Zucchini Fritters (or pancakes)

Another recipe from my favorite recipe blog, and this one is a big winner. I hate zucchini, but these were delicious. I even ate way more than my share. It wasn't a chore at all to swallow this zucchini down and it was significantly healthier than making bread with the squash.

My mom made something like this when we were kids, that we called zucchini pancakes. I don't think it had the Parmesan cheese in it though. We would douse those in malt vinegar and gobble them up. It's been decades since I've had her version, and had actually forgotten about them until this tasty treat popped up online.

For the record, I'm doubling their recipe here because that's how I made them and we ate every last one.

8 C. grated zucchini (one medium-large and one regular sized zucchini got me there)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 C. Parmesan cheese
1/2 C. sliced green onions
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp minced garlic
4 Tbsp. flour
1 egg + 1 egg white
Olive oil

Place shredded zucchini in a strainer over a bowl or in sink.  Toss with salt and let sit for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Press zucchini down with hands to expel liquid through strainer.  Transfer zucchini to several layers of paper towels and place another layer of paper towels on top of it.  Press and squeeze to remove as much moisture as possible.

Place zucchini in a bowl and add remaining ingredients.  Toss together.  

Heat a large, non-stick skillet to medium-high heat.  Add enough olive oil to coat the pan.  Drop zucchini batter by 2-tablespoons full (I used an ice cream scoop) into pan and lightly spread/flatten.  Cook for 2-3 minutes until golden brown and crisp on one side and then flip.  Continue cooking until golden and then transfer to a wire rack with a paper towel on it.  *note cooking time greatly varies due to pan type, stove, etc.  Go by color and cook until they’re nice and golden-crisp.  

 Nutritional Info (per 1 fritter): Cal: 27, Fat: 1, Carb: 2, Pro: 2, Fib: 0

Corn Bread

2 C. Flour
1 1/2 C. cornmeal
6 Tbsp. sugar
5 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. butter
4 eggs
2 C. milk
1 C. oil

This is a doubled recipe because that's how much my family likes it. For an 8x8 pan, halve it. But this goes in a 9x13.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the 2 Tbsp. butter in the pan and put it in the oven to melt while you get everything else ready. This is the best part about the cornbread. When you pour your batter in the melted butter it fries up around the edges and makes it delicious!

Stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Combine eggs, milk and oil in separate bowl and mix well with fork. Pour into dry mixture and stir until moistened. Do not over mix

Pour batter into hot pan of butter and return to oven for 25 min.

Candied Coconut Sweet Potatoes

Recipe by Our Best Bites.

4 C mashed Sweet potatoes (4 med sweet potatoes or abt 2 large sized cans)
6 Tbs Sugar
4-6 Tbs butter (no margarine), softened or melted
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 can Sweetened Condensed Milk (eyeball it)
1 t vanilla

Topping:

1 C brown sugar
1 C sweetened coconut flakes
6 Tbs melted butter

Note: You can make these up to a day or two ahead of time, just keep them well covered in the fridge and don’t put the topping on until just before baking.If using fresh sweet potatoes, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prick each sweet potato with a fork and place on foil in the oven. Cook for 40-60 minutes or until tender.
Once they’ve cooled enough to handle, slice in half and scoop out the insides into a mixing bowl. Or peel, cut into squares and boil about 20 minutes until they're soft enough to mash.

To the mixing bowl add in sugar, butter, eggs, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla. Your butter should be soft enough to blend up easily so nuke it in the microwave before you add it to the bowl if you need to.
You could mash it all up by hand, but an electric mixer works great. I don’t like it completely pureed, so I mix it just until everything is incorporated but there are still some sweet potatoes in larger chunks.
Spread this mixture evenly into a 9 x 13 pan.
For the topping, combine brown sugar and coconut and then pour melted butter over and combine. Mmm…
Take a pinch of the buttery-sugary mixture and put it in your mouth. Chew. Swallow. Then sprinkle the rest evenly over the sweet potatoes in the pan.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40-50 minutes. It will be more or less depending on the size of dish you use, whether you double the topping, etc. But the top should be nice and browned and bubbly so just keep an eye on it.

Roasted Artichokes

I liked these much better than the boiled ones I've made in the past. They didn't even need any dipping sauce (a.k.a. melted butter) to taste delicious!

Trim thorns off artichoke leaves with kitchen shears. Use a knife to cut off the stem and about 1/2" off the top.

Sprinkle the top with salt. Place either one clove or a bunch of minced garlic in the artichoke, getting it in as far as you can. Sprinkle with olive oil, lemon juice and balsamic vinegar.

Wrap in tin foil and place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 425 for 1 1/2 hours.

Orange Rolls

Sweet roll dough. I use a potato roll recipe that I also use to make cinnamon rolls.

Filling:
1/2 C. melted margarine
1/2 C. sugar
2 T. grated orange peel

Roll out dough and spread with filling. Roll up and slice in one-inch slices (like cinnamon rolls). Place in greased muffin tins. Cover with cloth and let rise 60-90 minutes, or until they fill the muffin cups and rise above the edges. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Makes about 2 dozen.

Grilled pineapple

just stumbled onto this recipe somewhere online, and it is soooooo good. It's a great side for a night of BBQ, or pretty much any other dish.

1 pineapple, skinned, cleaned and cut into spears.
3 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. lime juice
1/4 tsp. black pepper

I ususally end up cutting the pineapple into 8 pieces lengthwise, then those into halves or thirds. You want the chunks big enough to grill without falling between the slats.

Combine honey, lime juice and black pepper in small bowl. Baste all sides of pineapple and (if you have time) let it marinate for a couple hours.

Place chunks on hot grill. You want it to cook hot enough that the outsides get carmelized and have nice grill marks, without making the inside mushy. Keep basting honey mixture onto the pineapple as it cooks.