Carrot/beet/veggie fritters

I discovered this recipe the first time I had about 15 pounds of carrots sitting in my fridge.  It fits Kate's requirements for being a full meal in one dish (protein, veggies, and a bit of carb), simple, quick, and  tasty to the point that the kids will eat them.  I've made them several times for dinner, lunch, or as a side dish.  Each time I've varied the veggies a bit.  The link to the original recipe is below.

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2014/03/17/recipe-carrot-fritters-yogurt-sauce/
It calls for cilantro, which for some reasons I've never had on hand (mainly because I've been skipping the veggie section of the store for the past couple months!).  It also calls for whole wheat flour, but I found the patties to be a bit heavy when I used only whole wheat, so now I do half white, half whole wheat.  Also, I was not a fan of the yogurt sauce, so I don't make that.

For the fritters

• 1 1/2 cups grated carrots or other veggies 
• My favorite combination so far was 4 small beets with the remaining volume made up by carrots, it was probably about 1/2 and 1/2 each.  
• I use the grating disc of my food processor to make short work of the carrots.  That disc has gotten more use this summer than all the years I've used a food processor combined.
• 1/2 c finely chopped raw kale (optional, but oh so good!)
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 c white flour
• ¼ cup diced onion (I just throw this through the food processor grater as well)
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 t ground coriander
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Pinch cayenne (or black) pepper (optional)
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons water

Combine all the ingredients.  I like to mix the veggies together first, then toss with the dries, then stir the egg in at the end, but it's completely possible to just throw it all in to one bowl and mix once.  Cook in a little bit of oil on whatever you use to cook patties (I used our non-stick grill pan), using ~1/2 c per patty.  I find that they cook through a bit better if you press them to about 3/8 - 1/2" thick.  After the first side is browned a bit, flip over to cook the other side.  

We like to eat these plain, or with a bit of cream cheese and pickled jalepenos on top.  Will will put apple butter on them, but I think I would have to leave out the cumin and coriander to enjoy that.

I usually make a double recipe to feed all of us.  It fills us up, but we don't usually have much left over (though partly that's because I like them enough and they're healthy enough that I always eat too many of them).

I like the versatility of this recipe.  I've made it with all carrots; carrots, beets, and kale; and tonight I made it with zucchini and carrots.  I salted the zucchini, let it drain, and then squeezed it to get out a bunch of water first, then I omitted the addition of the water in the mixture.  They still turned out great.  I've never once had one of these fall apart on my griddle.  

-Maggie

One more zucchini note - bread!

One more note on zucchini:  in my never ending attempts to use up zucchini, I discovered that you can use pureed zucchini in place of water in bread and pizza dough recipes.  I usually shred mine in the food processor, then put the regular blade in to puree it, but I think a blender would work just as well.  I substitute about a pound of zucchini per pound of water (2 c water), maybe just a little extra zucchini.  It doesn't really change the flavor of the bread, but it adds all the nutrition of a zucchini.

Dad, I see you have drafts related to pickled peppers!  I can't wait to see them.  I just made a jar this past weekend, and went searching on the blog of a good recipe.  I've been eating them non-stop since Monday - mmmmm!

Zucchini butter

Hi Fam,
Our zucchini is coming to an end, a fact that I'm somewhat oddly sad about.  I guess I do love having an almost infinite supply of veggies without having to go to the store.  This recipe has helped us work through our zucchini this year.  It's super simple, and makes a tasty and healthy snack.

The link to the original recipe and the recipe itself are below.  I use a bunch of onion and garlic in place of the shallot and to add some more flavor.  I also discovered that if you're using a baseball bat-sized zucchini, you might want to peel it first.  If the peel is too thick, makes hard little pieces in your otherwise creamy butter.  he grater disc on a food processor is a great tool for grating the zucchini, but a good old box grater works just fine.

food52.com/recipes/23071-jennie-cook-s-zucchini-butter

Makes about 2 cups

• 2pounds zucchini or assorted summer squash (feel free to use less or add extra -- cooking times will vary)
• 1/4cup olive oil or butter
• 2minced shallots, garlic, or combination of both
• Salt and pepper

1. Coarsely grate the zucchini. Let it drain in a colander for 3 to 4 minutes or until you are ready to begin cooking. To hasten cooking time, squeeze the water out of the zucchini by wringing it in a clean cloth towel.
2. In a deep skillet, heat the olive oil/butter. Sauté the shallots or garlic briefly. Add the zucchini and toss. Cook and stir over medium to medium-high heat until the zucchini reaches a spreadable consistency, about 15 minutes. If you scorch the bottom, turn the flame down! (And scrape those delicious bits into the butter for added flavor -- you can splash in a little water to help deglaze the pan.) The zucchini will hold its bright green color and slowly caramelize into a nice vegetable jam.
3. Enjoy on toast, or as a side dish all summer long!

New posts - aka zucchini

Hi Family,
I just posted three new recipes, but thought I would provide a quick summary here, since sometimes only one or two entries shows up on my screen, such that I would miss multiple new entries.

We've had a lot of zucchini from our garden lately, so I've been trying to include it in just about everything.  I posted recipes for zucchini bread muffins and some zucchini almond butter bars.  I didn't post this, but we've also been using a bunch of zucchini in smoothies.  It has very little flavor, but a good amount of water.  I'll grate 1/2-1 zucchini, the add a banana or two, a peach if I have it, some frozen berries, a little lime juice, and some coconut water, blend it up and yum!  Kids like it to, and there's nothing unhealthy about it.  I made some with beet greens the other night, too.  That was, well...more interesting?  I ended up adding some cinnamon and pretending the beet flavor was ginger and then they were okay.  I think if you like the flavor of beets, it's worth a try.  I like smoothies in part just because they are another, different to get fruits and veggies, and I like that you can get a wide variety of fruits and veggies all at once.  Plus, they're quick to make and refreshing.

I got Kanga's recipe for kolache recently, and posted that as well.  I think especially with the anniversary of Grandpa's death this week, it was comforting to share that experience with the kids.  The kolache tasted just like I remember.  Suzie ate all the filling out of hers then handed me the dough, which isn't as sweet.  I remember wanting to do the same thing - and I probably did that when I was too young to remember.  Will was extra excited that he was allowed to have more than one in a day.  I remember that same feeling.  But they are never as good the next day, so why not for a special treat?

Finally, I planted tarragon this year specifically so I could make Dad's tarragon vinegar.  I added the tarragon to a bottle of red wine vinegar a few weeks ago, and used it for the first time this week.  We had our first cucumber out of the garden, and I chopped it then put some tarragon vinegar on it.  Sooooo good!  So much better than using plain vinegar.  Also, how is it that even a cucumber, which I generally consider to be rather tasteless and or bitter, can taste so much better out of the garden?  It simultaneously has more flavor and less bitterness.  I don't know...such a treat to have a garden after all these years.

Alright, hope you're all doing well and eating good food!

Maggie

Kanga's kolache!

I recently asked Kanga for her kolache recipe, and Uncle Tim helped her find a copy and sent it to me.  I made them last week and they were just like I remembered.  I thought I might not be the only one who would want this recipe, so I thought I would share.

The recipe below is a scanned copy of what Kanga had at home.  I confess that I broke the rules and modified the recipe the first time I made it.  I substituted honey for some of the sugar (about half).  I think honey helps keep bread products from going stale as quickly, and I remembered kolache going stale pretty quickly.  I kept mine in tupperware, and while they definitely were best the first day, they did keep pretty well for a few days.  I would use the honey again next time.  I also didn't use the Jiska, just because I didn't want the extra sugar and didn't feel like taking the time.  I didn't miss it.

The dough is extremely wet and soft.  I did add more flour than called for in the end, but I tried to not handle the dough much and to let it stay pretty wet.  I did not ever get a round loaf that I could let rise outside a bowl.  In the end, the kolache were very light and tender, so I think I would do the same again.

For fillings:
1) I made an apricot-peach filling by chopping some dried apricots then cooking them with a chopped peach and some grand marnier (I would have used OJ, but didn't have any on hand.)  The natural pectin of the apricots thickened it enough.
2) I did a prune filling by mixing chopped prunes with a little sugar, cinnamon, and some lemon juice.  This tasted just like I remember.
3) I made a cream cheese filling by mixing cream cheese, some sugar, an egg yolk, and a little flour together.

I made a half recipe, and cut out 24 kolache from my first roll of the dough.  At that point, I ran out of space on my pans, so I didn't re-roll the dough.  I estimate that I could have gotten anough 8-12 from what remained, but figured we didn't need them (and I didn't have space anyway).

I've been thinking about Grandpa and thus also Kanga a lot the past couple weeks, and it was really nice to taste these and have that connection to memories from growing up.

-Maggie

Mother’s Kolache (Kolach is singular, Kolache is plural. Ed.)

Take a dish that will hold at least 1 gallon

Warm 1 quart milk comfortably, put into dish with 1 compressed yeast cake (crumbled) or 1 package dry yeast.

Sprinkle 2 Tbsp. sugar on top, let sit until yeast comes to the top.

Add 3 cups warm flour and stir with a spoon until it is smooth.

Put in a warm place until it rises to the top of the dish.

Stir down and let rise again, then add 1 cup oil, ½ cup sugar, 2 Tbsp salt, 2 eggs and about 4 more cups warm flour; enough to make the dough easy to hbdle but not stiff.

Work on a bread board until it stands in a nice round loaf.

DO NOT ADD TOO MUCH FLOUR

Cover and put in a warm place to rise double.

Now grease your pans, pit your prunes, add to them a little sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice (the prunes, I assume, not the pans. Ed.)

When the dough has risen, flatten it and cut into rounds.

Place 1 inch apart on cookie sheets.

Let rise until when you poke it, it leaves a dent.

Grease the dough rounds and make center dents.

Fill with prunes and sprinkle with jiska.

Bake at 450F until desired color, 8-10 minutes.

Jiska

2 spoons flour

2 spoons sugar

a little grease

mix until crumbly

Almond butter zucchini bars

I've had a lot of zucchini in the kitchen lately, so I've been trying to use it in all my normal endeavors, which mainly include trying to get everyone to eat more protein and more veggies.  I've specifically been trying to come up with snacks that Aleks can take to work to keep him going through the afternoon so he doesn't come home crabby with low blood sugar.  My criteria are that they have to have a good amount of protein, and they have to keep, unrefrigerated for most of the week.  I came across this recipe for bars made with almond butter and zucchini and they fit the bill.  They are also delicious!

3/4 c almond butter
1 c + grated zucchini
1 egg
1/4 c maple syrup
1 t vanilla
2 t cinnamon
3/4 t baking soda
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t salt
1/4-1/2 c chocolate chips, optional

Mix all the ingredients together.  Bake in a greased 8X8" brownie pan a 350 for 30 min until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  A note about the chocolate chips:  I found them superfluous.  I think if I were compelled by the kids or Aleks to use them again, I would cut the maple syrup by at least half.

-Maggie

Zucchini bread?

Does anyone have a zucchini bread recipe they like?  I tried one the other day that I thought was going to be a winner, but it ended up kinda bland.

Thanks!

Maggie


Alright, since no one posted a zucchini bread recipe, I'm going to go ahead and assume you all don't have one.  And then I'll also assume that means you need one - at least if you live anywhere where zucchini grows as fast as mine is.  I modified a recipe I found on-line and liked the results pretty well.  I significantly decreased the sugar, replaced oil with mostly butter, made muffins/cupcakes instead of a loaf, and used the mixing method that Joy of Cooking gives for banana bread.  It's different than a typical recipe's mixing method, but my banana bread always gets rave reviews and I don't think it's only due to the extra butter and chocolate chips I add (ie, I think it has good texture, too)!  :)  Here's my zucchini muffin recipe:

1 c pecans (or walnuts) - toasted, then chopped
2 c flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
Spices: ~1 T cinnamon, 1 t ground giner, 1/2-3/4 t nutmeg, 1/8-1/4 t cloves
1/2 c brown sugar
6 T butter
2T vegetable oil
1/2 c yogurt (plain)
1 c grated zucchini (I packed it in pretty well, and probably used a bit more than 1 c).

Mix together the dry ingredients.  Cream butter and oil with sugar.  Mix in the dry ingredients just until combined and mixture is the consistency of brown sugar.  Add eggs and yogurt and mix just until combined.  Fold in zucchini.  Spoon into muffin tin, and bake at 325-350 for 25-30 min.  Makes 12 muffins.