With the Extra Batter I Also Made Some Onion Rings, Yum!

Follow the same directions given for the fried green tomatoes here.
Add salt to taste after they are fried. Pin It

Fried Green Tomatoes

Tomatoes are probably one of my LEAST favorite foods! Unless...they are cooked,... then they are yummy. Needless to say that when my husband suggested making fried green tomatoes using some of our many still not ripe tomatoes from our garden, I was not in any way excited. But, I went ahead and found a recipe by the Neely's and I must say that they were good. They reminded me a lot of fried zucchini(one of my favorite foods of all time!), We dipped them in ranch which made them extra yummy. I will say though, that since they are so much like fried zucchini, that I would just use zucchini next time. They are way easier to work with and don't get as soggy. Oh, I did think they needed a little bit of salt too.

Ingredients

• Oil
• 4 green tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch rings
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 4 eggs
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
• Pinch cayenne pepper
• Pinch paprika
• Buttermilk Dipping Sauce, recipe follows

Directions

In a deep-fryer, preheat oil to 350 degrees F.

Season tomatoes, on both sides, with salt and pepper. Place flour and garlic powder in a shallow dish. In another shallow dish, beat eggs with the milk. In another dish, mix bread crumbs with cayenne and paprika. Dredge tomatoes through the flour, then the eggs, and then through the bread crumbs. Add only a few pieces to the fryer at a time, so they can cook evenly, about 2 to 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels and serve with Buttermilk Dipping Sauce:

Buttermilk Dipping Sauce:

• 1 cup apple cider
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons Neelys BBQ sauce
• 1 lime, juiced
• 4 scallions, sliced thin
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the apple cider and brown sugar. Allow to reduce until thick and syrupy. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

In a medium bowl, add buttermilk, mayonnaise, BBQ sauce and lime juice and whisk well. Add in the scallions and the apple cider mixture. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve with Fried Green Tomatoes.

Recipe courtesy of the Neely's

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Zucchini Bread

Fall is in the air and that means more baking!! I love to bake, but just don't get around to it that much in the summer(besides baking cookies for my husband's lunches).Zucchini bread is a great fall bread and it's also a great way to use up all of that zucchini from your garden. I found this incredibly yummy and moist recipe posted on All Recipes. I did make a few minor changes.  I  substituted half of the oil for the same amount of applesauce. I used half whole wheat flour and half white flour. I also used 2 cups of sugar instead of 2 & 1/4. It was still plenty sweet and very delicious!

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour(I used half white, half whole wheat)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil(I used 1/2 cup oil, half cup natural applesauce)
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar(I used 2 cups)
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup chopped walnuts(I used pecans)

Directions

1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool. 

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Albondigas Soup

My husband's family makes the best Mexican food on earth, Imo, so I never try to make it for him. Yes, he complains but I just tell him, call your aunt, cousin, uncle, or Nino, have them make you something that I will only, in my attempt to replicate, destroy for both of us. Well today I decided to jump in with both feet and make the traditional meatball soup-Albondigas. I will say it turned out great, although not completely traditional in taste, it was a winner for the whole family (even the three kids). It tastes a little like meatball soup and tortilla soup together. Give it a shot, it makes enough to feed for a couple days.

Meatballs

2 lbs ground turkey or extra-lean ground beef

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup uncooked rice (I used jasmine but use whatever you want)

2 tbls chopped fresh cilantro

1 tbl chopped fresh basil

1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp kosher salt

In a large bowl combine ground turkey/beef, eggs and rice with your hands (always fun). Add rest of ingredients and combine until thoroughly mixed (use your hands again). Form meat mixture into 1" balls, arrange on a rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate while preparing the soup.

Soup

3Tbl Olive Oil

4-5 cloves garlic, minced

1 large white onion, chopped

1 large red onion, chopped

1 bunch of green onions, include green tops, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 large cans/boxes of chicken stock (35 oz each)

4 cups water

1 chicken bouillon cube

3 TBL fresh lemon juice

1 TBL fresh lime juice

1 tsp paprika

1 TBL cayenne pepper

2 TBL Kosher salt

1 can garbanzo beans, drained

1 can whole kernel corn, drained

1 can black beans, drained

2 (14.5 oz) cans stewed tomatoes, not drained

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

freshly ground black pepper

Garnish

sour cream

grated cheese

I a large stockpot over medium heat warm the oil and add the minced garlic. Stir about 1 min, dont let garlic burn. Add all three onions and the celery and saute, stirring frequently, until the onions are soften and sweet, about 10 minutes.

Add chicken broth, bouillon, water and just bring to a boil. Remove meatballs from the refrigerator. Turn soup down to a simmer and slowly add meatballs to soup, add carefully and only a few at a time. Return soup to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 more minutes. While meatballs are cooking, skim off any foam that floats on the surface with a spoon, discard.

Gently stir in lemon and lime juice, paprika, cayenne pepper and salt. Add beans, corn and tomatoes. Again, bring soup to a boil on high heat, reduce to simmer and simmer uncovered for about 5 more minutes.

Just before serving add fresh cilantro and season with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and add sour cream and cheese. Great served with warm corn tortillas and lime wedges.

Original recipe courtesy of Bob Gelb (Nordstrom's friends and family cookbook)

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Lemon Snowball Cookies

One of my favorite things about the holidays are the snowball cookies my mom makes, they are a tradition that I have reserved only for that time of the year until today. Today I worked out in the yard all day with my three children- weeding, planting, cleaning, swimming and picking a few big lemons that just had to be used. I added the zest of one of those perfect tart lemons to a traditional snowball recipe, added a little lemon extract and come up with a fresh, sweet version of our family's holiday tradition that can be used in the summer for a light, sweetly tart, cookie. You can see there are pink and white cookies, the pink ones were made especially for my kids using crystal light pink lemonade cup and powdered sugar. They were a little tart for me but the kids loved them.

Lemon Snowball Cookies

2 sticks of butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 TBL lemon zest or zest from one lemon

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp lemon extract

2 cups of flour

Sugar Coating

1/2 cup powdered sugar

(add 1 tsp crystal light lemonade or pink lemonade drink powder mix if you choose)*

Mix together in a medium bowl

Cream together soften butter, sugar, lemon zest and extracts. Add flour and mix just until dough forms. Scrap sides of bowl and work in any extra flour in bowl by hand.

Roll in 1" balls and bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 16 - 18 min. remove from oven, cool for 5 minutes or until you are able to handle but the cookies are still warm. Toss the cookies in the powdered sugar mixture. Cool completely on wire rack or bottoms will get gooey.

Lemon Juice Pin It

Chicken Enchiladas

My husband usually comments that there's "too much cheese" when I make enchiladas. I never think there can be "too much cheese", but I did my best to make these enchiladas more husband friendly. The result was a very yummy enchilada recipe that still had enough cheese for my taste. However, if you love a lot of cheese, just double the cheese ingredients. You can make these enchiladas in a 9X13 pan or put it in 2 or 3 smaller pans like I did. I froze 2 extra in 8X8 pans to freeze for future dinners.
Ingredients:
10-15 small flour tortillas
1 large can green enchilada sauce
4 chicken breasts, baked and cut up or shredded(about 4 cups of chicken)
1 small can diced green chilies
1 onion, finely chopped
4 oz softened cream cheese(I used light this time)
1 & 1/2 cups shredded cheddar/Jack cheese

Directions:
Mix cream cheese, onion, chilies and 1/2 cup shredded cheese in a large bowl. Add chicken and mix again. Spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a greased 9X13 pan. Heat flour tortillas 5 at a time in the microwave for about 35 seconds, till soft. Put some of the chicken mixture in a tortilla, roll up and place seam down into the pan. After the pan is filled up, cover the enchiladas with remaining sauce. Bake at 375, covered for 30 minutes. Take out and add remaining shredded cheese to top. Bake uncovered for about 10 more minutes.  (times will vary if using a freezer meal)

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Stromboli

Last week was my first time making a Stromboli. I thought it was going to be much more difficult than it actually was. I made my dough in the bread machine, which helped make this recipe quite simple. We all really liked it and I will definitely be making it again! Next time I'm going to make it with pizza sauce as one of the layers.

Ingredients

•  Basic Pizza Dough, recipe follows
• 1/2 pound hot Italian sausage, removed from casings and crumbled
• 1 cup sliced yellow onions
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced red bell peppers
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced green bell peppers
• 2 tablespoons thinly sliced seeded and stemmed jalapenos(I left these out)
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 pound sliced ham
• 1/4 pound thinly sliced pepperoni or salami(I used both!)
• 1/2 cup sliced black olives
• 2 cups grated provolone
• 2 cups grated mozzarella(I only used mozzarella, no provolone)
• 1 large egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water to make an egg wash
• 1 cup finely grated Parmesan
•  

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a large baking sheet and set aside.
In a large skillet, cook the sausage over medium-high heat until browned and the fat is rendered, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain well on paper towels. Discard all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan. Add the onions, bell peppers, and jalapenos and cook, stirring, until very soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and Italian seasoning and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and cool.
Punch down the dough and divide half. On a lightly floured surface, roll out half of the dough to a large rectangle, about 10 by 14 inches. Spread half of the cooled sausage mixture across the dough leaving a 1-inch border. Overlapping slightly, layer half of the ham, pepperoni, olives, provolone and mozzarella cheeses over the top. Using a pastry brush, paint the border of 1 long edge with egg wash. Starting at the opposite long end without egg wash, roll up the dough into a cylinder, pinching the edges to seal. Place on the prepared baking sheet and repeat with the remaining ingredients. Let the dough rise, 20 to 30 minutes.
Brush the top of each stromboli with egg wash. Bake until nearly completely golden brown and starting to crisp, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle each stromboli with Parmesan cheese and return to the oven until the cheese is melted and the dough is golden brown, about 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let stand 10 minutes. Slice thickly and serve.

Basic Pizza Dough:
1 cup warm (110 degrees F) water
1 (1/4-ounce) envelope active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups bleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
In a large bowl, combine the water, yeast, sugar, and 1 tablespoon oil and stir to combine. Let sit until the mixture is foamy, about 5 minutes.
Add 1 1/2 cups of the flour and the salt, mixing by hand until it is all incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Continue adding the flour, 1/4 cup at a time, working the dough after each addition, until all the flour is incorporated but the dough is still slightly sticky. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth but still slightly tacky, 3 to 5 minutes.
Oil a large mixing bowl with the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to oil all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in a warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Recipe courtesy of Emeril Lagasse Pin It