Corn Fritters with Ham

By Gail Foley

Every weekend morning, I cook breakfast. Well, if I am not working. The first thing I hear from my son, Thomas, is “Cook eggs?”, if I am not already cooking them when he wakes up. Which is late as usual.

This morning, I had memories of my Grandma Main and the corn fritters she made us as children. They were light, with lots of corn and egg and a little bit of flour to hold them together. We drenched them in butter and syrup. Yummy!

I had not made them in many years and looked up some recipes to refresh my memory. I remembered that there were two main types – northern and southern. One was doughy and one was mostly egg. Since Grandma is from Mackinac Island in northern Michigan, I would guess that the northern ones are mostly egg.

My recipe search yielded lots of recipes, southern, northern, Canadian, and southwest variations but nothing like Grandma’s. So I just had at it. I figured about an egg per ½ cup of corn with a little milk to make the egg fluffy.  I added a generous tablespoon of flour for each egg and put in some baking powder to keep the flour light. I added some diced ham, because my guys like meat with their eggs. I fried them in corn oil to enhance the corn flavor.

They turned out like Grandma’s fritters, with ham! Delicious!

Yield: 6 fritters

4 large eggs

2 Tbsp. milk

1 pint corn kernels, drained

Salt and pepper

1/3 cup flour

½ tsp. baking powder

½ cup thinly sliced deli ham, diced (6 small slices or 2 oz.)

Corn oil

Butter

Maple syrup

Preheat oven to 250°F to keep fritters warm. Line cookie sheet with paper towels to drain fritters.

Heat large skillet (preferably cast iron or heavy stainless steel, heavy aluminum in a pinch) hot and dry. Remove from heat and lightly coat with canola oil spray. Return to very low heat while preparing batter.

Put eggs and milk in 8 cup mixing bowl and whisk together.

Add corn, salt and pepper, flour and baking powder in order listed. Fold together with large spoon until all is moistened. Crumble in ham and fold several times until evenly distributed.

Put about a ¼ inch of oil in skillet and turn up heat. When a drop of batter sizzles instantly, place a 1/3 cup of batter in skillet for each fritter. Hopefully, the skillet is large enough to hold three fritters easily. Shake some more pepper over them. Fry at medium heat until nicely browned on bottom. Turn fritters over and brown other side, a few minutes for each side. Remove to paper towels and put in oven to keep warm. Repeat with rest of batter.

To serve, put one or two fritters on a plate. Top with a dollop of butter and a good splash of syrup. Enjoy!

Bacon, Egg, Cheese and Spinach Casserole

I found this recipe posted on FB and adapted it to a smaller amount and quicker and easier directions. The 9x9-inch dish still serves 8 easily, especially when accompanied by hash browns and fruit.

This is a wonderful breakfast dish. It was moist, tender and tasty. It would also be good with sausage or ham. -Gail

3 cups bread, diced (4 fresh heels from white and wheat bread)

6 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 onion, diced

1 ½ cups frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed

1/2 cup Hormel real bacon bits (4-5 slices bacon, cooked crisp and chopped)

1 1/2 cups cheese, shredded (Colby or mild cheddar)

Preheat oven 325°F.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk. Add the bread cubes, stir to moisten and let sit while preparing and gathering the rest of the ingredients.

Coat a 9×9-inch baking dish with canola oil spray.

Add onion, spinach, bacon and 1 cup of cheese to bread mixture. Toss together lightly and pour into prepared baking dish.

Sprinkle with  rest of the cheese and bake for about 45 minutes, until puffed and set. A knife inserted in center should come out clean.

Original recipe: http://hugsandcookiesxoxo.com/2014/04/bacon-egg-cheese-spinach-casserole.html#sthash.NuS2gPcx.dpuf

Scalloped Chicken and Potatoes with Green Beans

I did a recipe search for a dish with chicken and green beans. This one popped up in my saved files. I couldn’t find this recipe on Google. You can always count on Russie to have something that tastes good. Thank you so much, Russie! I adapted the ingredients to what I had on hand and decided to layer and bake it like a more traditional scalloped potato dish.

This was so delicious and creamy. The sharp cheddar cheese added a little tang and the spices were a savory whisper of flavor.

Serves 6

1 (1/2 lb.) Chicken breast

2 cups Water from poaching chicken

3 Red potatoes (about 3” round), sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 cup Milk

2 Tbsp. Chicken base
3 Tbsp.  Flour

1 small (3 oz) pkg. Neufchâtel
4 oz. (1 cup) Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded

1/4 tsp dried Thyme
1/8 tsp each ground Sage, Garlic powder, Onion powder, Pepper
½ tsp. dried chopped Chives
1 (15 oz) can cut Green beans, drained

To poach chicken: Put chicken breast in pot and cover with water. Bring to boil and turn heat to a low simmer. Cook for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and let stand for 15 minutes. Remove chicken to a dish to cool, saving broth in pot. Pull skin and bones from chicken and save in freezer bag for a future kettle of soup. Shred chicken.

To cook potatoes: Add sliced potatoes to pot with saved broth and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and cook covered for 15 minutes or until potatoes are almost tender when poked with a fork. Drain potatoes and save broth. Pour broth through strainer and save 2 cups for sauce. Save remaining broth to use in another recipe.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat an 8x8-inch baking dish with canola oil spray.

To make sauce: Put the saved 2 cups of broth, milk, flour and chicken base in a blender jar and whisk until mixed. Pour into 2 quart microwave safe bowl and microwave about 2 minutes at a time at 75% power (depending on power of microwave oven) until sauce is thickened, stirring every two minutes.

Drop little chunks of Neufchâtel into the hot sauce and whisk until melted and blended. Add shredded cheddar and stir until melted and blended into sauce. Stir in herbs and seasonings.

Assemble casserole:

Put about one cup of sauce in bottom of prepared baking dish. Cover with a layer of potatoes (one third of potatoes). Sprinkle with one half of the shredded chicken. Sprinkle with one half of the drained green beans. Add another layer of potatoes (half of remaining potatoes). Drizzle a good cup and a half of sauce over casserole. Continue layering with remaining chicken, beans, potatoes and sauce.

Bake for one hour or until bubbly and top is golden brown. Remove from oven and rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Serve with a side salad or steamed vegetable - broccoli or asparagus. Yummy!

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Original recipe: Russie <russie2003@*******.net>

Subject: [dailyrecipes] ---Scalloped Chicken and Potatoes---with Green Beans---

Date: 1/18/2007 10:51 PM

SCALLOPED CHICKEN AND POTATOES

2 1/2 pounds red potatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
14.5 oz can chicken broth
8 oz pkg cream cheese
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp each dried sage, garlic powder, salt, pepper
1 cup milk
3 tbs flour
1 tsp chicken bouillon granules
4 scallions, chopped
1 1/4 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
10 oz pkg frozen cut green beans
1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss or harvarti cheese

In pot, cook potatoes in 1 cup broth, covered, 15 min. until almost tender. Whisk cream cheese and next 8 ingredients and remaining broth and scallions in bowl. Add chicken and cream cheese mixture to potatoes in pot. Cover, simmer 5 min. Stir in green beans and Swiss or harvarti cheese, cook 10 more min. or until chicken is cooked through. MAKES 6 SERVINGS.*