Yellow Squash Fritters

The early fall take-home from our food co-op has included some beautiful yellow squash. I have no trouble using up this veggie and have lots of favorite things to do with it, like sauteing and adding Italian spices and Parmesan cheese, or simply using it in spaghetti sauce or in a lasagna. However, I'd seen this recipe made on a cooking show and wanted to try it. As usual, I started with a base recipe and made a number of changes to suit us. You should do the same!

Here are the ingredients:

1 medium yellow squash, soft/seedy parts removed, and chopped into small cubes - you will need 1 C of mashed squash in the end, or if you have more than that, just adjust the other ingredients
1 Tbs. dried onion flakes
1/4 C chicken broth
1 egg
1/3 C whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 C cornmeal
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp pepper
oil for frying - 1/4 to 1/3 C

Instructions:
Cook the squash with the dried onions in the chicken broth, until tender. I used a microwave vegetable bowl for this step. I also added salt and pepper to the squash, but you can suit your own taste here - in fact if you like spicier food, a touch of cayenne would be good. Once this mixture is tender, mash it, using a potato masher, or if you are lucky enough to have a hand blender, use that until it looks about like this consistency:

Beat the egg into the squash mixture until well blended. Next, mix the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Add the squash mixture to the flour mixture, stirring well but not over beating.

Heat the oil in your skillet - I used about 1/3 C for frying these. Drop batter into the oil by the tablespoonful. Don't over crowd the skillet- you may need to do these in a couple of batches. Flip over to cook the other side. Drain on a paper towel. I got about 12 fritters out of this batch.

We enjoyed these along side a nice steak and the next morning they were great with sunny-side-up eggs!

Apple Stuffed Iowa Chops

What a great fall meal this is! Apples are in season and this stuffing is a great compliment to a thick cut chop - in this case an Iowa chop. As with most of my recipes, this one is flexible in terms of what you put into your stuffing. Also, you can obviously double or triple the amounts for more servings. Just be careful to check the final cooked temperature of the pork with a meat thermometer. According to this article from the USDA, pork is safely cooked at 160 degrees.

To Start:

2 thick-cut pork chops - ask to have the pocket cut for you at your grocery store if you are unsure about how to do it. I used a good pair of kitchen shears to cut the pocket.

Stuffing:

1 whole apple, cored and chopped with skin on
1/2 C bread crumbs - I had seasoned croutons on hand and crushed those up
1/2 C chopped pecans
1/2 C crumbled blue cheese - feel free to substitute another cheese
1/4 C snipped fresh chives - or 2 tsp dried - or substitute finely chopped onion
1 slightly beaten egg
salt and pepper to taste
Mix all together and stuff tightly into pork chops. You can use skewers to secure the stuffing in the pocket if you need to.

Place stuffed chops into a greased baking dish which is big enough to hold them without being crowded, pour a little apple juice (and a splash of sherry?) in the bottom for moisture if you wish, cover and bake at 350 for 45 min. Then remove the cover (foil) and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until browned and at the safe temperature of 160 degrees.

This made the whole house smell like Thanksgiving!

Tomato Cucumber Salad with Feta Cheese

vThis salad is similar to another tomato and cucumber salad I posted last summer, but it's nice to have several options when cucumbers and tomatoes are pouring out of your garden! We have a local source for fresh Feta and it's nice in everything. Check out the website for Northern Prairie Chevre - they love their goats!

2 cups fresh tomatoes - I used 3 medium sized yellow pear tomatoes, peeled, seeded, chopped
1 medium cucumber, seeded and sliced - I partially peel mine
1 Tbs. chopped, fresh oregano
1 Tbs. chopped, fresh parsley
1/4 - 1/3 crumbled Feta cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp. sugar - I used dried cane sugar
Mix together gently.

Dressing:
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1-2 Tbs. red wine vinegar
2-4 Tbs. oilio
**a general rule of thumb in dressings is to use twice as much oil as vinegar or other acid

Whisk together until the garlic is evenly distributed and pour over salad.