Spring Tex Mex Corn Fritters

SPRING TEX MEX CORN FRITTERS

Today is Victoria Day and it's been a crazy weather washout of a weekend.  Very hard to plan outdoor activities because of the unpredictable weather.  Even though it's Spring the weather has tiptoed in and out of it so far.  Because I was off work today because of the Victoria Day Holiday I had time to do a little fridge/freezer clean Spring recipe.  I have been really trying to find different ways to use or preserve my fruits and vegetables a lot more to save money and food waste which has become one of my missions to get better at.  In the photo below is the corn mixture for the beginning of my fritter recipe and using the onions and cilantro and soft tomatoes I also made a Pico De Gallo salsa and chopped garlic in oil and added the ends of green onions to water to regrow.  I have extra chopped tomatoes and onions ready for quick prep of other recipes in the next couple of days.

This week I had a chance to attend a Taste Canada event at the Hudson's Bay and one of the Chefs doing a demo was Joel McCharles the author of the cookbook Batch and Blog Well Preserved.  I didn't pick up a copy but hope to get a copy soon.  He had a few tips for preserving and other ways of maximizing your produce but admitted that even he is trying to figure out the challenge of not wasting food.    We waste more than 40% of our food from farm to table.  Each step has produce that is wasted from the not so perfect produce to the stuff that spoils in your fridge. This recipe was an idea that I thought up while taking inventory of my freezer.  Joel talked about different tips to preserving some fruits and vegetables but if you have a chance pick up a copy of his cookbook. I am sure it will save your food from the garbage bin.

I made some Tex Mex Corn Fritters.  Even though the corn season is coming soon I decided to use some frozen corn that I had in the back of my freezer knowing that I will be able to pick up fresh corn really soon.  You can also used drained canned corn or fresh corn if you have it.

As usual I didn't follow a recipe and only really follow measurements strictly when I am baking and even then I try and wing it with twists if I can.

I decided to write it up right away so that it's fresh in my mind in case anyone asks or I want to make it sometime again in the winter months when I am craving spring flavours.


TEX MEX CORN FRITTER RECIPE

1 small bag of frozen corn
2 tbsp chopped red onion
2 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
1/2 lime juiced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chipotle pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 whole medium eggs
1/2 cup of milk or cream

1 cup of flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder

1 cup of Canola Oil

Directions:

Rinse and drain frozen corn until it is fairly dry.   Mix in chopped red onion, chopped cilantro, salt, cumin and chipotle pepper and mix well to distribute.
In a separate small bowl mix 2 eggs and add 1/2 milk or cream.
In a large bowl add 1 cup of flour, salt and baking powder and whisk to distribute evenly.
Add the milk and eggs to the flour mixture and mix until smooth batter like consistency.  Add more milk if needed.  Almost like a pancake batter consistency.  Add the corn mixture and mix until combined evenly.

Heat Canola oil in a Cast iron Skillet or a non stick frying pan or a heavy bottom deep pan.   Heat on medium high heat and test with a wooden spoon if bubbles form around the end of the spoon it's hot enough.

Using a medium ice cream scoop to scoop up the corn mixture and gently place in the heated oil.  Cook for about 2 minutes and when it starts to cook up the sides flip it using a slotted spoon or fish spatula.   Cook for another couple of minutes on the other side and once they are golden brown remove them to a plate and if you wish line it with paper towel to absorb excess oil but if cooking at the proper temperature they shouldn't be excessively oily.  

You can cook them all lightly and then warm them all in a low oven until ready to serve.

The year in review and the future

NEW YEAR'S EVE LATKES

I thought it might be a good idea to review the past year and look to the future in this post.

I am looking to these Rostii/Latkes as a recipe that can be used for Hannukah, Brunch or for a New Year's appetizer.

The recipe following the post.

As for the review of the year.  It's currently post Christmas but still in the week of Hanukkah when people usually use this time to reflect on the year and look to the coming year.

Since I don't have family to share the Holidays with I had a lot of time to reflect on the past year and think about how I want my future to look.

This past year has been very challenging.  I have struggled with my health a bit to do all the things I wanted to do.  I have had to let things and people go and adjust to what my reality is now.   At the end of November I fell at a subway station and as a result I couldn't lift my arm for about 2 weeks and had neck and hip pains along with it.  It was super busy for cooking demands with potlucks and other blogging opportunities.  I had to pass up one of the opportunities because I just didn't have the physical ability to do it.  I really wanted to do some baking and struggled to do what I could.  I managed to get a bunch of things done and had help with one of my baking assignments.  Now I am feeling a bit better and thinking about what I want 2017 to look like.  I have been so busy working a temp job that is ending in a couple of weeks and trying to keep up with events and now I have to focus on building my blog to generate income and look for more work in 2017.  I want to find work that gives me enough income and still have flexibility to work on my blog.   Going forward I thought it was time for tiny makeover of my blog. I worked on a logo/header redesign and cleaned up a few things.  Hope you like it.   My intention this coming year is to work with more brands and to be more creative in the kitchen and try and experiment a bit more.  I want to have more balance with events and work in the kitchen this year.

I want to spend more time in my kitchen and control what I am eating.  Eating out proves to be difficult for me sometimes with the heavy amount of sodium and processed foods that are presented.

I hope to eat simpler food like these quick rostii/latkes.  They are more rostii than latke but it works.

I hope you join me and try some of the recipes I will now include in the new page I created.   I am also hoping to do some contests this year, something I have only done a few times.

So here's to a bigger and better year with lot's of great food and opportunities.

As for the RECIPE here it is:

NEW YEAR'S EVE Rostii/ Latkes

Ingredients:

Rostii

1 large Russet potato

Canola oil

Butter

Salt Pepper

Garnish

Smoked Salmon

Fresh Dill or chives

Sauce:  

Sour Cream

Horseradish

Dill

Directions:

Peel at least 1 russet potato and grate on a box grater on the large grate side.  Do it quickly.

You can pat it dry with a paper towel but you don't have to add anything else.  Just work quickly before the potatoes turn brown.

In a medium frying pan heat up a tablespoon of oil and add a small amount of butter about a teaspoon for flavour.  When the butter is melted add a spoonful of the grated potato and pat down to a small rounded mound of potatoes.  It's easier to make them small to flip them.

Flip them using a spatula when you see the sides start to get brown.  Continue to cook until both sides are brown and crispy.  Before you flip them you can add salt and pepper.  Remove and place on a paper towel lined tray until they are all done.

If you want to make a lot for a party I would suggest just grating a potato at a time so they don't get brown.  You can only cook them in small batches anyway.  This method skips the straining and adding flour or eggs that you would normally add but you still get nice crispy potatoes.

You can make ahead and keep heated in a low oven.   At the last minute garnish with smoked salmon and a make the sauce using a small container of sour cream and a tablespoon of grated horseradish and add a tsp. of dill or chives.  

Place the smoked salmon on top of the latke and then add a tsp of the sour cream sauce on top and then top with fresh dill or chives.

That's pretty much it.  It just take a bit of time to cook the potatoes but it's pretty easy and few ingredients.

One large russet potato is about 2 servings.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you ALL and may all your food wishes and dreams come true in 2017.

Valentine's Day Recipes for your Chocoholic Sweetheart

Now that the Superbowl is over it's time to pay more attention to your Sweatheart.  It is the month of Love and one of the highest months of consumption of chocolate besides Halloween and Mother's Day.  So how about taking chocolate up to the next level and cook with it instead of just buying it and giving it away.  Yes it's more work but it will earn you Big "Brownie" points with your sweetheart.

I was asked by Green & Black's Chocolate to make a meal that was created by a fellow blogger but I decided to whip up my own recipes instead.  This is what I came up with.

I wanted to participate in this because I like that Green & Black's is high quality Fair Trade and Organic and they taste amazing with some great flavours.  I received the Burnt Toffee, Ginger, Maya Gold and the Dark Chocolate to make these recipes.  I made an appetizer, main and dessert.  Although the appetizer is probably more of a dessert but it's Valentine's Day...eat 2 desserts the chocolate is good for you.

Ginger Chocolate Walnut, Ricotta in a Filo Bowl with a Blood Orange Glaze

I  came up with this Filo Ricotta recipe because I thought of what I had on hand and what pairings would go well with Ginger Chocolate.  This is a bit of a re constructed Cannoli with the flavours but not in presentation or form.

Ingredients:

3 squares of Green & Black's Ginger Chocolate
1 small container of Ricotta cheese get the smooth one.
1 pkg of filo pastry
1 tbsp walnuts (optional)
2 blood oranges
1/2 cup melted butter
1 tbsp honey

Directions:

Roll out a defrosted package of filo pastry on a baking sheet and cover with a damp tea towel to keep it from drying out while you prepare the filling.

The filling:  Grate 2 squares or as much as desired into the Ricotta cheese using a microplane grater.  Add the zest of 1 or 2 blood oranges depending on the size of them.  Add a teaspoon of honey and a half a tablespoon of crushed walnuts.  Mix well.

Assemble the filo sheets by brushing one sheet of filo with melted butter and then adding another sheet on top then brush butter on top and fold over.  Cut 2-4 squares depending on how big you want to make them or how many people you want to serve.  I suggest that you add a half a tablespoon in the middle of one of the squares and then wrap it up like a parcel.  I made mine in a ramekin and then took them out and baked them further but they turn out better when cooked on a cookie sheet so you can pull the filo up and twist the top to make a presentation parcel.   Bake in the oven at 375 degrees until it browns on the edges and gets crispy.  Maybe about 10-15 minutes.  keep checking because they can burn easily.

In a little pot add the juice of the blood oranges and the remaining honey and reduce until it turns into a syrup consistency.  You can add more sugar or honey if you like it sweeter.  This is the glaze.

Take the filo out of the oven and place one on a large plate and drizzle the glaze on the plate in a heart shape or however you want to decorate it.  Leave a bit to drizzle on top of the pastry.  Top with crushed walnuts and add a square of the Ginger Chocolate on top or you can grate it or add shavings to decorate.  That's it and it tastes delicious.

Chicken with a Mole sauce and spicy black beans and rice

This is my version of a Mole.  I am no expert in Mexican food so I looked at a few recipes and did it my own way.  I omitted the tortillas that I saw in different recipes and I couldn't get all of the chili's suggested but this tasted good so it worked for me.

Ingredients:

Mole:

2 Mulato dried chilies

2 Ancho dried chilies

1 Chipotle dried chili

3 tomatillos

1 large onion

3 cloves of garlic

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 tablespoon of raisins

1/2 cup of almonds

1 box of chicken stock

1 tsp of cumin

1/3 of a bar of Maya Gold Green and Black's Chocolate

Directions:

Soak the dried chilies in boiling water for about a 20 minutes or until soft. Cover completely with water and set aside.

Take the outer coating off the tomatillos and the onion and cut in half and place on a baking try and broil in the oven until they char or bbq them if you can.

In a blender add the soaked chillies and the soaking liquid but make sure you have pulled out the stems and leave any seeds that remain at the bottom.  Add the charred onions and tomatillos to the blender and the raisins and almonds and garlic.  Blend until smooth and add chicken stock until you get the consistency of a thick sauce.  Pour into a stock pot and add the cumin and cinnamon and simmer for about 15 minutes and add the chocolate in the last 5 minutes of cooking to melt and blend into the sauce.

I pan fried chicken breast and added the Mole sauce on top but you can certainly pour the mole sauce in the pan with the chicken and cook it with it to permeate the chicken.

I served it with rice and Spicy Black beans.  You might want to make a salsa type of salad if you want something lighter.  I won't bother with the Black bean recipe but just to say that I cooked dried beans in chicken stock and added chilies and other spices.

I garnished with cilantro and cut hearts out of red peppers.   You can get creative here if you like.

 Burnt Toffee Chocolate Mousse 

I am not going to provide the Mousse recipe that I made because I wasn't happy with the consistency.  It was too grainy and not light.  I wanted to make my mom's version but I haven't had it in over 10 years and couldn't remember exactly how she did it.   Let's just say you use eggs, whip cream, chocolate and butter to make it.  I have made a mousse recipe in the past that turned out better than this and I made try and work on this to see if I can get it closer to my mom's version.   I used the Burnt Toffee chocolate which tasted great but I would probably recommend this for the filo pastry recipe more than a mouse because there are the bits of toffee so it isn't as smooth.  I wanted to use the Blood Orange Chocolate but it wasn't available.  I also used some of the Dark chocolate with this which I would recommend and add some brandy to really enhance the flavour.  My mom added Brandy, that's the part I remember.

Some of these are labour intensive and the Mole has a bunch more ingredients for the traditional version but I wanted to give you ideas of creating a Valentine's Day Dinner for someone you Love.  You can make it for yourself if you don't have a sweetheart.  I ate this all by myself and enjoyed it.

Dark chocolate has a lot of health benefits so it's a great thing to cook with and you can experiment.  Chocolate is great in a BBQ rub too and then there is always Hot Chocolate or Smores.

Get in the Kitchen and Get Creative with Chocolate.  Your sweety will LOVE you for it.

Green and Black's was established in 1991 in England and has become a world leader in Organic fair trade chocolate.

for more info:  www.greenandblacks.co.uk  & www.facebook.com/GreenandBlacksCanada

Disclaimer:  Green and Black's chocolate was provided but the recipes and opinions are my own.

Food Revolution Day at Hendrix Toronto

TODAY is the DAY for My Food Revolution!  Although the official FOOD REVOLUTION DAY  was yesterday I am doing my part by having a huge public event at Hendrix Restaurant Equipment and Supplies today.  

Yesterday was a very busy day.  It started off with going to my old high school for fellow Ambassador Susan's massive Squash it sandwich making with about 1200 kids at Northview Heights Secondary School and linked with neighbouring schools.  Then off to pick up vegetables from Fresh City Farms and over to Hendrix Equipment to get organized and then a long wait in traffic to pop over to Sobeys to pick up all of the rest of the items for my cooking demo and back home to organize and prep everything.

Today Susan and I are back in the Kitchen at Hendrix Toronto to make my own recipes.  Sorry Jamie Oliver but I didn't think bashing vegetables in a high end cooking supply shop would go down very well so I tried to adapt my veggie recipes for this event.

I will be making Flatbread or Pita, whatever you want to call it but you can call it delicious and fresh. I will also be making quick pickled onions and grilling up some vegetables and adding a herb and spice mixture for flavour.  The grilled vegetables will be packed into the fresh flatbread sandwiches for an awesome grilled sandwich.  Add a bit of feta or parmesan to kick it up and you have a vegetarian sandwich that won't have you missing the meat.  I will also make a spicy carrot soup using Good Food For Good's new Chilitomate sauce which has some Mexican inspired flavours.

Have a taste along with some fresh lemon and mint infused water or some Hot Tea from Pluck Teas.

At 3pm there will be a draw for some great prizes like a Jamie Oliver cookbook, Aroma Espresso Gift Cards, Sobeys gift cards and aprons , Fresh City Farms gift certificate  and a few other great things.

None of this would be possible without the help of my great sponsor partners.  It has been a pleasure working with all of them over the past few months.  

Sobeys, Fresh City Farms, Hendrix Equipment who I spoke with on almost a daily basis, Aroma Espresso Bar, A Vogel Canada and Pluck Teas.

I was planning on a Wonky Veg Cooking Demo but all of the vegetables I picked up look perfect but you can make these recipes with perfect looking vegetables or ugly vegetables that will turn out beautiful.

If you attended my cooking demo thank you for coming and I hope you enjoyed it and get into your own kitchen and share these recipes with your friends and family.

The goal of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Day is to get people back into the kitchen and to get food education into the schools so that kids and their families take control of what they eat and eat real food to tackle the growing obesity and health related diseases that are making kids of this generation live shorter lives than their parents did.

You have the power and it's in your kitchen.   Get Cooking and Sign Jamie Oliver's petition on change.org/JamieOliver so that Jamie can take it to G20 leaders and show them we need food education in our schools and that it is a very important global issue.

Food Revolution Day RECIPES-LindaMatarasso 2015