Corn Fritters

As requested by Michelle:

Corn Fritters (from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook)

4 ears fresh corn, husks and silk removed
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 T all-purpose flour
3 T fine-ground cornmeal
2 T heavy cream
1 shallot, minced
1/2 t salt
Pinch cayenne pepper, optional
1/4 c vegetable oil, or more as needed

Stand the corn on end inside a large bowl and cut the kernels from 2 ears of the corn, using a paring knife. Grate the remaining 2 ears corn over the large holes of a box grater into the same bowl. Using the back of a butter knife, scrape any remaining milk from the cobs into the bowl.

Stir the egg, flour, cornmeal, cream, shallot, salt and cayenne into the corn to make a thick batter.

Heat the oil in a skillet over med-hi heat until shimmering. Drop heaping tablespoons of batter into the oil. Fry until golden brown on both sides, about 1 minute per side. Transfer the fritters to a paper-towel-lined plate and repeat with the remaining batter.

Notes:

I like using fresh corn b/c it's crunchier.

The shallot it a must!

You can use canned corn in place of fresh. Just make sure you drain it completely.

If you use canned corn, you should probably add more flour and/or cornmeal to make the batter a little drier.

Panera Bread Broccoli Cheese Soup

Panera Bread Broccoli Cheese Soup

Love Panera Bread! LOVE THIS SOUP!!

If you don't have a Panera near you. I am sorry. We are bread people. Bring on the carbs. Hello Fontega Chicken Panini. Hello Cinnamon Crunch Bagel. Hello French Bread (for French toast). We <3 Panera!

Anyway, back to the recipe.

What I did...

I chopped the broccoli into tiny, tiny pieces.

I used bagged shredded carrots.

I didn't set the sauteed onions aside. One less dish to clean, the better.

I skipped the whole puree part. Again, less dishes to clean.

I didn't have any on hand tonight, but serve this with a yummy French bread baguette. When I'm in Panera I use my baguette as my spoon. :P

Pecan Pie Muffins

Holy PECAN! They weren't kidding. Make these. Make these now :P

Pecan Pie Muffins

And when you make them...

Please forget about eating healthy for just a little bit.

Please don't get confused when the recipe calls for softened butter. Just use melted like the blog shows you.

Please do not fill the cups more than 2/3 full. I'd probably even do half full, especially if doing them mini style like me.

Please remove them from the cups while still warm. They will get stuck. At least they did for me.

Please dot them with a little butter. Like I said, they weren't kidding.

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I'm totally making this again!
BBQ Pulled Pork - based off Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork'wich featured on Tasty Kitchen

• 2-½ pounds Pork Tenderloin
• ¼ whole Large Onion, Chopped
• 1 clove Garlic, Minced
• 1-½ teaspoon Dry Ground Mustard
• ¼ cups Apple Cider Vinegar
• 3 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
• 24 ounces, fluid Coke (2 Cans) Or Any Caramel Color Soda- NOT Diet
• BBQ Sauce, To Taste

Place pork, pepper, onion, garlic, dry mustard, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and Coke into a slow cooker.

Cook on low for 4 hours.

Check the pork for tenderness. Shred with the tines of 2 forks. Continue cooking, covered, for 1½ hours. Drain any excess liquid. Coat the pork, to taste, with your favorite BBQ sauce. Continue cooking for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, make the slaw.

Red Coleslaw - based off of Red BBQ Slaw featured on allrecipes.com

• 4 cups finely shredded cabbage
• 1 cup shredded carrots
  
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste

Place the cabbage and carrots into a salad bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together apple cider vinegar, ketchup, sugar, and red pepper flakes until the sugar has dissolved. Pour the dressing over the cabbage, toss thoroughly, and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

Top the pulled pork with slaw and serve on any type of bun. Enjoy!

These are pictures of my leftovers the next day. We ate all of the yummy buns the night before, so today I had to settle for French bread. Still tasty!

Strawberry Jell-O Pie

Berries Take 2!!

I just couldn't resist the the sale at the supermarket...$1 strawberries...and sweet, too!!

So now what do I do with six boxes of strawberries??

My answer...Strawberry Jell-O Pie (from Arlene Kliewer :) )

2 T. cornstarch

1 c. sugar

1 c. water

1/4 c. strawberry flavored Jell-O

~2 c. strawberries, hulled and halved

1 pie shell (graham or regular), if regular, then baked

In a small pot, mix cornstarch and sugar, add water and mix to dissolve. Bring sugar mixture to a boil. Once boiling, remove from heat and stir in Jell-O mix until dissolved. Set aside and let cool.

Once cooled, pour gelatin mixture over strawberries in a large bowl and toss to coat. Fill pie shell with strawberry mixture and refrigerate until set.

Enjoy!

Notes:

- Arlene suggested I use a regular pie shell, rather than graham, b/c the graham ends up making too sweet of a pie. Plus, the buttery flavor of the regular shell tastes yummie with the sweetness of the filling.

- I also never have a pre-baked pie shell, so once I get the sugar mixture going on the stove, I let the pie thaw for 10 minutes, then poke it with holes, and bake per the package instructions.

- While the gelatin mixture cools down, I prepare the strawberries (wash, hull, halve).

- Make sure the strawberries have been completely drained, free of any excess liquid. The pie filling may not set if there is extra liquide.

Easy as pie!

Fresh Berry Cobbler

This is the only picture I have of this berry cobbler.

Sorry. We just couldn't wait.

Wow!! Let me say it again...WOW!!!

I'm not even a black berry fan, but this is good...REALLY good. And pretty easy considering I made this on Day 1 of flying solo with two kids. Sure, when I was done making this, I had a baby nursing to his heart's content in the Baby Bjorn, Annie had and accident (not a pretty one at that), and I found Cheez-Its in the DVD player, but this cobbler was SOOOOOOOO worth it!

Fruit:
~ 3 c. black berries, rinsed
~ 1 qt. strawberries (~1 lb.) (halve the large ones)
1 T. cornstarch
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla

Topping:
1 c. flour
1/4 c. plus 2 t. sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/3 c. buttermilk (or substitute a little less than 1/3 c. milk plus ~1/2 T. vinegar...let stand ~5 minutes to thicken up)
4 T unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/3 t. cinnamon

Mix all the fruit ingredients together and place in a baking dish. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20-303 minutes until the fruit begins to release liquid.

Meanwhile, whisk flour, 1/4 c. sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk buttermilk, butter, and vanilla. In a small bowl, mix remaining sugar and cinnamon.

Gently stir the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until dough is just combined and no dry pockets remain.

Remove fruit from the oven and drop dough by spoonfuls on top. Sprinkle with cinnamon topping. Bake for 15-20 minutes until biscuits are golden brown and cooked through. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving.

From The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

The Challenge this Month:

To create menus for eating and storing until the baby arrives.

So far, I've only gone out as far as two weeks with seven entrees I can freeze and save for later.

Here's what it looks like so far (starting March 3):

W - KS Fried Chicken (way better deal than KFC)
Th - Bolognese Sauce served over rice* (ATKFC)
F - 15-minute Veggie Bean & Tomato Soup* (RR)
Sa - Stuffed Bell Peppers*
Su - SFGP- Spinach & Artichoke Dip
M - Red Beans & Rice*
Tu - Eating out 'cuz we're picking up my mom from the airport

W - Chicken Tortilla Soup (BH&G)
Th - Chicken Spaghetti* (PW)
F- Onion Baked Salmon
Sa - Chicken & Rice Soup
Su - SFGP - Taco Soup*
M - Pizza
Tu - Zucchini Soup*

*Meals for freezing
- ATKFC = America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, RR = Rachel Ray, BH&G = Better Homes & Gardens Easy Everday Cooking, PW = Pioneer Woman, OMM = One More Moore

For Lent, our Sundays are taken up with our Small Faith Group meetings (SFGP = Small Faith Group Potlucks). Also because of Lent, we've got to work in our no-meat meals. And I'm not sure what my mom has in store for cooking, so that's why I have trouble planning the last weeks of March.

What I have planned, though, for more make-ahead meals is:
- Adobo
- Chili
- Butternut Squash Soup (OMM)
- Stuffed Shells (ATKFC)
- Baked Ziti (ATKFC)
- Lumpia
- Lasagna

It's going to be a lot of work, but I think I'm going to look forward to eating this month :P

Recent Library Picks

We don't have much time to spend in the library when Annie is with us, so I'm glad our library displays most of their cookbooks near the entrance so we don't have to do a lot of searching. Here are the last two cookbooks we borrowed. Hopefully they'll be full of recipes we can use.

The Best Make-Ahead Recipe: How to Cook Now ... to save Time Later
Better Food for Pregnancy

The first book I borrowed to get ideas for the next baby's first couple of weeks. I haven't had a chance to look through it yet, but I have a feeling most of the yummy recipes will be made for the oven. We still haven't fixed/replaced our oven (we're holding out as long as possible). But I will remain hopeful the book won't let me down.

Healthy Cheese & Herb Bread

Alex was at the library the other day with Annie and brought me home a book. Better Food for Pregnancy. I'm not sure if he's hinting something, but I have happily perused the recipes and look forward to trying some.

Tonight, the recipe of choice was Healthy Cheese & Herb Bread. The results...yummy in the tummy. Alex isn't home yet to be the judge of it, but I was pleased. This bread is easy with no kneading and no rise times. And it claims it's healthy. I made a little adjustment at the end to make it have a wonderful crust on it.

2 c all-purpose flour

1 c whole wheat flour

1/2 c rolled oats

1 T granulated sugar

2 t baking powder

1 t dried basil

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t dried oregano

1/2 t salt

1/4 c cold butter or margarine

1 c shredded Swiss cheese

1 egg

1 c buttermilk

2 T sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 400 deg. Grease an 8-inch round pan or use a nonstick one.

In a medium bowl, combine flours, oats, sugar, baking powder, basil, baking soda, oregano and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Sir in cheese.

Beat together egg and buttermilk; add to butter mixture, stirring with fork to make a soft moist dough. Place dough in prepared pan. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cut into wedges and serve.

Updates I made: After placing the dough in the prepared pan, I beat an egg into an egg wash and brushed the top of the dough with it. Then I sprinkled the sesame seeds on it. And since I bought a bag of pre-shredded Swiss cheese which came in a 1-1/2 c size, I used the remaining cheese and sprinkled it on the top. After baking the cheese browned beautifully and helped make a yummy, crusty bread.

The cookbook notes that this bread goes well with a hearty soup and it is a good source of calcium, folate, iron and fiber.

Italian Cream Soda

This is such a refreshing drink! Even Alex thinks so and he's more of a plain Jane kind of guy.

Pour the following ingredients in a glass in the order listed:

Glassful of club soda (you could use sparkling water if you like)

A shot or so of flavored syrup, to taste (I like hazel nut)

A splash of half & half

Relax and enjoy!