Food Matters Project #42: Potato & Corn Fritters

Happy Memorial Day weekend!  I hope all of you had a long weekend full of relaxing, great barbeque food and fun with friends and family!  We stayed home, but had a chance to visit with friends we don’t spend a lot of time with.  It’s been great catching up, and exploring some new spots around town!  To finish up a delicious weekend, we made a recipe for the Food Matters Project!

There is no host this week, rather, it’s a Wild Card post- you can pick your favorite spring/summer recipe.  We went a different route, and chose a FMP recipe which was already posted before, but we had not made it that week.  It sounded delicious, we had all of the ingredients (when does that happen?), and wanted a side with our dinner.

To check what recipes Fifth Floor Kitchen has participated in during the Food Matters Project, take a peak here.  Also, check out fellow FMP bloggers Memorial Day recipes:

 Lexi's Kitchen: Watermelon Salad  
 Keely Marie: Calico Beans
 Cooking Poetry: Raw Strawberry Cheesecake
 Meadows Cooks: Lentil Rice Chili
 Let's Cook & Be Friends: Chocolate-Cherry Panini & Tomatoes

Last summer we attempted fritters for a Food Matters Project recipe.  They didn’t turn out as expected, but a cook can never give up (try, try, try again!).   This was a fast recipe, although it does involve a bit of frying- so it’s probably not the best for a mid-summer recipe.  But DC’s weather was a bit gloomy today, and cool enough to keep our windows open- so I figured this would be worth a shot!  We served these fritters with a Greek Salad, a more flavorful option to a slice of bread!  Check out how other FMP participants made this Sweet Potato and Corn Fritters with Thai Dipping Sauce recipe (back in November!).

Potato & Corn Fritters
Adapted from: The Food Matters Cookbook (page 88)

We served these fritters with a dollop of our Spicy Mayo Sauce.  Definitely worth making for this recipe, or for other dishes as a topping.

4 medium potatoes, grated & squeezed dry
1 cup corn, defrosted
1 jalapeño, finely chopped
4 green onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 large egg
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

In a medium bowl mix together the poatoes, corn, jalapeño, green onions, cilantro, egg, flour, salt and pepper.  This can be done ahead of time and refrigerated for a couple of hours before cooking.

Pour about 1/8 inch of oil into a large skillet over medium heat.  When the oil is hot, drop about a 1/4 cup of potato mixture into the oil and allow it to spread out.  Cook until golden brown, then turn once and cook again.  Both sides should be cooked in about 5 minutes.  Serve hot, or at room temperature.  We recommend frying these in batches (of about 2-3), so the pan does not get too overcrowded.

Tuna and Bean Salad

This past Memorial Day weekend the weather made it clear that summer is here.  In DC, the air was thick, muggy and hot!  Sam and I explored DC a bit and went to a public pool (free to all DC residents when you show your ID).  It was relaxing and refreshing!  We look like we went to the beach over the weekend.

When hot weather comes to town, I search for recipes which don’t require too much time in the kitchen.  I also like food that is lighter and easy to digest.  Obviously, salads are the first choice- but I get sick of the same one’s over and over.  So I search for salads with more color, texture and variety of ingredients.

 

Remember when I mentioned that I studied abroad in Spain, and where I tasted my first croqueta?  Up until then I was not a fan of tuna, it just wasn’t my thing.  Until my señora started making me bocadillos (sandwiches), and many of them had tuna.  So over the course of the summer, my love for tuna grew- I really don’t think I had any choice.

Now that I like tuna, it’s nice to see something other than the regular tuna sandwich.  This salad was perfect: crunchy, light, refreshing and filling!  Yum!  If you wanted something a bit more filling, you can always add these ingredients into your next bocadillo!

Tuna and Bean Salad
Adapted from: Bon Appetit (April 2012)

Salad:
1 head of radicchio, cored & leaves chopped
2 cups chopped Romaine lettuce
2 12 oz cans of water-packed tuna, drained
3 celery stalks, chopped
3 cups of white beans (this was a mix of cannelini and navy)

Dressing:
1 cup chopped parsley
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced

Combine all of the salad ingredients, mix well.  Then combine all vinaigrette ingredients, shake or stir well.  Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad and serve.

Happy Memorial Day!

I hope everyone has had a great Memorial Day weekend!  Lots of picnics, BBQ’s and sun.  It was a hot one here in DC today.  We went to the Nationals game today (sad, they lost) and got a little red since the sun was definitely beaming down.

Yesterday we spent part of the day with A* and C* picking strawberries.  We drove up to Butler’s Orchard and had some fun eating and picking them.

Between the four of us this is how much we picked (I’d say around 25 lbs?).

Don’t these look delicious?

If anyone has any suggestions on how to eat up our 10.5 lbs worth, we’d love some suggestions!

No recipe for today…hope everyone had a fantastic holiday!