Escalloped Corn and Tomatoes

Here’s a nice corn casserole you might want to make for Thanksgiving.

Escalloped Corn and Tomatoes

Ingredients
2  14-1/2-ounce cans whole tomatoes, drained and cut up
1  8-3/4-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained
1  8-1/4-ounce can cream-style corn
2   slightly beaten eggs
2  tablespoons all-purpose flour
1  teaspoon sugar
1/2  teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4  teaspoon salt
1/4  cup butter or margarine
1  cup finely chopped onion
1  clove garlic, minced
3  cups soft bread crumbs
1/2  cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
1. In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, corn, cream-style corn, eggs, flour, sugar, pepper, and salt. Transfer to a 12x7-1/2x2-inch baking dish. Set aside.  
2. In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Add the onion and garlic. Cook until onion is tender but not brown.  
3. In a large bowl, combine bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Add onion mixture; toss to combine. Sprinkle bread crumb mixture over the tomato mixture.  
4. Bake in a 350 degree F oven 30 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Makes 8 servings.  

A Good Use for Leftover Risotto

I first had Suppli in an Italian restaurant in the Carroll Park section of Brooklyn. I hadn’t eaten much real Italian food before I started working in Brooklyn. What a wonderful surprise these were!

Suppli (Fried Stuffed Risotto Balls)

2 to 3 leftover cold risotto
½ pound mozzarella—cut into 24 cubes
½ cup flour
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups fresh bread crumbs
approx. 3 cups olive oil for frying – this is one time you don’t need to use extra virgin olive oil. The light kind works just as well.

Divide the risotto into 24 portions; roll each into a ball. Insert a cube
of mozzarella into each ball and reshape into a ball; these are the suppli.
Pour the flour in one plate, the eggs in a second plate, and the bread
crumbs in a third plate. Roll the suppli in the flour, then in the beaten
eggs, and finally in the bread crumbs. Heat the remaining olive oil to 350
in a 2-quart pot. Slip in 6 suppli at a time and cook, turning once, until
golden outside, about 3 minutes; remove the suppli with a slotted spoon and
blot dry on a double thickness of paper towels. Fry the remaining suppli in
the same manner and serve hot.


Don’t limit yourself to plain risotto. Any leftover risotto works well. I especially like mushroom risotto for rice balls. Some restaurants serve suppli with peas in the middle with the cheese.

Plan ahead. Make sure you make enough risotto to have leftovers.

Some Fall Vegetable Dishes

Fennel with Bread Crumbs Recipe
I love fennel! I always have some form of fennel at Thanksgiving.

1 bulb fennel, cut in 1-inch chunks
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, peeled
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup dry vermouth
Chopped parsley leaves
Bread crumbs

Blanch the fennel until soft. In a medium sauté pan, heat the olive oil, add the garlic and sauté. Season fennel with salt and pepper. Add to the pan and cook without moving so fennel can brown a bit. Toss gently. Add vermouth and season with pepper. Stir in the parsley and toss. Serve with bread crumbs sprinkled over top.

Sweet Potato Balls A recipe from Paula Deen
My husband saw this on television and insisted we have some.

4 large sweet potatoes
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 cups shredded coconut, sweetened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 large marshmallow per potato ball

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake the potatoes until tender, then peel and mash them. Stir in the brown sugar, orange juice, zest and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, toss the coconut with the sugar and cinnamon. Press mashed potatoes around each marshmallow, creating a 2 to 3-inch diameter ball. Roll the balls in the coconut mixture. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Watch carefully for the last few minutes of cooking; the expanding marshmallows can cause the potato balls to burst open.

Winter Squash Soup with Wild Rice
Sauté two peeled and cubed winter squash, such as kabocha, two cubed onions, and three minced cloves of garlic with a tablespoon of minced fresh ginger. Add a tablespoon of sherry and one teaspoon each of cinnamon, oregano, and white pepper. Add six cups of vegetable stock and simmer 30 minutes. Puree the soup in the food processor and returning it to the stove. Stir in 1 cup of cooked wild rice and heat through. Salt to taste and garnish with chopped fresh herbs.
I cook wild rice with avegetable broth for added flavor.

Potato Croquettes

Leftover Mashed Potatoes - what a great problem! It's not one we have too often at our house, because we usually eat them up. When you are lucky enough to have leftover potatoes, make potatoe croquettes. My mother used to simply pat cold mashed potatoes into cakes, dredge them in flour and pan fry them in butter. I was a very picky eater when I was a little girl, but I was always ready to eat potato cakes! Here are some more complicated croquettes. The first one uses leftover steamed, shredded cabbage. The first time we ever had cooked shredded cabbage was when Mama got her set of waterless cookware. The salesman had demonstrated how to cook both carrots and cabbages without water, just steaming them with some butter in the pan. These days this is called butter steaming, but it was a revelation back in the fifties when cabbage was something one boiled and boiled. I love cabbage every way you can cook it, but simply butter steamed is my favorite. We usually have some leftovers too since cabbages are such giant vegetables.


Potato Croquettes

3 cups mashed potatoes
8 ounces shredded steamed cabbage, well drained
1 egg, beaten
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
fresh nutmeg, grated
salt and pepper
all-purpose flour, for dredging
oil, for frying

Mix the potatoes with the cooked drained cabbage, egg, cheese, nutmeg and salt and pepper. Divide and shape into croquettes or patties.
Chill for 1 to 2 hours, if possible. Chilling the mixture will make it easier to keep the croquettes together. Dredge the croquettes in the flour.

Heat about 1/2-inch of oil in a frying pan until it is hot. about 160°.

Carefully slide the croquettes into the oil and fry on each side for about 3 minutes until golden and crisp. Drain on paper towel and serve hot and crisp.

Baked Potato Croquettes This one can make you feel a little bit less guilty.

4 C. cooked, mashed potatoes
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 to 4 T. buttermilk
3 T. chopped chives
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground white pepper
1 1/2 C. crushed, Ritz cracker crumbs (about 40 crackers)
1/2 tsp. paprika
2 tablespoons melted butter

1. Combine first six ingredients
2. Divide mixture into 8 portions
3. Shape each portion into an oval croquette, & roll in crushed cracker crumbs.
4. Place on a lightly greased 15 x 10 x 1 in jelly roll pan
5. Cover & refrigerate up to 24 hrs.
6. Combine butter & paprika and drizzle over croquettes
7. Bake at 375 for 35 minutes or until golden brown
8. Yield: 8 servings

NOTE: Potato croquettes may be frozen after rolling in crushed cracker crumbs. To bake, place frozen croquettes on a greased baking sheet. Combine butter and paprika; drizzle over croquettes. Bake @ 375 for 35 min or until golden.

Here's a really fancy version. I used to hate blue cheese, but I have learned that what I hated was big globs of blue cheese. Used sparingly it is wonderful. My husband and I especially like the Maytag Blue Cheese from Iowa. I think it's the same people who make washing machines. Maytag blue cheese is a cow's milk cheese. The really strong blues are made with sheep's milk. I'm not too fond of those.

Potato Croquettes Stuffed With Walnuts And Blue Cheese (The California Walnut growers developed this recipe. Good. I'm all for supporting California walnut growers.)

1/4 cups California walnuts
1/2 cup crumbled creamy blue cheese
1 pound leftover mashed potatoes
Salt and pepper
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large egg yolk
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon canola oil
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Vegetable oil for frying

1. In dry skillet, toast walnuts over medium to high heat 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Cool to room temperature then roughly chop 1/2 cup and finely chop the rest.
3. In small bowl, combine the roughly chopped walnuts and blue cheese and blend well. Set aside.
4. Season potatoes to taste and blend in butter and egg yolk. (Adjust those seasonings before you add the egg yolk!)
5. Spread mixture on a cookie sheet to cool to room temperature.
6. With floured hands, form mixture into 14 balls.
7. Insert small amount of blue cheese mixture into each ball, enclosing completely with potato mixture.
8. On lightly floured surface, shape each ball into a small roll. Transfer to refrigerator until all croquettes are shaped.
9. Combine eggs and canola oil and mix well.
10. Combine breadcrumbs with remaining walnuts.
11. Place flour, egg mixture and breadcrumb mixture in 3 shallow dishes.
12. Dip each croquette first in flour (shaking off excess), then in eggs and finally in breadcrumb mixture.
13. Heat about 1/2 inch vegetable oil in large pan over medium to high heat. Add croquettes to pan—do not crowd pan. Fry in batches, if necessary.
14. Cook about 3 to 4 minutes per side or until heated through and nicely browned. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Serve immediately.
    Makes 14 croquettes.
    Tip: For lighter version, place breaded croquettes in single layer on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Coat with cooking spray. Bake at 450°F about 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown and heated through.

If I have time tomorrow I'll write about leftover risotto, another great problem to have.