minimizing the production of gas. Now your friends and neighbors won't be calling you Your Flatulence!

For the pineapple couscous, cook 1 cup of couscous according to package direction. While the couscous is setting, saute 1 can of drained crushed pineapple and a cup of chopped red pepper. Make a dressing for the couscous with 1/4 cup of pineapple juice reserved from the can, 1 tbs olive oil and 1 tbs dijon or whole grain mustard, mixing well with a whisk. Fluff the couscous with a fork and add the pineapple and red pepper mixture and dressing and stir to combine.

Roasted Cauliflower

After reading Eraine’s blog on roasted cauliflower, I knew I had to have some. I had it before but somehow had completely forgotten about it. How I could forget about something so caramelized, crispy soft and flavorful is just weird. Steamed cauliflower is just so-so and cauliflower with cheese sauce is getting old so this is a great way to liven it up!
I used one whole cauliflower cut up into pieces and coated with olive oil, salt, pepper, oregano and nutmeg. Place the skillet in a pre-heated 450F oven for 30 minutes. Shake the pan about every 10 minutes to evenly cook.

Speaking of pre-heated ovens, it amazes me when someone turns on the oven a few minutes before placing the dish in it then wondering why it didn’t turn out as they had expected. Hello, there is a reason the recipe called for a pre-heated oven. Maybe they think they have some kind of super oven that can pre-heat to 400F in three minutes. But I digress.
After I removed it from the oven I sprinkled on some Parmigiano-Reggiano. Thanks for the great recipe Eraine.

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes. Nothing earth shattering here, just simple goodness. Coat potatoes with extra virgin olive oil, season with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper then add some minced garlic and rosemary. Toss to coat then put them in your trusty cast iron skillet. Put the skillet in a pre-heated 450F oven for about 25-30 minutes. I like to open the oven and shake the pan back and forth a few times during the cooking to get some crispiness on more than one side of the potato.

Caramelized Onions

Caramelized onions add a savory sweetness to many dishes from Lyonnaise potatoes, French onion soup and steaks to a sandwich topping They are easy to make once you know how. Many beginners tend to cook the onions over to high a heat, burning them rather than caramelizing. I use olive oil and a tablespoon of butter but you can use just oil or clarified butter. I would stay away from just butter though as the solids in the butter will burn. Cooking time will vary depending on the amount of onions used. It may takes as little as ten minutes to as long as 30 minutes or more. Start cooking on medium heat then turn the heat down to medium low after about 10 minutes to prevent burning. You will find that many times you will need to reduce the heat while cooking with cast iron due to its excellent heat retention. Add 1 tsp sugar at the beginning and another about halfway through the cooking time. The sugar is optional as the natural sugars in the onions will caramelize but it speeds up the process a bit and adds a nice touch. Many recipes call for an onion per person. At first thought you might think, “Gawd, that way too much onion!”, but after you see how much they reduce you will understand.
Here are four jumbo Vidalia onions sliced and ready for the skillet.

I used about three tablespoons of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter heated before I add the onions. Now stir to coat the onions with the oil. Continue stirring occasionally, scraping the onions from the bottom of the skillet.

Here’s what they look like at about twenty minutes. At this point I might use them for fajitas or yellow squash and potatoes.

Here we are at about 30 minutes with nicely caramelized onions. I tend to make more than the recipe calls for as I can refrigerate them for a few days or freeze them for up to a month.