Corn & Cheese Fritters with Pear Salsa

October 21, 2013 · by ·

fritters-and-sauce

I love being a part of this fantastic group of food bloggers, the Kosher Connection. Each month, we are challenged to cook up some wonderful and unique foods. Each link-up is fun and new. I love seeing the assortment of goodies that the group comes up with. This month was especially difficult. We were tasked with a Chopped style challenge. Like the popular Food Network show, we were given three ingredients to build our dish around. For the most part, we had free reign, but the dish had to include canned corn, pears and Mike & Ike candies.

I had a very hard time coming up with something for the dish. Creating something that involved all three ingredients was super tough. I had initially planned a tofu dish that included a Korean pear based sauce. My husband nixed the idea in favor of something fried. He urged me to make a fritter. I don’t really like frying things, but with Chanukah coming up next month, I decided that if this worked out, it would be perfect for Chanukah. It’s traditional to have fried foods to recognize the miracle of the oil in the ancient temple.

He suggested some sort of latke, but as I brainstormed a bit, I settled on a fritter. I know, not that far off. But there is a difference. I scribbled a slew of ideas on paper. Once I had the house to myself though, I got to work. I settled on a corn and cheese fritter when I saw a brick of pepper jack cheese sitting in the fridge. I  quickly picked up a carton of buttermilk at Trader Joe’s and worked out a quick fritter recipe.  The fritters did not disappoint!

I mixed up the canned corn with the cheese, some chopped onion, spices, buttermilk, eggs, flour and baking powder.

fritter-batter

I scooped them up and fried them in a couple of inches of hot oil.

fritters-frying

I then drained the fritters on a cooling rack with paper towels underneath.

fritters-draining

Incorporating the Asian pears and the Mike & Ike candies proved more challenging. I wanted a pear chutney to dip the fritters in to. I peeled and chopped up the asian pears and began cooking them down with some ginger and water. I also added the Mike & Ike candies to let them get infused with the candy flavor. When tasting the sauce, it was definitely too sweet. I knew that it needed something savory along with some heat.

asian-pears

I added some chopped jalapeño, onion and vinegar and cooked it a bit more. Once everything was softened, I pureed the mixture with my immersion blender.

While the pear and Mike & Ike salsa isn’t perfect, it’s getting there. I call it a work a progress. To be honest, I will leave the candies out the next time I set out to make this dish. It was definitely fun to try my hand at this though.

The fritters have gone on the short list though and will definitely be made next month for Chanukah. The crunch and light outside and the creamy cheese filling. One word. Amazing! Make them now!

fritters-and-sauce

 

 

Disclaimer: The pear salsa was made as part of the chopped style challenge. I highly recommend you make the fritters. The fritters are amazing.  I’m not quite sold on pear salsa with mike & ike candies. I do recommend a pear salsa without the candy!

 

Corn & Cheese Fritters with Pear Salsa
 
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Author:
Recipe type: appetizer, snack, starter
Ingredients
Corn & Cheese Fritters
  • 1 can whole kernel white corn, drained
  • ½ red onion, chopped
  • 1.5 cups pepper jack cheese, shredded
  • 1.5 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp. pepper
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • oil for frying


Mike & Ike infused Pear Salsa
  • 2 asian pears, peeled and cubed
  • ½ red onion, chopped
  • 1 inch ginger, chopped
  • ½ jalapeno, minced
  • 2 tbsp. water
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • 3 tsp. red wine vinegar
  • 2 tsp. ground pepper
  • ½ cup Mike & Ike candies (I used two of the fun size boxes) - optional
Instructions
Corn and Cheese Fritters
  1. Mix all of the fritter ingredients, except for the vegetable oil, in a mixing bowl.
  2. Heat up about 2 inches of oil to 350 in a heavy bottomed pan or pot.
  3. Scoop a couple of tablespoons of fritter batter. I used an ice cream scoop. Drop in the hot oil and fry about a minute or two per side. Flip the fritter when browned.
  4. Transfer fritter to a cooling rack placed over paper towels to drain and cool
For the pear salsa
  1. Peel and chop up the pears
  2. Place in a saucepan with the water, ginger and the mike and candies.
  3. Add in the onion, jalapeno, vinegar and spices.
  4. Allow mixture to soften.
  5. Once softened, blend with an immersion blender.
  6. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.

fritters-and-sauce

Filed Under: Appetizers, Chanukah, fried, hanukkah, Kosher Connection Challenge, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cranberry Glazed Corned Turkey Roast

October 17, 2013 · by ·

Cranberry-Turkey

A whole bunch of Jewish holidays just ended and I’m already gearing up for the next set. How did that happen so fast?

This year, in the good ol’ US of A, we have the pleasure of two holidays happening at the same time. Thanksgiving happens to fall on the first night of Chanukah! They say this awesome phenomenon won’t happen for another 79,000 years. Since I don’t plan on being around for the next round of Thanksgivukkah, I thought it best to do something this year to honor the holiday. Two great foodie holidays colliding! I’ve got to do something, right? So stick around this blog. I hope to share a few more Thanksgivukkah recipes with you over the next month.

When I was at the kosher market the other day, they had a display of corned meats. My husband loves corned beef,  and when I saw they had corned turkey roasts, I decided that this would be perfect. I rarely make turkey, so this would be a special treat.  My aunt makes a great corned turkey, and swears that when she makes it, it tastes a bit like ham. I can’t be the judge of that, but this corned turkey came out pretty good, and would be perfect for a Thanksgiving/Chanukah holiday dinner mashup. It’s also great for any shabbat or festive dinner.

The corned turkey comes vaccum-sealed and wrapped in twine. I recommend rinsing the turkey well before cooking. You first boil the turkey for about an hour and a half, then you glaze it and bake it further. I took the twine off before baking, but left it on while I let it simmer. I added some pickling spice and onions to the water bath.

For the glaze, I usually make something similar to what I do for corned beef, but since I have Thanksgiving on my mind, I created a cranberry glaze for this dish. It worked out well! I will definitely do it again!

corned-turkey-cooking

 

Cranberry Glazed Corned Turkey Roast
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Poultry, Thansgiving, Main Course
Ingredients
  • 3 lb corned turkey roast (If you can't get corned turkey where you live, you can substitute corned beef)
  • 2 tbsp. pickling spice
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • ½ can whole berry cranberry sauce
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp. white vinegar
  • 2 tbsp. chopped rosemary
  • 1 tbsp. chopped thyme
  • 2 tsp. chopped ginger
  • 2 tbsp. chili sauce
  • 1 tbsp. chopped garlic
Instructions
  1. Rinse the corned turkey roast.
  2. Place the turkey in a large pot of water. Add the pickling spice and the onion. Bring the water to a boil. Turn down the heat and cover with a lid. Simmer for an hour to and hour and a half.
  3. Preheat the oven to 375.
  4. After the hour and a half, transfer the turkey roast to a baking pan.
  5. Mix up the rest of the ingredients and pour over the turkey.
  6. Bake in the oven for around 40 minutes.
  7. Baste the turkey every 20 minutes with the sauce.
  8. Remove from the oven. Let cool a few minutes.
  9. Slice and serve.
  10. Enjoy!

Cranberry-Turkey

Filed Under: Chanukah, Dinner, hanukkah, Main Course, poultry, Thanksgiving · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cottage Cheese Latkes

December 28, 2011 · by ·

Chanukah isn’t over yet! There is still time to post some of the Chanukah goodies I made.

It was the first night of Chanukah. I felt obliged to do something in the spirit of the holiday. The big kid isn’t a huge potato fan though. I didn’t want to smell up the house with hot oil and then have to figure out more dinner for the rest of the family. I thought back to the time when the big kid was just a weed toddler and loved the cottage cheese latkes I made. I think I made them just that one time, about 8 years ago. The bonus is that they seem like more of a complete dinner than the regular potato latke.
Lo and behold, both kids loved them! 

Cottage Cheese Latkes
Ingredients
1 lb. small curd cottage cheese (medium container)
2 extra large eggs
1/4 cup flour (gluten free flour works too)
salt and pepper
garlic powder
vegetable oil


Mix everything up in a bowl. Yes, it’s that easy.

Take out a fry pan and heat up some vegetable oil.

Take a big spoon of the batter and drop in to the pan. I like them to be around 2-3 inches wide. Don’t mess with the latke until you are sure it is ready to flip. The cheese latke should be a little brown on the edges before you flip it.  It will also flip easier when it’s done on that side. The melty cheese will stick to the pan before it’s ready.  Cook another 2-3 minutes once flipped. Drain on a plate covered with paper towels.


Enjoy!

Filed Under: Brunch, Chanukah, Side Dish · Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Sufganiyot

December 22, 2008 · by ·
I don’t usually deep fry anything, so the idea of homemade sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts) is a bit daunting to me. Last year I attempted to make zeppolis on chanukah by using the premade Trader Joes pizza dough. It didn’t quite come out right.

 

Tonight I used the recipe from Claudia Roden’s The Book of Jewish Food. If you ever wanted to buy a Jewish cookbook, this is the cookbook you must buy. More useful than the well-thumbed “purple cookbook,” Spice and Spirit , tastier and better stories than any of Joan Nathan’s treasures.

 

Here is her recipe

 

Soufganioth by Claudia Roden, The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand to New York

 

Ingredients:

 

1 tsp. dried yeast
1/4 c. lukewarm milk or water
2 tbsp. sugar
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk
3 tbsp. sour cream or oil
A pinch of salt
2 or 3 drops vailla extract
1 2/3 c. flour, plus more if necessary
Oil for deep-frying – **cringe**
Apricot, red-currant, or raspberry jam
Confectioner’s sugar for sprinkling

 

Dissolve the yeast in warm water or milk with 1 tsp of sugar and leave for 10 minutes or until it froths.

 

Beat the rest of the sugar with the egg and the yolk. Add the sour crem or oil, the salt, vanilla, and the yeast mixture, and beat very well. Fold in the flour gradually, and continue beating until you have a soft, smooth, and elastic dough, adding more flour if necessary. Then knead for 5 minutes, sprinkling with a flour if it is too sticky. Coat the dough with oil by pouring a drop in the bowl and turning the dough in it.

Cover the bowl with and leave in a warm place to rise for about 2 hours, or until doubled in bulk.

 

Knead the dough again for a few minutes, then roll out on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut 2 inch rounds….Put a teaspoon of jam in the center of the dough round. Brush the rim with a little water to make it sticky and cover with another round. Press the edges together to seal. Continue with the rest of the rounds and arrange them on a floured tray. Leave them to rise for about 30 minutes.

Heat 1-1/2 inches of oil in a saucepan to medium hot. Drop in the doughnuts, a few at a time. Fry in the oil for 3-4 minutes with the lid, until brown, then turn and fry the other side 1 minute more. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with the confectioners’ sugar.

Eat them while they are still warm.

 

The variation on this, is to fry a thicker round of plain dough – about a 1/2 inch thick – when it is cool enough to handle, cut a small slit and inject the jam into the doughnut.
I tried both methods. I preferred the jam-injected donut to the 2-piece donut. I do need to play around with dough thickness and cooking time. All in all, it was an easy recipe and a good start…
Sufganiyot
 
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Author:
Ingredients
  • 1 tsp. dried yeast
  • ¼ c. lukewarm milk or water
  • 2 tbsp. sugar
  • 1 whole egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 3 tbsp. sour cream or oil
  • A pinch of salt
  • 2 or 3 drops vailla extract
  • 1⅔ c. flour, plus more if necessary
  • Oil for deep-frying
  • Apricot, red-currant, raspberry jam or other favorite filling
  • Confectioner's sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
  1. Dissolve the yeast in warm water or milk with 1 tsp of sugar and leave for 10 minutes or until it froths.
  2. Beat the rest of the sugar with the egg and the yolk. Add the sour cream or oil, the salt, vanilla, and the yeast mixture, and beat very well. Fold in the flour gradually, and continue beating until you have a soft, smooth, and elastic dough, adding more flour if necessary. Then knead for 5 minutes, sprinkling with a flour if it is too sticky. Coat the dough with oil by pouring a drop in the bowl and turning the dough in it.
  3. Cover the bowl with a towel and leave in a warm place to rise for about 2 hours, or until doubled in bulk.
  4. Knead the dough again for a few minutes, then roll out on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin to ¼ inch thickness.
  5. Cut in to 2 inch rounds
  6. Put a teaspoon of jam in the center of the dough round. Brush the rim with a little water to make it sticky and cover with another round.
  7. Press the edges together to seal.
  8. Continue with the rest of the rounds and arrange them on a floured tray. L
  9. eave them to rise for about 30 minutes.
  10. Another option is to inject the jam in to the fried donute. Fry a thicker round of plain dough - about a ½ inch thick - when it is cool enough to handle, cut a small slit and inject with a pastry bag.
  11. I like the injecting method.
Filed Under: baked, Chanukah, claudia roden, Dessert, donuts, hanukkah, sufganiyot · Tagged: , , , , ,

Basic Latkes

December 22, 2008 · by ·
Happy Chanukah/Hanukkah! Make it a happy one, whichever way you choose to spell it.

During the holiday, we usually make latkes twice. Each year we do the basic recipe, and then later in the week, we try and come up with a unique “gourmet” version. Stay tuned for the gourmet flavor.

Tonight, we made and enjoyed our basic, easy latke recipe. I will not say it’s a “no-fail” latke, because anyone can mess up, but it’s pretty good. Even my picky 7-year-old partook in the latke joy tonight.

LatkesIngredients:

4 largeish yukon gold potatoes
1 onion
1/4 cup of flour
2-3 eggs
salt and pepper
vegetable oil

Peel and quarter your onion and potatoes.

In a food processor, grate the onions and potatoes together, using the grating blade. If you are deficient in nice kitchen appliances, use a hand grater.

Pour the grated goodness into a tea towel. Squeeze out the starchy water from the mixture into a sink. This keeps the latkes from getting a starchy brown color. This brown is a greyer color than the fried brown color. If your latke mixture is too starchy and moist, it can fall apart and have a pastey consistency.

Dump the squeezed out potatoes and onions into a mixing bowl. Mix in the eggs, flour, salt, and pepper.

Heat up a fry pan with around an inch of vegetable oil.
Plop the potato mixture using a tablespoon in to the fry pan. Flip over when you see the edges begin to brown.

Drain on a cookie sheet covered in paper towels.

Serve the latkes hot with sour cream and/or applesauce. We prefer sour cream in our house. Never use ketchup or mayonaisse on your latkes.

If you plan to serve them at a later time, reheat on a cookie sheet at 200 degrees.
Filed Under: Appetizers, Chanukah, fried, hanukkah, potato · Tagged: , , , , , ,
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