Zucchini Fritters

I found this recipe from Martha. If you happen to search it on her site she recommends a pasta dish that I would recommend avoiding. Olivia appropriately described the taste when she said, "Mom, this tastes like leaves." The fritters, on the other hand were awesome. I say definitely use the optional lemon wedges.


Ingredients

* 1 pound (about 2 medium) zucchini
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest (1 lemon) plus
* 1 lemon, cut into 8 wedges (optional)
* 10 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley, stems removed and leaves finely chopped
* 1 medium clove garlic, peeled and minced
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
* 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 2 to 4 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

1. Using the large holes of a box grater, grate zucchini into a medium bowl. Add the salt, lemon zest, chopped parsley, garlic, pepper, and eggs. Mix well to combine. Slowly add flour, stirring so no lumps form.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat until the oil sizzles when you drop a small amount of zucchini mixture into the pan. Carefully drop about 2 tablespoons zucchini mixture into pan; repeat, spacing fritters a few inches apart.
3. Cook fritters until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Lower heat to medium. Turn fritters, and continue cooking until golden, 2 to 3 minutes more. Transfer fritters to a plate; set aside in a warm place. Cook remaining zucchini mixture, adding more oil to pan if necessary. Garnish with parsley sprigs and lemon wedges, if desired; serve.

Empanadas and Egg Rolls

Culture Night for Recipe Group yielded a couple of great recipes that I will pass on here because they shouldn't be missed. I have not personally made them yet, just tasted, but I did see them made and I think that even I could do it. That means you for sure can! Both are authentic (which means they are made in oil)! Enjoy!!

Argentine Empanadas

2 lbs ground beef
3/4 TBS Thyme Leaves
3/4 TBS Rosemary Leaves
3/4 TBS Salt
10 sliced Spanish Olives
1/4 cup raisins
4 boiled eggs (chopped)
4 boiled potatoes (chopped into small pieces)

Directions:
1. brown ground beef with spices and raisins
2. add egg and potatoes
3. scoop a table spoon into the tapa (pastry, she does get this from a latin market, rather than a grocery store, they are frozen, I didn't see a name or brand)
4. close the tapa with fingers or fork, but be sure that you do it well-you don't want the oil to seep into the emapanada.
5. fry until golden brown (I didn't see this part but I think she said that when they float to the top of the oil they are done)

Cambodian Egg Rolls
(makes about 25 egg rolls)

1 lb ground pork or turkey
2 T sugar
a dash of salt and pepper
about 5 carrots, grated (the amount of carrots and cabbage is pretty much to taste, her family prefers the carrots to the cabbage so she always does more carrots and less cabbage.)
1-3 cups cabbage (optional)
1/2 onion chopped
clear noodles (she uses bean noodles, these are optional)
egg roll wrappers

Directions:
1. Cook pork in skillet
2. Add sugar, salt, pepper, onion, carrots and cabbage. Cook until tender
3. Place small amount of mixture in the center of the egg roll wrapper and roll according to package directions. Once again, roll tightly so there are no leaks.
4. Moisten tail end with water (some use egg whites but it is not necessary) and stick to egg roll.
5. Fry in hot oil until golden

Malibu Chicken Sandwiches

8-10 buns
3 chicken breasts (grilled), shredded
8-10 slices of ham
8-10 slices of swiss cheese
1/4 cup special mayo (recipe below)

Place chicken on bottom half of bun with ham and swiss cheese on top.
Set on baking sheet with top half of bun and broil until lightly brown
Spread special mayo on top half of bun and serve.

Special mayo:
1/4 cup mayo
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
3 drops of Tabasco sauce
Some freshly ground pepper

I went WAY overboard last time I made these and marinated the chicken breasts and grilled them special (which tasted awesome). The next time you grill just make some extra and stick them in the fridge and then you have the chicken for the sandwiches. The other WAY overboard ticket was the homemade buns, which is totally unnecessary but also tasted unbelievable.

Oh, Mommy! Pork Tenderloin

Pork tenderloin was on sale at the grocery so I snatched some up.

So for Sunday dinner, I cut up a cantaloupe and made Linda's salad. (That should be another post!)

And the tenderloin took longer to cook than I was planning. I had enough time to set it down, take it's picture, and grab my keys to make it to a fireside.

When I got home, I asked Dan, "How was it?" His reply was, "Oh, Mommy!" I couldn't tell if that meant good or bad, but as I made my way to the table and saw that one ENTIRE tenderloin was gone, I knew it meant good.

I tried it and it was!


Oh Mommy Pork Tenderloin

5 Tbs. soy sauce
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 minced garlic cloves
2 tsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. pepper
(2) 1 lb. pork tenderloins

1. Mix all ingredients in a large ziploc bag. Add the meat.
2. Marinate in the fridge for as long as possible. Mine was about 4.5 hours
3. Cook uncovered in a pan sprayed with cooking spray for 25-35 minutes per lb. at 425. Or until it reaches 160 degrees.
4. Let stand for 5 minutes before slicing and serve with the pan drippings.

Buttermilk Pancakes and a Couple of Syrups

Truckstop Buttermilk Pancakes

This makes a crazy amount of pancakes - so have some Ziplock bags handy to freeze the extra. My family will never settle for boxed pancake mix again - these are so yummy! I never used to buy buttermilk, but now it's always on my shopping list.

5 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

6 Tbsp. butter, melted

5 cups buttermilk

5 cups all-purpose flour

5 tsp. baking powder

5 tsp. baking soda

1 pinch salt

5 Tbsp. sugar

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, melted butter and the buttermilk. Combine the flour, baking powder , baking soda and sugar; stir into the wet ingredients just until blended. Adjust the thickness of the batter to your liking by adding more flour or buttermilk if necessary.

Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto a preheated non-stick griddle and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip and cook until browned on the other side. Plan on a lot of time to make it through all this batter.

Okay, now for some syrup. Just a couple recipes I've found that my family loves. Super simple and so delicious, the Mrs. Butterworth's is just sitting in the back of the pantry.

Cinnamon Cream Syrup

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup water

3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1-5 oz. can evaporated milk

In a saucepan, combine the first four ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium heat; boil and stir for 2 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes. Stir in evaporated milk. This would be delicious on vanilla ice cream too!

or...........

Buttermilk Syrup

1 1/2 cups white sugar

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup butter

2 Tbsp. light corn syrup

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. vanilla extract

In a large saucepan (don't try a small - this really gets big!) stir together the sugar, buttermilk, butter, corn syrup and baking soda. Bring to a boil and cook for seven minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. As the syrup cooks, it turns a warm, caramely brown - so good!!!

Creamy Chicken Torilla Soup

This is so quick and easy!

Ingredients:
1-2 cans Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chiles) depending on how spicy you like it.
2 cans (14.5 oz.) Chicken broth
1 can no fat refried beans
1/2 cup corn
2 cups shredded cooked chicken (to make this even quicker I just shred the meat off a rotisserie chicken I buy at the store)
tortilla chips
shredded cheese
sour cream

1. Combine tomatoes and broth in medium saucepan.
2. Stir in beans and corn and bring to a boil.
3. Then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Add chicken and heat through.
5. Top with tortilla chips and serve with cheese and sour cream.

I also like to serve this soup with the torillas you cook at home. They are by the eggs in the refrigerated section at my store. Just cook 'em up, butter 'em, and eat and/or dip in soup.

Yummy!

Spicy Baked Sweet Potato Slices

2-3 sweet potatoes (orange flesh), sliced about 1/8" thick

1-2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. chili powder or cayenne

1 tsp. onion powder

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix olive oil and spices together and drizzle over sweet potatoes and toss together until all the slices are coated. Spread the slices on a large pan lined with aluminum foil (I also used some cooking spray), and bake for 20-30 minutes, turning occasionally.

I found this recipe online after looking for a healthy way to prepare sweet potatoes.

Verdict: Delicious!

A few things to note:

• These did not become crispy. I used about about 1 1/2 Tbsp. of the olive oil, but I don't think that more oil would have equaled more crispiness. I think you could go down to just 1 Tbsp. and be fine - might cut a few more calories, etc.
• I baked mine for the whole 30 minutes and they were perfect - firm enough to hold their shape in a serving dish and stirring around on the baking sheet.
• This spice level would be great for little kids...I wanted more. Next time I will probably double the cumin and chili powder. I think you can play around with it to suit individual tastes. Extra spice could also be added after baking.
• I peeled my sweet potatoes even though the recipe didn't say to. I think I'll leave the skins on when I make this again. More fiber.
• There were a few slices that got a little dark -not charred, but definitely a deep brown. They were just a little bit chewy and by far my favorite part. Yummy! I'll use the broiler for a minute or two next time.
• Sweet Potatoes are VERY good for you! Eat them!
• I seem to have a lot of "next time" thoughts about this recipe - sorry - I've only made it once. It was really really good, so don't think you have to play around around with it to get good results. If you make them and find any other tweaking type things, please put them in your comments!!
• I'm serious about that nutrition thing.
• Also, they said to eat them.