Corn Fritters AKA Pancakes for Dinner

Toddlers. One day they amaze you by hoovering everything in sight. The next day nothing will get them to eat. Fun times in our house.

We've been super frugal lately and my husband went a few months working overnights. This meant that I spent a couple of months alone with the kiddos for dinner and bedtime. (Sidenote: sarcastic "Yay") This meant that we ate pancakes for dinner. A lot. I'd strap the baby to my back and serve the toddler pancakes one by one as they came off the skillet. Pancakes are an awesome dinner because:

- They're cheap.
- They're fast.
- If I put fruit in them and use whole wheat flour they're healthy.
- Great excuse to use the amazing Grade B maple syrup a client of mine makes.
- Watching me cook them qualifies as dinner and a show to the toddler.

Now here's where we figure out if my mom reads my blog. She used to make "corn fritters" when I was little. I HATED them. I was never a big corn fan, she thought I was nuts. Basically she was serving pancakes for dinner and I was turning up my nose at them. Now I am an adult and I get it. It was an easy dinner for her to make and at the end of some days pancakes are about all I have the energy to make. So the other day I (gasp) made corn fritters. And you know what? They've grown on me.

Corn Fritters
(Serves 4)

1 cup masa harina (you could use cornmeal but the masa harina is finer and cornmeal and less likely to break apart)
1 cup frozen corn (if you use canned add a little extra flour)
1 egg
1 cup millk
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp coconut oil

1. In a bowl, beat the egg. Add the milk and masa harina. Stir until blended. Add the baking powder and salt. Mix.

2. In a skillet, melt the coconut oil. Dump it into the batter. I love coconut oil because just the residue from that little bit melted was enough to cook the entire batch of pancakes in.

3. Add corn kernels and stir.

4. Make circles of batter on the skillet and cook over medium. Flip after 1-2 minutes and try to achieve a golden brown color.

Serve warm with real maple syrup (please don't defile them with anything that didn't bleed out of a maple tree). 

Quick Eggplant "Quiche"

Eggplant is hot right now. Not just the vegetable (although I have seen assorted "arty" eggplant pics everywhere) but the color. Last week I picked up two eggplants and they've been on the counter looking at me as I deliberated on what to do with them. Last night they became.... delicious. I made a quick and easy "quiche".

Apple Curry Squash Soup

Autumn is here in Vermont. Actually, technically it's practically over. Peak foliage has passed. Leaves are on the ground and snow has already hit the mountain tops. Which means it is prime soup weather. I love soup. A bowl of it with slices of homemade bread is one of my very favorite lunches.

I also love to can. There is something about hoarding mason jars that makes me really happy. As I follow USDA regulations I don't can anything with dairy so the two soups I made this week are all vegan and very healthy as I also didn't use any oil.

You will need:

2 lbs (about 2 cups) roasted butternut squash (Check out my post on easily roasting a squash whole.)
1 lb of apples, sectioned but not peeled (Macintosh or another squishy saucing apple works best)
1/2 cup sliced red onions
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 TBS curry powder
6 cups vegetarian stock (I use a Vegetarian "Chicken" Flavored powder, 1 tsp per cup)

Chop apples leaving the skins on. Slice onions and mince garlic. Put it all into a stockpot and saute using the cider vinegar. (If you wanted to you could substitute in a little oil here.) The apples will start getting a little squishy. This means you are ready to puree.

Puree the apples, onions, and garlic. Add 1 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp pepper to the puree and mix. 

Return the puree to the pan and heat.

Add the 6 cups of stock into the apple puree. 

Puree 2 cups of squash until smooth and add to the pan. Stir in well.  

Add curry into pan and mix in. 

Simmer the soup over low until slightly reduced for about 20 minutes. Taste and add salt if necessary (curry usually has salt in it so I always undersalt then taste it to avoid a salt-tastrophe!). 

If you're serving it right away then dish it out and enjoy with some bread!

If you're canning it make sure to use clean, hot sterilized jars. Fill the jars leaving about 3/4" of headspace. Wipe the rim and threads and top with clean sterilized NEW lids and a clean ring tightened (but not cranked on too tight). The soup will need to be pressure canned at 11 lbs of pressure (I do 15 since I have a weighted canner) for 55 minutes. Store for up to a year to enjoy on cold winter days.

                                       

Farm Pie

I really don't know what to call this recipe other than Farm Pie. It is quick, you can have it on the table in less than 25 minutes. It's cheap, using just 4 main ingredients, oil & seasonings and you can mix it up depending on what you have on hand. It's not quite a quiche, it's not a baked egg, it's not really even a pie but it's delicious. I tend to make it often during the summer when we have an abundance of CSA veggies on hand.

Farm Pie (recipe is $3.34, .84/serving)
(serves 4)

3 small potatoes .50 (estimate- recently got 5 lb bag for $3.99 and these were small ones)
8 oz peas (canned or frozen) (I used frozen from our CSA) 1.00
6 eggs (I traded for mine at a food swap but at the store I buy 18 for 2.95 which is .16/ea) .96
4 oz cheese (I used Cabot Muenster purchased at Cheese Traders for $3.49/lb = .22/oz) .88
2 TBS olive oil
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt (split)
1/4 tsp pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350. Take out a pie pan and spray with cooking spray. Peel the potatoes and grate them. I use the Cuisinart to do this step. In a saute pan heat the olive oil and toss in the shredded potatoes. Add the paprika and 1/2 tsp of salt and stir with spatula to mix in. Saute until they start to turn golden brown. You want them to have some color but not cook all the way through. Spread them in the bottom of the pie pan.

2. I steamed my peas in the microwave in a neat Pampered Chef gadget that my grandma gave me. If your peas are canned you won't need to heat them at all. You just need to slightly thaw frozen peas. You could even soak them in hot water for a few minutes while doing the potatoes to take the edge off. Toss the peas through the Cuisinart to grate up too if desired. I think they're easier to spread this way and it makes the end result tastier. Spread the peas on top of the potatoes in the pie pan. 

3. Crack 6 eggs and whisk to mix. I did this right in the cooled off saute pan that I had cooked the potatoes in. I'm not a fan of dishes so I like to use as few as possible. Add in the pepper and the remaining 1/2 tsp salt. Pour the egg over the peas & potatoes in the pie pan. 

4. Shred the cheese. You can use whatever type you have on hand. Sprinkle the cheese on top of the eggs in the pie pan. Put into the oven and bake for 15 minutes. 

Enjoy, the potatoes form a crust and the peas taste really fresh with the eggs. I've made versions of this using green beans and carrots, beets and greens, and sweet potatoes and edamame. They all come out awesome!