Corn Fritters with Herb & Scape Fried Potatoes

Day 259

Corn Fritters with Herb & Scape Fried Potatoes

Corn Fritters!

We love them so. They are simple to make and very cheap. 'Cept for the maple syrup, but some things are just worth it. We make a good homemade pancake syrup with butter, sugar and maple flavoring but, naturally, it's not as yummy as the real maple tree by-product.

Some corn fritter recipes are pretty fancy, but I'm not about fancy cooking, and besides, we've tried one of those fancy corn fritter recipes before and it was no better than this one. Here's how I make mine:

Ingredients
2 cups pancake mix (just add water kind)
1 can cream corn
1/2 can kernel corn
1/2 cup water
Oil for frying
Paper towel for draining

The pic below shows my corn fritter ingredients with the exception of the butter. Not sure what the butter is doing there. I used it for the potatoes, not the fritters.

Corn fritter ingredients 

Directions
Mix the pancake mix, corn and water to make a batter. Adjust as necessary, it should not be runny or doughy enough to form in a ball, but enough to drop in thick spoonfuls into the oil. Thicker than muffin batter. Thinner than cookie dough.

Corn fritter batter

Drop into the oil and cook 3 or 4 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels.

Corn fritters

Herb & Scape Fried Potatoes

These were sooo good. If you haven't had scapes but would like to give them a try, let us know and we'll try to save you a few. Locals only, of course, for fresh sake.

Scapes & scallions

Thyme, rosemary, oregano, & parsley

I fried these in butter which was a naughty thing to do, but then I threw in some garlic scapes, scallions and fresh herbs and redeemed myself by adding nutrients and antioxidants. hehe

Herb & Scape Fried Potatoes

Reviews/Comments

Laura loved the fritters. She didn't eat all her potatoes. I loved them both. I let Laura rate separately.
Fritters 10
Potatoes 10 (says she was full)

Asian Garden Salad

Day 258

Asian Garden Salad

From the Garden

Laura's garden is growing and some of the plants are already ready to harvest. The lettuce in particular needed to be thinned out and there are always tons of scallions. We also picked some kale and a couple radishes, which went amazingly well with the Asian dressing.

Red & green leaf lettuces

Garden veggies

From the Store

We also added to our salad some slivered almonds from the Bulk Barn which we toasted in a dry frying pan and a some Mandarin oranges from Sobeys. Laura topped hers with some Farkin chowmein noodles, too.

Toasted slivered almonds

Mandarin oranges

Asian Ginger Dressing

Original recipe
Laura made the dressing, and it was awesome. She followed the original recipe with the exception of adding the teaspoon of sesame oil.

Ingredients
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp + 1 1/2 tsp honey
1 tsp sesame oil

Directions
Mix well.

 Asian Ginger Dressing

Asian garden salad & dressing

Reviews/Comments

This meal was absolutely delicious and gets a 10 from both of us. The only downside is the prep time, since all the veggies had to be washed well, then dried, and chopped. But, it's worth the time. So fantastic.

Pimped Out Jalapeno Popper Black Bean Burgers

Day 256

I love the idea of veggie burgers that have lots of protein without the soy. I could eat veggie burgers at least 3 times a week.

Pimped Out Jalapeno Popper Black Bean Burgers

Pimped Out Burgers

We had these last night but tonight we made a couple improvements:

1. Diced some portobello mushrooms to give it a better bite/texture. Didn't really work. Well, the texture was better, but they didn't hold together better.

Portabellos

2. Added more salt. I know you can't see it in the pic, but it's there.

Burger mixture

Burgers with cheese on the grill

3. Used more toppings. Last night we just had cheese, ketchup and mustard on these. Tonight we had:

• Avocado/lime spread
• Tomato
• Lettuce
• Garlic dills
• Grilled mushrooms

 Tomato slices

Laura's pimped out burger

My pimped out burger

Reviews/Comments

They were impossible to eat but sooooo effing gooood. Got a 10 from me. Laura gave them a 9. Said they'd be a 10 if they'd stay together.

Jalapeno Popper Black Bean Burgers

Day 255

Jalapeno Popper Black Bean Burger

Jalapeno Popper Black Bean Burgers

Original recipe

I stuck to the recipe and it was fairly quick and easy, but there were a few steps. I used 3 jalapenos and blackened them (a bit too much, maybe) then scraped out the flesh. 

Jalapenos

I mashed 2 1/2 cups of the beans and then started chopping the pepper and shallot. Mixed everything just as the recipe said and they were super easy to form, and stayed together well.

Eggs, spices, oil, pepper, shallots, panko, 

cilantro & remaining beans

Mixed the mashed beans with the egg/panko/veggie mixture and was a nice texture for making patties.

Jalapeno Cream Cheese

The cooked jalapenos had to be diced then mixed with 1/2 package cream cheese (shown in above pic).

The recipe didn't really say how to fill the patties with the cream cheese mixture. I did the best I could and they turned out fine and didn't melt into the pan or anything. I think maybe I could have used more of it though.

Black bean burgers cooking

Reviews/Comments

These burgers were really good and held together well while cooking, but the buns we used were too small and the burgers fell apart while we were eating them. Also, the burgers had a really beany texture, so kind of mushy, rather than having a bite to them. They were nice and crispy on the outside, actually, it was just the inside that needed a nicer texture. The flavor was good after we added more salt. 

There is enough of the mixture for about 6 more of these, so we plan to incorporate some cooked diced mushrooms and 1/2 tsp more salt to them. Then they'll be perfect.

Jalapeno Popper Black Bean Burger

I rated them an 8 1/2. Laura gives them an 8.

Pizza Delight $12 DEAL

Day 254

How do you say no to this on a Friday night? You don't.

Pizza Delight $12 DEAL

Yes, Please!

So glad we got the mail today. Made supper super easy...and cheap! The deal was a 12" 1-topping pizza and 12" garlic fingers for $12.00. Sign. Me. Up.

Pizza Delight $12 DEAL

12" 1-Topping Pizza

For our one topping we went with fresh mushroom.

12" 1-Topping Pizza

12" Garlic Fingers

Looks good, right? Of all the pizza joints, I like PD donair sauce the best.

12" Garlic Fingers

Pizza & Garlic Fingers

Reviews/Comments

We rate this a 9.5. No nutrition, but that's okay for now. We'll eat some lettuce later. It tasted wonderful after a rough and stressful week and an evening of yard work.

Quesadillas

Day 253

Some of our cilantro was ready to be picked so we jumped to the natural conclusion that we should have some quesadillas tonight.

Quesadillas

What to Put on a Quesadilla 

We used more scapes from the garden!

This recipe makes 2 quesadillas. The scapes and cilantro are optional but I would recommend at least using peppers (any color) and green onions as far as basic veggies. A lot of meat eaters would also use chicken. We really find that garlic is awesome on quesadillas and cilantro gives them that authentic Mexican flavor. As for cheese, Monterey jack or sharp cheddar are probably best.

Ingredients

4 wheat tortillas
1/2 red pepper, diced
4 garlic scapes, chopped fine (can also use garlic)
8-10 green onion blades, chopped fine
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar (the oldah the bettah)
1/8 cup cilantro (optional but yummy)

Directions

1. Chop peppers, scapes (or garlic), cilantro and green onions. 
2. Shred cheese. 
3. Sprinkle the veggies, garlic and cheese on the tortilla until the surface is covered to the edge.
4. Place a second tortilla on top of the veggies like a sandwich.

To cook in oven:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Build your quesadilla on a baking sheet. Bake on middle rack about 10 minutes, flip and cook 5 or 10 minutes more. Make sure the cheese is melty and bubbly before you try flipping it, or you could have a mess. You want the veggies and cheese to stick to the bread.

Quesadillas on baking sheet

To cook on stovetop:
Build your quesadilla in fry frying pan. On medium-low heat, cook for about 5 to 10 minutes until cheese is bubbly and flip over. You can lift the bottom using a fork to make sure the tortilla isn't burning. Heat about 5 minutes on 2nd side or until they're as done as you like them. Some people might like their veggies more cooked than others.

Quesadillas in frying pan

Serving Quesadillas

Serve cooked quesadillas with any or all of the following:
Sour cream
Black bean salsa
Avocado

Quesadillas

Reviews/Comments

Laura rates these an 8 1/2 - too heavy on the cilantro and not a fan of the salsa I brought home. I give it a 9.

Eggs Benedictine & Fried Potatoes

Day 252

We've made these a few different times so I'm not going to get indepth with directions, but you can go back and find the recipe/method by clicking one of the links below.

Day 17
Day 110
Day 116

Eggs Benedictine & Fried Potatoes

Eggs Benedictine

These have a few components but aren't difficult to make and super duper tasty, so worth washing a few dishes.

Ingredients for Two
1 English muffin, halved and toasted
2 eggs, poached
1 dozen asparagus spears, steamed
2 slices Swiss cheese
Hollandaise sauce

Eggs poaching

Hollandaise butter melting

Asparagus steaming

Fried Potatoes

We just fried these in some butter on the electric griddle. Washed, but not peeled, then sliced. So easy!

Fried Potatoes

Eggs Benedictine

Reviews/Comments

Fabulous was the word Laura used. We always love Eggs Benedictine. We both give it a 10!