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Posts Tagged recipe swap

Recipe Swap: Sweet Corn & Herb Hush Puppies

Oh, life is funny sometimes. And by funny, I mean this: Life is abolutely, positively never dull. Let me explain…

So, I’ve been thinking about this particular recipe/post for a few weeks now. As you may recall, CM (from Burwell General Store) and I did a recipe swap not too long ago, wherein we made our own interpretations of a recipe from Autumn Spiced Pudding from an old cookbook/hymnal called All Day Singin and Dinner on the Ground. We had such a good time with the swap, that we decided to do another – and this time we invited Toni at Boulder Locavore to join in on the fun. CM selected another recipe from the same cookbook, and we’ve had the last couple weeks to dream up ideas and interpretations.

For this swap, CM selected a very simple recipe: Fern’s Fried Apple Fritters.

She gave us no restrictions for our interpretations – the only stipulation was that our creations had to be somewhere in the fritter family (and that we had to have fun!). As soon as I heard that we were making fritters, I knew that I wanted to make Green Papata Fritters. I got the idea from one of Nich and I’s absolute favorite places to eat – The Whisky Soda Lounge. The WSL is the sister restaurant of the acclaimed Thai restaurant, Pok Pok. Originally created as an overflow space for Pok Pok, the WSL was designed to be a place for diners to get a drink and snack while waiting for a table across the street. However, Nich and I don’t even bother with Pok Pok anymore, we just go to the WSL for the Green Papaya Fritters. They are just so ridiculously good. That being said, I decided that since I love these particular fritters so very much, I would use this opportunity to make my own version of the beloved green papaya fritter.

And then, plans changed. On Friday night I ate some particularly spicy Chinese food…and let’s just say that it didn’t sit well with me. I will spare you the details, but it was a rough weekend. My original plan was to make my papaya fritters on Sunday night with my dear friend Mari, but my stomach had other plans. After a miserable day curled up in a ball on the couch, I couldn’t stomach the thought (no pun intended!) of eating anything remotely related to Asian food. Green Papaya fritters were out of the question.

So, then, I did what any other reasonable person would do when feeling ill: I went ahead and made fritters. I simply made a different kind of fritter. I needed a fritter that would be nice to my angry stomach; a fritter that was decidedly un-complicated; and a fritter that could be classified as ‘comfort food’. For me, that fritter was a classic cornmeal fritter — otherwise known as the “hush puppy“.

Since I didn’t have the energy to go to the store, my hush puppies were limited to what I had on hand. Thankfully, I had an interesting array of ingredients on hand and so I happily went about ‘inventing’ my version of this classic cornmeal fritter. In the end, I made Sweet Corn and Herb Hush Puppies with a Lemon Parsley Yogurt Sauce. They were everything I hoped for: simple to make, delicious to eat, and easy on the stomach. They may not be the fanciest fritters on the planet – but given the circumstances, I think they turned out rather well.

My fellow recipe swappers came up with some remarkable interpretations of the apple fritter. CM (Burwell General Store) made a “Trio of Truffle Fritters”, as she scored an amazing selection of truffles at her local farmers market. Toni (Boulder Locavore) decided to stay true to the apple portion of the original fritter recipe, and reinvented the fritter as Apple Pork Empanadas (and they’re gluten free!). I love that the 3 of us took a simple fritter recipe and ran in such different directions with it. Such is the beauty of a recipe swap!

So here’s to another successful swap. And even though life (aka my stomach) threw me a bit of a curveball this past weekend, I just had to roll with it. Sometimes culinary ‘accidents’ are the best kind! In this case, my haphazard, last-minute, illness-induced fritters were fabulous!

Sweet Corn & Herb Hush Puppies
(Makes 15-20)

1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup white flour
2.5 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
Black pepper to taste
Dash of cayenne pepper
1 small shallot, minced
1 baby sweet bell pepper, diced
1 small jalapeno, diced and seeds removed
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
3/4 cup corn kernels (I only had frozen corn on hand, as corn isn’t exactly in season right now. But if making this in the summertime, I could imagine that roasted corn would be delicious in this!)
1 tsp fresh thyme
Canola oil for frying

1. Mix dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder, cayenne, sugar, pepper) together in a medium sized bowl.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and the egg. Add corn, herbs, shallot, and peppers to the egg and milk mixture. Using a spatula, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, folding until completely combined. For best results, let this mixture sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before frying.
3. Next, heat 2-3 inches of oil in a heavy bottomed pan or skillet until it reaches 350 degrees.
4. Using a tablespoon to measure, drop spoonfuls of batter into the hot oil (I use a second spoon to scoop out the batter and keep its round shape). Fry until golden brown on all sides, turning every so often. Using a slotted spoon, remove from oil and transfer to paper towels. Let cool slightly, but they are best served warm! Serve with Lemon Parsley Yogurt Sauce.

Lemon Parsley Yogurt Sauce

1 cup Greek Yogurt
1/4 cup parsley leaves
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
A couple mint leaves
The juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt & pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons crumbled feta cheese

Method: Combine all ingredients in a food processor until well blended. For best results, chill for 1 hour before serving. Serve with hush puppies (and a dash of hot sauce!).

recipe swap: persimmon panna cotta

A few weeks ago, a fellow food blog buddy – Christianna Reinhardt over at Burwell General Store – came up with an ingenious idea. She came across an old cookbook at a swap meet (more on the cookbook on her blog. I will say this…its a hymnal and cookbook all in one. I love it.) and suggested that we use the old cookbook to inspire a recipe swap. Essentially this meant that we would take a recipe from the book and loosely re-interpret the dish according to our own tastes. Then, we’d post the results on our blogs and “swap” recipes. We gave ourselves time to locate ingredients, brainstorm, test, and post – and decided that today would be the great unveiling.

The recipe that she selected for our first swap was an Autumn Persimmon Pudding. The original recipe was quite simple and straightforward, and I imagine the end result was more of a British style “pudding” (bready: akin to bread pudding or figgy pudding).

I don’t often cook with persimmons (Read: I’ve never cooked with them) but I’ve had them before in various dishes and have always enjoyed them. That being said, I wasn’t entirely sure how to approach this recipe swap. My first thought was to make a persimmon curd, but after scouring the internet for recipes and ideas I couldn’t find anything that stood out to me. (The only persimmon curd recipe I found online looked a little bit gross, actually.)

But, then I came across this gem of a recipe: Persimmon Panna Cotta with Maple Glazed Pecans.

The recipe looked simple, straightforward, and it was still in the same vein as the original persimmon pudding. Oh, and did I mention that it sounded completely decadent and wonderful? I’ve never attempted a panna cotta before, and so I thought this would be a great opportunity to try it out.

So, I made the recipe with a few twists of my own. Right off the bat, I knew that I would scrap the maple pecan topping, and instead chose to “invent” a spicy caramelized hazelnut topping. Hazelnuts are an Oregon staple, and I wanted to be sure to highlight this local favorite. I absolutely adore hazelnuts, and I am fortunate enough to live in a region where they abound. Therefore, I had no choice but to highlight our regional ‘darlings’! For the actual panna cotta, I didn’t stray too much from the original recipe, as I wanted to ensure that the panna cotta set properly. I did fiddle a bit with the seasonings, and I used a combination of whole milk and cream (rather than all cream).

I must say: I was terribly pleased with the results. The panna cotta set beautifully, the flavors were simple and lovely, and the crunch and spice of the hazelnuts paired nicely with the sweetness of the silky persimmons panna cotta. This is a beautiful and seasonal dessert, and I will definitely make it again. The first recipe swap was a great success!

For those who are curious as to the other recipe in this “swap”, head over to Burwell General Store to see CM’s post. She made Persimmon Crème Brulee with Blackberries (!!!). I am so bummed that we don’t live in the same state, because I could really use a bite of persimmon crème brulee right about now!

(Fun fact from Wikipedia: apparently every year in Mitchell, Indiana there is an annual persimmon festival, complete with a persimmon pudding contest. CM – too bad we don’t live in Indiana? We would totally win.)

Anyway, the panna cotta turned out beautifully – I dare you to try it yourself. Here is the recipe:

Persimmon Panna Cotta with Caramelized Hazelnuts
(Adapted from Bon Vivant)

For starters, you’ll need to poach persimmons for this recipe:

Poached Persimmons
2 cups water
1 cup granulated sugar
4 Fuyu persimmons, peeled and roughly chopped
1 cinnamon stick

Bring the water and sugar to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and add the persimmons and cinnamon stick. Make sure that there’s enough water to cover the fruit. Simmer, uncovered for up to 30 minutes, then turn off the heat and leave to cool until needed.

Persimmon Panna Cotta
14 ounces poached persimmons, pureed until smooth (*I found that 4 fuyu persimmons, after poaching did not quite equal 14 oz – it was more like 12 oz. but I just used what I had!)
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
dash of ground cloves
2¼ teaspoons gelatin
3 tablespoons cold water
2 cups cream or half and half (I used 1 cup half and half, and 1 cup whole milk)
¼ cup granulated sugar

Stir the cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves into the pureed persimmons, mix and set aside. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a medium sized bowl and let it stand while you prepare the rest of the panna cotta.

If you’re planning on serving the panna cotta in their molds, then skip this step. But if you’d like to serve them on a plate (“free-standing”) you will first need to oil 4 ramekins (or bowls) with a neutral-tasting oil.

Heat the cream and sugar in a saucepan, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Once the sugar is dissolved (it will only take a few minutes), remove from heat and stir in the persimmon mixture. Then pour the warm contents of the saucepan over the gelatin and mix until the gelatin is completely dissolved.

Pour the mixture into molds and refrigerate for at last 4 hours before serving.

Caramelized Hazelnuts
1 cup hazelnuts, roughly chopped
3/4 cup sugar (all I had was light brown sugar on hand, but white sugar works as well)
dash of cayenne
dash of cinnamon
dash of black pepper
dash of nutmeg
a “bit” of water

Mix sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly (don’t burn the sugar!) until the mixture reduces to a thick syrup. Stir in the spices and seasonings (to your liking. I wanted it to be a little spicy!) and then add in the hazelnuts. Remove from heat, and spread nuts out on parchment or wax paper. Once cooled (and the sugars have hardened), sprinkle a healthy amount of the caramelized nuts over the panna cotta when you are ready to serve.