Corn & Purple Pepper Fritters

It's another late post. 

Blame it on my sporting events.  Had a softball tournament yesterday.  And Wednesdays are reserved for volleyball - which we won all 3 games by the way (one of them being a comeback from 15-3... so how's that for awesome?!)

But enough excuses, let's talk corn.

It's starting to burst out on the scene and I couldn't be happier.  Corn is probably one of my favorite vegetables of the season.  I can eat it cooked or raw, by itself or mixed into a side dish.  If corn is present, I'm there.

These corn fritters are absolutely delicious, very reminiscent of a savory corn cake with the addition of the purple bell peppers.  I was definitely snacking on these hard.

Ingredients:
Adapted from The Deep Dish's recipe

1 cup flour
3 ears of corn, shucked and kernels cut off the cob
1 cup vegetable oil
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 purple bell pepper (or any color for that matter), finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cayenne, and salt.

In a small bowl, mix together the corn, bell pepper, heavy cream, and egg.  Add mixture to flour.

In a heavy bottomed pan (I used my cast iron skillet) heat oil over medium high heat.  When a small piece of batter sizzles in the oil, you know it's ready.

Drop tablespoon sized pieces of the batter into the hot oil and fry for about 1 to 2 minutes, or until golden brown on each side.  Drain on a paper towel.

These were definitely a light and delicious snack.  I'll be looking forward to experimenting with different corn combination in the batter too!  Have a great night guys!

Don't forget, you can send me your CSA updates for the round-up still.  I'll be posting tomorrow in the late afternoon, early evening - so e-mail me your vegetable goodies @ mtlabor85@yahoo.com!

Fried Pork & Potato Balls

How was everyone's 4th of July? Ours was spent with friends, and it was quite a nice evening. For once, we didn't have to do the cooking... although I did bring a dessert (some Oreo Cheesecake bars, recipe found here). We had some burgers and they were pretty fantastic... I'd never seen this done before, but Jason, the grillmaster, had marinated the burgers in a "special" sauce for a little while before grilling them. Maybe I'm just before the times, but I've always just packed a burger with spices and then grilled them then and there... but after seeing him do that, and tasting the flavor that exuded from these burgers... I may have to give that technique a whirl.

And check out this green bell pepper. Just simple sitting on a grill, blistering up in all it's glory. Simple things like that put a smile on my face.

Well, these fried pork and potato balls would make a good appetizer, but it's also one of those, "under construction" recipes. It could definitely use some improvement on the flavor, or maybe my palate wasn't feeling it that day... but worth a try either way.


Ingredients:
adapted from Momofuku For 2's blog

2 cups garlic mashed potatoes
1/2 lb. ground pork
1 shallot, diced
1/4 cup button mushrooms, diced
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice
2 tablespoons flour
1-2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup panko bread crumbs
vegetable oil, for frying

In a medium bowl, mix the ground pork, shallot, mushrooms, sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce, salt, pepper, and chinese 5 spice.

Heat a large skillet under medium high heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Cook pork mixture until browned and broken up. Turn off heat and set aside to cool.

Once the pork mixture is cooled, mix in with mashed potatoes. Season with salt and pepper, if needed.

Shape the mixture into small to medium sized balls, about 1 to 1 & 1/2 inch in diameter should be fine. Dip each ball into the flour, shaking off any excess. Then dip in eggs, and roll in panko.

Heat a large dutch oven under medium high heat and fill with about 3 inches of oil. When temperature is about 350 F, start heating balls in batches, about 5 balls per batch should do it. Fry until golden brown, about 3 minutes or so, and drain on paper towels.

Serve with sriracha sauce!

Like I said, these could definitely use some tweaking, but overall, they were interesting and different. The mashed potato mixture was fine to eat by itself, so maybe the frying is where it went awry... who knows. Enjoy!

Kung Pao Chicken Drumsticks

So I've noticed the past couple recipes I've done have been asian-inspired dishes. I can't help it if I'm partial to my people, but I promise, there will be more diversity to come. And I'm also happy to report that I know am the proud owner of a Nikon D40 SLR camera. My shots should be better and more appealing, once I start playing around with the thing and getting used to it. I'm officially obsessed is was Andy tells me.

Anywho, I LOVE kung pao and decided that in honor of our 2009 fantasy football draft, that I would cook up a batch for my friends and show them that cooking good food is not "nerdy"... but a delicious hobby.


Adapted from a Food & Wine Magazine May 2009 Recipe

Ingredients:

1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more for frying
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1/4 cup dried chile de arbol (I used about 25 of those suckers)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup dry sherry
1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 3 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
12 chicken drumsticks
salt and freshly ground black pepper
all purpose flour for dusting chicken
chopped roasted peanuts for garnish

In medium saucepan, heat the 1/4 cup vegetable oil. Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant. Careful not to burn the aromatics! Add the dried chiles and cook until they turn dark red, shouldn't take too long. Lower the heat and add sugar, soy sauce, sherry, vinegar, and simmer it until the sugar dissolves completely. Remove from heat and cover sauce and let sit for about 1 hour. This sitting time allows the flavors from the chilies to develop with the rest of the liquids.

Strain the sauce and return liquid to saucepan. I saved the dried chilies for my garnish at the end, but you can throw them away if you'd like. Bring sauce to a boil and whisk in cornstarch mixture. I love the magic of cornstarch! It's a quick fix thickener! Remove sauce from heat and stir in sesame oil. I didn't think my sauce was hot enough, so I added a few pinches of some red pepper flakes, but if you like it sweet, then you don't have to!

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Fill a large pot with about 3 inches of oil and bring to about 325 degrees. Season chicken with salt and pepper and dust with flour. Put a rack on a baking sheet near the stove. In batches, fry drumsticks until brown and crisp. Drain chicken on rack and keep warm in oven while other batches are frying.

Once all chicken is done, let rest and allow to cool slightly. Take sauce and "paint" drumsticks. I found it best to use a spoon and just dab the chicken in spots and spread it around, but whatever way is ideal for you, be my guest. Top with roasted peanuts (just take regular peanuts and heat up in a pan for about 1 to 2 minutes until warm) and you're all set!!

This was definitely a crowd pleaser! I almost wish I would have made more. Poor Andy was trying to be polite and let everyone get some first, and ended up waiting too long that there were none left!! Great thing to make for the upcoming football season though! Enjoy!