Sherrie's Best Corn Fritters

These fritters are much better than those which rely on extra flour and milk to make a batter. Using the processed corn makes them more tasty without being “doughy” and they stay crispier.

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 2 ears corn, kernels removed (or 12 oz frozen corn kernels, thawed, if fresh not available)
• 1/4 cup finely sliced green onion
• Salt and Pepper
• optional: grated Parmesan cheese
• Vegetable oil for frying

Place flour, baking soda, eggs, half the corn kernels, salt and pepper bowl of a food processor. Blend until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and fold through the remaining corn kernels, green onion, and grated cheese (if using). Mix until well combined.

Heat oil in large pan over medium-high heat. Spoon batter into the pan, spreading the mixture out slightly with the back of the spoon. Fit as many as you can into the pan and cook for about 2 minutes each side or until golden brown. Transfer to a plate and keep warm in a low oven while you cook the rest of the fritters.

This is a basic recipe that can be modified to suit your own tastes. You might try adding grated Parmesan cheese, or some Tajin spice. I usually serve them with Kewpie Toasted Sesame Dressing, but these fritters would be good with a lot of other condiments such as sweet chili sauce or egg foo young sauce. In fact, I’m thinking of experimenting by adding bean sprouts and other vegetables and making egg foo young.

Brother Rick at Yaquina Head,
shortly before his death

Sherrie's Sausage, Spinach and Polenta Soup

•  1 lb mild Italian Sauage (I use Johnsonville)
• 1 to 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1 sweet onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 3 cans (14.5oz) chicken broth
• 1/2 cup coarse, stone-ground yellow cornmeal
• About 2 to 3 cups spinach, coarsely chopped
• opt: 1 can Canellini beans, rinsed and drained
• Grated Parmesan for garnish

 In a dutch oven start sausage browning in the olive oil while you chop the onion and mince the garlic. Stir them into the sausage and continue cooking until they are tender.

 Add broth, then slowly whisk in cornmeal. Bring to a simmer, reduce to low and cook (uncovered) for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and scraping bottom to prevent sticking.

 Stir in spinach and optional beans and continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Serve with grated Parmesan (the cheese is salty, so individual diners can adjust their own seasoning to taste).

Sausage and Cranberry Dressing

Sausage & Cranberry Dressing

About 4 cups bread, crusts trimmed, cubed

(I usually use Goldminer Cracked Wheat Sourdough)

1 12-oz pkg Jimmy Dean Regular pork sausage

1 cup diced onion

3/4 cup diced celery

1 tsp dried sage

1 tsp poultry seasoning

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 apple, diced

3/4 cup dried cranberries

4 Tbs butter

1 can Chicken Broth

Toast cubed bread on a large pan in a low oven (about 300°F), stirring several times until completely toasted and dried. This step can be done ahead of time.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Crumble sausage into 12-inch skillet and cook over medium heat, along with the diced onion, for 10 to 12 minutes stirring frequently to break up the sausage. Add butter, celery, sage, poultry seasoning and thyme and continue to cook for another 2 or 3 minutes.

Place dried bread cubes, apple, cranberries into a large bowl. Pour sausage mixture over and stir to combine. Add chicken broth to moisten--note: you may not need quite all of the broth.

Place mixture in a 2-quart casserole dish. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes until the top is golden brown.

Sherrie's Italian Pasta Salad

This salad can be served as a side with a meal, but is hearty enough to be a meal by itself--really good in Summer when it is hot and you don't feel like cooking. You can, of course, omit the meat for a vegetarian version.

1/2 pound dry fusilli or rotini pasta

1 six-oz can whole black olives, sliced

8 or 9 whole green Spanish olives, sliced

1/3 cup or so pickled banana pepper slices, chopped

8 to 10 marinated artichoke pieces, sliced to bite-size

about one cup diced summer sausage or salami

1/2 of a medium red onion, peeled and roughly chopped

(see notes for additional suggestions / ingredients)

Vinaigrette Dressing:

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup red-wine vinegar

2 teaspoons Italian seasonings

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

4 or 5 dashes of Red's Hot Sauce

3 or 4 squirts of bottled Italian dressing with aged Romano

Cook the pasta in a large pot of generously-salted water about one minute more than the package directs--for cold pasta salads you really don't want "al dente." Drain pasta and rinse under cold water until no longer hot. Drain.

While the pasta is cooking and draining, slice and chop the other ingredients and place them in a large container. Add all vinaigrette ingredients into a glass jar with lid, and shake to combine.

Add drained pasta to the bowl, pour vinaigrette over and stir to combine. Although this can be eaten right away, it is best to let it marinate in the refrigerator for a while to let the flavors meld. It will keep in the refrigerator for several days to a week.

Notes:

This recipe is flexible and can include more vegetables, meats, cheeses, etc. as desired. Including the tomatoes and/or broccoli add a nice punch of color to this salad. Other suggested ingredients:

• Broccoli florets, cut into small bite-sized pieces (add them to the boiling pasta during the last couple of minutes to cook, then rinse them with cool water along with the pasta)
• Grape tomatoes, halved (these can be added with the other ingredients when making the salad, but halved ones tend to look a little sad if not served soon, so I prefer to add them right before serving. Of course you can put them in the salad whole, but they're tricky to stab with a fork)
• Fresh mozzarella or other cheese, cut into bite sized pieces, or grated (not the dry powdered stuff!) Parmesan or Romano cheese stirred into the salad
• Pickled Italian vegetables (giardiniera), but NOT pickles

  

  Aunt Peggy's Baby Shower 1946
  (She's in the mddle, with Mom right behind her;
  this salad would go well at a party like this!)

Coffee Ice Cream

Sadly, cousin Becky is lactose intolerant
so can't have any of this ice cream!

1-1/2 cups half-and-half

1-1/2 cups heavy cream

1 cup coffee beans

3/4 cup sugar

3 large egg yolks

1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix the half-and-half, cream, beans and sugar in a saucepan. Heat, stirring quite frequently (almost constantly) until bubbles start to form around the sides of the pan--just slightly below boiling. Remove from heat and let stand for about one hour to allow the coffee to infuse into the liquid.

Strain the cream mixture into a separate pan; discard beans. Whisk egg yolks into the now-tepid liquid to mix thoroughly. Heat over low heat until slightly thickened (it doesn't really have to be "pudding" consistency, as the ice cream maker will thicken it, you just want to make sure the egg yolks reach a safe temperature). Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Strain once more into a large measuring glass or bowl. Allow to cool & then refrigerate to chill further until cold.

Follow your ice cream maker's instructions. This makes about 1-1/2 pints, so is ideal for small electric ice cream makers, such as those which have a freezable bowl rather than using ice & rock salt.

Apple-Cranberry Conserve

5 cups peeled, chopped apples

Brother Rick with "Old Yeller" abt 1967
in Sunnyside, WA

1-1/3 cup Apple Juice

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 pkg (1-3/4 oz) dry regular pectin

(or similar appropriate amount of liquid pectin)

3 cups sugar

1/2 cup corn syrup

1 cup dried cranberries

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp salt

Combine the apples, apple and lemon juices in a large Dutch oven.  Bring to boiling; reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.

Stir in the pectin and bring to full rolling boil, stirring constantly.  Stir in sugar and cranberries.  Return to a full rolling boil.  Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat, stir in spices.

Ladle into hot, sterilized half-pint jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space.  Wipe jar rims, apply lids.  Process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes (start time when water begins to boil).  Remove jars from canner; cool on racks.  Makes six 1/2-pint containers.

Lemon Curd

Very good on crumpets or Englsh muffins. I've also stirred some into heavy cream to create a Lemmon Posset-like dessert.

1 stick butter

Grandpa Don (R) & unknown
in the 1920s (Alaska?)

1-1/4 cup sugar

3 lemons

5 egg yolks, beaten

Peel outer yellow part of lemons using vegetable peeler; reserve. Juice the three lemons (it should be about 1/2 cup of juice; if it is a little bit more that is OK, just increase the amount of sugar slightly).

In a heavy saucepan melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the sugar, lemon juice and the lemon peels; heat and stir until sugar is dissolved.

Stir some of the heated lemon mixture to the egg yolks to temper them, then stir yolks into the saucepan. Continue heating, stirring constantly, for about eight minutes until curd is thickened.

Pour through sieve into a bowl or large glass measuring cup (I use a 4-cup size). Discard lemon peels and pour curd into jars. Cool, then refrigerate. Keeps in refrigerator for several weeks.