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Instant Pot Italian Chickpea Stew With Pesto

Instant Pot Italian Chickpea Stew With Pesto

You’ve got to give it to those wild and crazy Gauls of yore. Apparently, party games didn’t get a lot more classy than throwing chickpeas into a crowd and watching people dive to catch them. Hilarious! Right? (On the other hand, maybe that was fun…

Bundt De Noel: Jam Bundt Cake

Bundt De Noel: Jam Bundt Cake

We owe a big thank you to H. David Dalquist. He invented the bundt pan for the Nordic Ware Company in 1950. As the story goes, Mr. Dalquist, a co-owner of Nordic Ware in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was approached by two women from a local Jewish…

Sweet and Savory Corn Fritters

Sweet and Savory Corn Fritters

 

I’ve always enjoyed the Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald take on the Gershwin tune “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off,” particularly the riff on “you say potato and I say poTATo.”  (Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off)

I was reminded of that thin bit of difference this morning when I sat down to write about this corn fritter recipe. Is it a fritter or is it a corn pancake? I say fritter.

I have a thing for fresh corn and the season is pretty much over here. So, in a bid to grasp the last delicious taste of the season’s harvest, I decided to try this recipe adapted from The New York Times. 

This is not my first rodeo with corn pancakes (er…fritters), by the way. You can find a previous Blue Cayenne recipe for Thai-Style Corn Fritters here. In fact, you can find quite an array of corn recipes on Blue Cayenne here.

Here’s the recipe for Sweet and Savory Corn Fritters. Serve as breakfast or as a light and delicious dinner.

Sweet and Savory Corn Fritters

December 14, 2020
Ingredients
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2/3 C. whole milk
  • 1 t. fine sea salt
  • 1/2 t. garlic powder
  • 1/2 t. freshly-ground black pepper
  • 1/2 t. ground cayenne pepper
  • 1 fresh jalapeño pepper (thinly sliced)
  • 1 C. all-purpose flour
  • 2 t. baking powder
  • 3 C. corn kernels (fresh or frozen and thawed)
  • 1/4 C. chopped scallion greens
  • 1 C. sharp Cheddar (shredded)
  • Vegetable oil for frying
  • Maple syrup
  • Extra slices of jalapeño peppers and pomegranate arils for garnish (optional)
Directions
  • Step 1 Use a large bowl. This recipe makes quite a bit of batter. Whisk eggs, milk, salt, garlic powder, cayenne pepper and black pepper together. Stir in sliced jalapeño peppers.
  • Step 2 In a separate bowl, whisk the flour and baking powder together.
  • Step 3 Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture, whisking to combine. Add the corn, scallion greens and Cheddar to the batter and mix to combine.
  • Step 4 Coat the bottom of a frying pan with oil and heat until the oil is shimmering hot. Spoon batter (about a heaping tablespoon) into the hot oil and fry each side of the fritter until it is golden brown. This will take about 2 minutes for each side of the fritter.(You will need to add more oil to the frying pan as you fry batches of the fritters.)
  • Step 5 Transfer fritters to a paper towel-lined baking sheet.
  • Step 6 Serve warm with a quality maple syrup. Garnish with additional slices of jalapeño pepper and arils of pomegranate.

 

 

Popeye and Spinach Soup

Popeye and Spinach Soup

I was reminiscing with some friends the other day about childhood memories and our conversation turned to games, cartoons and children’s shows. You know: Uncle Wiggily and the decidedly unsavory Pipsisewah, Shari Lewis and sweet little Lamb Chop, Engineer Bill and the milk drinking game…

Being Thankful for Hokkaido Milk Bread Rolls

Being Thankful for Hokkaido Milk Bread Rolls

Need some rolls for your Thanksgiving table? These Hokkaido Milk Bread Rolls are wonderful. The original recipe for these rolls comes from the King Arthur Baking site (here), although King Arthur Baking gives credit to Yvonne Chen, author of the cookbook 65 Degrees C. Bread…

Two Holiday Favorites from Blue Cayenne’s Archives: Cranberry Relish and Squash, Apples and  Cranberries

Two Holiday Favorites from Blue Cayenne’s Archives: Cranberry Relish and Squash, Apples and Cranberries

 

“We must find the time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.”

                                                                                                                                                                                       –John F. Kennedy

Wishing you the best for this challenging Thanksgiving season.

Here is a recipe from 2015. Cranberry relish doesn’t get better than this

 

An Oldie But a Very Very Good Goodie: Cranberry Relish
Save RecipeSave Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. cranberries
  • 2 C. sugar
  • 1 C. water
  • 1  two-and-a-half inch stick of cinnamon
  • 2 medium apples, pared and thinly sliced
  • Grated peel of 1 lemon
  • Grated peel of 2 tangerines
  • 3 tangerines, peeled,separated into segments and seeded

Instructions

  1. Wash and drain cranberries. In a heavy saucepan mix cranberries, sugar, water, cinnamon stick, apples, and grated peel of lemon and tangerines. Bring to a boil while stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer for 5-7 minutes. Cranberry skins should pop and apples should turn transparent. Cool and transfer mixture to a bowl. Stir in segmented tangerines. Chill thoroughly. Remove cinnamon stick before serving.

Nutrition

Calories

2024 cal

Fat

1 g

Carbs

521 g

Protein

7 g

Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

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Here is another Thanksgiving-worthy cranberry dish. It is beautiful and hearty. Here is the link to the original post and recipe: Squash, Apples and Cranberries.

You can find other cranberry recipes on Blue Cayenne by typing “Cranberry” into the search bar on the right side of this screen.

A Green Formica Table and Memories of Mushroom Soup

A Green Formica Table and Memories of Mushroom Soup

“Women are like tea bags. You never know how strong they are until they are in hot water.”                                –Eleanor Roosevelt   When I was growing up, I often spent weekends…

Autumn Leaves, Eva Cassidy, and Beans and Lentils

Autumn Leaves, Eva Cassidy, and Beans and Lentils

The leaves are turning. The mornings are crisp and cold. It’s autumn—bean weather.   Need some music to get you in that autumn state of mind? Put on a warm sweater, grab a steaming cup of Darjeeling tea (stirred with a cinnamon stick, of course)…

A Balanced Diet of Toasted Sesame Cookies

A Balanced Diet of Toasted Sesame Cookies

There are a lot of cookies out there.  Tough cookies.  Smart cookies. The Cookie Monster’s favorite old-fashioned sugar cookies. (Recipe for The Cookie Monster’s Favorite Cookies)

Writer Barbara Johnson once sagely wrote that “a balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.” Wise lady.

Could you use a cookie about now? You know–a plate of cookies, a cup of tea and a deep exhale…

These Toasted Sesame Cookies might just be the thing.

Blue Cayenne has a thing about cookies, by the way. Just type “cookies” in the search bar at the right and you will find a world of cookie enjoyment (shortbreads, thumbprints, salted chocolates, and on and on).

 

 

Toasted Sesame Cookies
Save RecipeSave Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 C. all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 t. salt
  • 1/2 t. baking soda
  • 12 T. unsalted butter (at room temperature)
  • 1 C. granulated sugar
  • 1/2 C. brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 T. toasted sesame oil
  • 1 T. water
  • 1 1/2 t. pure vanilla extract
  • 3 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (chopped into bite-sized pieces--chocolate is optional in this cookie)
  • Black and white sesame seeds for rolling

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Move a baking rack into the middle position in your oven. Line rimmed baking sheets with foil (dull side facing up).
  2. Mix flour, salt and baking soda together in a small bowl. Set aside.
  3. Using the bowl of your stand mixer and its paddle attachment, beat the butter for about one minute until it is creamy. Add sugars (light brown sugar and granulated sugar) to the butter. Beat together for 2 to 3 minutes. You want the butter/sugar mixture to be light and fluffy. Add the egg, toasted sesame oil, water and vanilla to the butter mixture and mix to combine. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing on low speed until the ingredients are combined. Fold in the chocolate pieces if using.
  4. Scoop the dough out of the bowl and form into 3 oz. balls. Roll the balls in the sesame seed mixture. Arrange four balls on each cookie sheet.
  5. Bake cookies (one sheet at a time--4 cookies) for 7 to 9 minutes depending on your oven and the size of your cookies. You want the dough balls to spread and flatten but you want to retain a little puffiness in the center of the cookie. Once the cookies are baked to this point, open the oven door and lift the baking sheet up 3 or 4 inches and gently drop it back onto the baking rack. The cookies will flatten (and crinkle on the edges) when you drop the tray and then puff back up in the center. Bake for another two minutes and repeat. Keep baking at 2-minute increments until the cookies are brown on the edges but still slightly puffed in the center. In my oven, I baked the cookies for 7 minutes and then two 2-minute increments for a total of 13 minutes. The original recipe called for baking the cookies for about 15 minutes. Obviously, ovens vary.
  6. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack. Put another 4-cookie tray into the oven and repeat the procedure described above.
  7. Cook's Note: NYT writer Julia Moskin is a fan of this "pan banging" cookie technique. She wrote: "You might think there's nothing new to learn about chocolate chip cookies, but this recipe by the baker and blogger Sarah Kieffer will prove you wonderfully wrong. The easy trick of banging the pan a few times during baking, causing the cookies to "fall," produces rippled edges that shatter in your mouth and a center that is soft and full of chocolate."
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This recipe is adapted from one that appears in the cookbook 100 Cookies by Sarah Kieffer.  Her book is available through your local bookstore or on Amazon (100 Cookies).

 

Swipe Right for White Beans Au Vin

Swipe Right for White Beans Au Vin

      There have been too many to count. One was sweet and sultry and oh-so-smooth. Another was decidedly rough at the edges–kinda took my breath away. Then there was–– the steady and reliable one.  And on and on…and on. () Now– it’s a…