A New Italian Dish - Arancini

I've always strived to be a frugal shopper and a frugal cook in the kitchen. My parents were young adults during the Great Depression, and they instilled in me and my siblings a "use it up, make it do, wear it out, or do without" mentality. 

However, if one good thing has come of the Covid-19 pandemic, it's that I've stepped up my game to a whole new level. Absolutely nothing goes to waste in my kitchen. In fact, when I cook I often make "extra" of something because I already have plans on how to repurpose the leftovers. An example of that philosophy is this recipe for arancini (pronounced eh-ruhn-see-nee).

A few of my non-Italian friends might be puzzling over "what the heck is arancini?" It's rice stuffed with cheese, breaded, fried (or baked), and served with a marinara (red sauce).

Arancini

Ingredients

• 2 cups leftover risotto (see recipe below)
• 8 small cubes of cheese (I used mozzarella)
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
• marinara sauce
• grated Parmesan cheese (for garnish)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Divide your leftover (cold) risotto into 8 equal-sized portions (they should be about the size of a golf ball. Shape each portion into a ball, insert a cube of cheese into the ball, and reshape the ball to completely cover the cheese. This step is important. If any of the cheese is exposed it will leak out.
4. Set up a breading station (pretend that you are breading chicken). There will be a shallow bowl of the flour, a shallow bowl with the beaten eggs, and a shallow bowl containing the bread crumbs and Panko.
5. One at a time roll the rice balls in flour, then cover completely with the beaten egg, and then roll in the crumbs to completely cover. Place each one on the prepared baking sheet. Make sure that they are evenly spaced, not touching.
6. Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with warm marinara sauce.

Makes 4 servings

About that rice. Any old rice won't do. You must use cooked risotto, which is a sticky rice. Here's my favorite recipe. 

Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 tsp. olive oil
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3-4 cups chicken, vegetable, or mushroom broth, heated to a simmer
• 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated
• 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese

Instructions

1. In a large frying pan melt 1 tablespoon of butter with olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is soft about 2 minutes. Stir in mushrooms and cook until lightly browned (3 to 4 minutes). Stir in thyme.
2. Add 1/4 cup of the wine and cook until the wine is absorbed. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.
3. Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add rice, pepper, and remaining 1/2 cup white wine. Stir to ensure that rice does not clump together and cook until wine is absorbed. Add 1 cup broth, reduce heat to low, and stir until broth is almost absorbed. Continue to add broth, 1/2 cup at a time, and stir until rice is creamy and tender but still firm in the center. This should take about 15 to 18 minutes.
4. Stir in mushrooms. Remove from heat and stir in Parmigiano-Reggiano and mascarpone cheese.

Jack-O-Peppers

Isn't he cute?

Today is Halloween—in our circle of friends, we focus more on the Reformation than on ghosts and goblins, but it's still fun to carve pumpkins and dress up in silly costumes. This year I'm showing up as a mom who doesn't get enough sleep. (I'll bet that's most of you too!).

This morning my older daughter said she wanted to prepare a Halloween-themed meal for dinner. She tossed out a few ideas (make spaghetti and pretend that the pasta is worms and the sauce is blood), but that REALLY didn't sound like something I'd want on my table. But we like stuffed peppers, so I suggested that perhaps we could carve faces in orange bell peppers, and so the idea of "Jack-O-Peppers" was born.

Carb Diva's Jack-O-Peppers (makes 4)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
• 1/2 pound sweet Italian turkey sausage
• 1 cup jarred marinara sauce
• 4 orange bell peppers
• grated Parmesan cheese (for garnish)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cook the orzo according to package directions. Drain, rinse, and set aside. 
3. Cook the turkey sausage over medium heat in a large saute pan, breaking it up as it cooks, until crumbled and no more pink remains—about 10 minutes. Stir in the cooked orzo and marinara sauce.
4. If you want to go with the Halloween theme, carve "jack-o-lantern" faces in your orange peppers. Next gently cut and remove the tops and shake out the seeds. Stuff the peppers with the sausage/orzo mixture.
5. Place the stuffed peppers in a baking dish. Pour water into the dish to about 1/2 inch up the sides of the peppers. Place the peppers in the preheated oven and bake for about 1 hour. Garnish the top of each pepper with parmesan cheese.

How to Chop an Onion

I love to watch cooking shows on television—Master Chef, Chopped, and the wonderful chefs on PBS. I'm pretty confident about my cooking skills, but am always in awe of how quickly a professional chef whips through dicing/mincing an onion.

Do we need to chop onions like a pro?

If you are going to be a professional chef and create amazing dishes for an innumerable list of guests, you need to know how to whack through those onions in a hurry! But that doesn't describe me, and probably isn't you either (I'm guessing). We just want to prepare a lovely meal for ourselves, our spouse, our family, our friends, or neighbors.

So what's the hurry?

This is all you really need to get started:

• good-quality cutting board
• sharp knife
• firm onion

The Cutting Board - You can "fake" some kitchen tools (for example you can use a mesh sieve in place of a flour sifter, or use a drinking glass as a cookie-cutter), but you must have a real, honest-to-goodness cutting board to save your countertops, your knives, and your fingers and thumbs.

Cutting boards come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and prices. Before making that purchase, consider that wooden boards need to be seasoned with oil. They don't hold up well after being washed in the dishwasher and can become a breeding ground for bacteria. I avoid them.

My favorite cutting board is the plastic variety. They are easy to keep clean (sterile), don't splinter or chip, and typically have grippers on the bottom so that they will not slide away from you.

The Knife - There are only a few features of a knife that determine its quality. The most important part of any knife is the blade. Although ceramic blades are now the "in thing" and have an amazing sharpness, they are also fragile and can break easily. I prefer forged stainless steel.

The next consideration is the shape, material, and structure of the handle.

• The shape of the handle should be comfortable in your hand. Pick up the knife, hold it, and imagine using it in your kitchen. Is it comfortable? I'm petite (5 feet tall) and so large tools feel very unwieldy for me.
• The material of the handle is also very important. Plastic handles will splinter and shatter easily. Look for a polycarbonate--dishwasher safe and sturdy.
• Another common feature of the best quality knives is the tail of the blade called the tang. It should be solidly riveted into the handle. The steel should be visible from the tip of the blade to the butt of the handle. If the handle solidly encases the blade, walk away.

But (you might ask), what is wrong with using a cheap knife? Less expensive knives are made from a much lighter gauge of steel which means that they will not keep a sharp edge for very long. The blades of cheaper knives are also often very thin, making them brittle and more likely to break or for the edge to chip. Handles made from wood or plastic perish very quickly and are usually not dishwasher-safe. Also, the blades are not always set into the handle very securely. All of this makes cheap knives more likely to be blunt which forces you to use more force. That in turn makes them more likely to break or for the blade to come loose from the handle.

It's important to keep your knives sharp. Dull knives are a safety hazard and can be very dangerous.

The more blunt a knife's edge, the more pressure it takes to cut something. The more pressure your hand and the knife apply to a piece of food, the more likely you are to slip and cut your finger instead. Sharpened knives also reduce the time it takes to prepare your meals since your cuts will be faster and more accurate.

The onion - This might seem a little obvious but...you need to have a firm onion. Any signs of mildew (the black stuff), large soft areas, or serious sprouting means that you should probably send your onion to that great compost bin in the sky.

A squishy onion is not a good onion to chop/mince/dice or slice.

So, are you ready to get started?

• Begin by placing the onion on the cutting board and slicing off the top and bottom ends. Your onion now has two flat sides and isn't so likely so roll around and slip away. Flip the onion over so that it is resting on one of the flat ends.
• Now place the blade of your knife across the center of the upward-facing flat end. The edge of your blade should aim for the center of the onion. Slice straight down.
• You now have an onion approximately cut in half. Set one half aside (for now).
• Peel off the skin from one half and then place it on the cutting board, flat side down, the curved side facing up. The top and bottom ends should be pointing left and right.
• Next, you are going to slice through the onion from right to left (if you are right-handed) and left-to-right if you are a lefty. You will end up with semi-circular sections. (No fingertips, please!
• (For the sake of brevity and my sanity, let's assume from now on that you are right-handed. Only 10 percent of the population (like me!!) is gifted with being left-handed).
• Now take a moment to read and understand this next step before you proceed.

Depending on how thin or thick you made your slices, you are now looking at one-half of an onion that has been turned into maybe 8, 10, or 12 slices. Take 3 of those slices and lay them down on the cutting board. Turn the stack of slices so that the flat side is near you (south) and the round side is to the north.

Working from right to left, cut through the semi-circles and turn those long curves strips into little chunks. Be careful when you get to the end because there's not much room for your fingers.

I know that this isn't the chef-taught method of dicing an onion, but it works for me. 

Pumpkin Risotto

Today the sky is gray and dreary and I'm in need of some comfort food. There's a package of Aidell's chicken/apple sausages in the freezer. I'll saute those with some Granny Smith apples from a friend's orchard. That's a good start, but I need something more--something toothsome and creamy.

I bought a sugar pumpkin a few days ago at the produce stand, there is a sack of arborio rice in the pantry, and I still have some fresh sage in the garden. So, all I need is about 45 minutes at the stove and we can have a wonderful dinner of sausages, apples, and risotto.

Risotto is a rice dish common in the northern region of Italy. The type of rice used is very important. Don't run to your cupboard and grab the box of Minute Rice, or even Uncle Ben's. It won't work. You need a short-grain arborio rice. Arborio rice has a higher starch content and remains firm (al dente) when cooked--that is exactly what you want and need for a proper risotto. Risotto is creamy, but not mushy. The grains remain gently "toothy" but are enveloped in a creamy cloak which results from the mixing of the starch with the liquids in which the rice simmers.

Pumpkin Risotto (serves 6)

Ingredients

• 1 small sugar pumpkin (or any other hard winter squash such as acorn), about 1.5 lbs
• 6 cups chicken stock or vegetable broth, brought to a simmer
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups arborio rice
• 1/2 cup white wine (not too dry—a Riesling is nice)
• 1 teaspoon finely shredded fresh sage
• 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup Gorgonzola (or other bleu cheese of your liking, optional)

Instructions

1. To begin, cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and then peel. Cut the flesh into small (about 1/2-inch) dice. Saute the pumpkin in the butter on low heat until it begins to caramelize and softens. (You want it to "give" when pierced with a knife--think texture--done but still slightly firm,  not soft and squishy). Remove the pumpkin to a bowl and set aside.
2. In a large saucepan saute the onion over medium heat in the 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Cook, stirring occasionally until it begins to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the minced garlic and the rice; stir until the rice is coated with oil.
3. Add the white wine and then about 1 cup of the stock, stir and let simmer over medium-low heat until almost all of the liquid is absorbed. Repeat this process, ladling in stock, stirring, and simmering until all the stock is used and the rice is cooked through. This will take about 20 minutes.
4. Stir in the pumpkin and then the parmesan and fresh sage. Stir until the cheese is blended in and the mixture appears creamy. If desired, crumble a bit of Gorgonzola on top of each serving.

Photo courtesy https://cookieandkate.com/roasted-butternut-squash-risotto/

Zucchini Fritters

"In mid-summer if zucchini do not surreptitiously appear on your front porch in the hours between dusk and dawn, you have no friends." Anon

Apparently, we have many friends or the few who love us have green thumbs indeed. One shelf of our refrigerator is devoted to zucchini. We've done the zucchini bread, and we have eaten zucchini in soup, salads, and vegetable trays.

Today, in the midst of summer, I made zucchini fritters. However, if you find this hub in winter, spring, or autumn, you can still make this recipe. Zucchini is always available at the market. If you like this recipe as much as did we, you can make it any time of year.

Photo courtesy https://www.eatwell101.com/zucchini-fritters-recipe

 

Zucchini Fritters (makes 4 servings)

Ingredients

• 2 cups grated zucchini, (see note below)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, finely minced
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoon olive oil

NOTE—When grating the zucchini for this recipe, I suggest that you remove and discard the seeds. That seedy interior part of the squash is very wet.

Instructions

1. First, prepare your zucchini--cut the stem and blossom end off of your zucchini. Slice horizontally into two halves. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon and discard the seeds.
2. Shred the remaining zucchini—one large squash should yield about 2 cups.
3. Place the grated zucchini in a bowl. Add the eggs, Parmesan, parsley, flour, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.
4. Heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Spoon zucchini batter into pan (about 1/4 cup for each fritter). Sauté for about 5 minutes. Carefully turn over and continue cooking over medium heat for about another 5 minutes or until the centers are cooked through and the edges are crispy.

What makes this recipe work?

• Parmesan cheese adds a creamy richness as it melts, and binds everything together. If you don't like Parmesan, another melting cheese would do--Cheddar, Swiss, etc.
• Zucchini is rather bland. Flat-leaf parsley provides a green herbal note.
• If you want to turn this into a meal, stir in 1 cup of minced cooked ham. I prepare the ham by pulsing it a few times in a food processor.

Homemade Vegetable Soup

I woke up this morning craving the vegetable soup of my childhood.

It was the 1950s. We lived frugally, but I don't think we ever considered ourselves poor. We had a house and clothes to wear. Daddy had a car, and we had nourishing food every evening. Our meals weren't gourmet—they were frugal, but they were homemade and cooked with love. Back then there was no "Hamburger Helper", we hadn't heard of McDonald's, and frozen dinners were still relatively new--and a luxury we really couldn't afford. 

Mom never measured her ingredients, so there's no written recipe. But in the afternoon, when I got home from school, I usually sat at the kitchen table puzzling over homework while the evening meal was prepared. I was an inquisitive little kid and liked to observe what was going on in the kitchen.

As I think back to those days I am amazed at how well Mom did with so little. A pound of beef for stew (which is a cheap, tough cut of meat) was stretched to make several meals for a family of four. Dried beans were a blessing—a one-pound sack of beans today costs only $2.00 (and it was much cheaper 60 years ago). Two pounds of dried beans equal about 2 cups uncooked but expand to 6 cups!

I'm proud of my Mom—her frugal nature gave us wholesome, healthy, natural food to eat and saved us countless dollars.

(Photo credit: Image by Lori Dunn from Pixabay)

Homemade Vegetable Soup (makes 6 servings)

Ingredients

• 1 pound beef for stew
• 2 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup dry navy or white beans
• 1/2 cup dry red kidney (brown) beans
• 6 cups water
• 1/2 cup dry lentils
• 1 medium (about 1 cup) onion, finely chopped
• 1 small stalk of celery (no tops), finely chopped
• 1 large carrot, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 cup chopped cabbage or kale, optional
• 3 vegetable bouillon cubes
• 1 8-ounce can of tomato sauce
• 1 medium (about 1 cup) potato, diced
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. In a large stockpot sauté the beef in olive oil over medium heat, stirring occasionally until browned on all sides. Remove from pot and set aside.
2. In the same pot add white and brown beans and 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low. Return sauteed beef to pot. Cover and simmer for about 2 hours or until beans and beef are tender.
3. Add lentils, onions, carrots, celery, cabbage or kale, bouillon cubes, tomato sauce, and potatoes.
4. Cover and simmer until vegetables and lentils are tender (about 20 minutes). Add salt and pepper to taste.

Photo Credit: Image by Matthias Lipinski from Pixabay 

Easy Cake-Mix Kuchen

Weekends are made for a leisurely breakfast. I could do pancakes, waffles, muffins, or even a batch of scones. But I'm in the mood for something different today. With just one hour and a little help from my best friend (Betty Crocker), I can make an amazing fruit kuchen. I like this recipe because it is so adaptable--you can use just about whatever kind of cake mix/fruit combination you have on hand.

(Photo Credit: Arkansas Democratic Gazette)

Easy Cake Mix Fruit Kuchen

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 package cake mix, any flavor you want (I used yellow)
• 1/2 cup flaked coconut
• *2 1/2 cups fresh or canned fruit or 1 can of fruit pie filling (I used Granny Smith apples)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup sour cream (OK to use low- or non-fat)
• 1 large egg

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Place butter, cake mix (dry), and coconut in a large mixing bowl. Cut butter into dry cake mix until it appears like fine crumbs. Reserve 3/4 cup of the mixture. Pat the remaining cake mix/coconut into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13-inch pan, building up the edges slightly. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.
3. Arrange prepared fruit on the warm crust. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over the fruit.
4. Combine sour cream and egg. Drizzle over fruit. Crumble reserved cake mix/coconut mixture over the top. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Serve warm.

* If using fresh apples or pears pare, core, and slice. If using peaches, apricots, cherries, nectarines, or plums, remove the pit and slice.



Suggested combinations:
Chocolate cake - pears, strawberries, blackberries, cherries
Spice cake - peaches, apples, nectarines
Carrot cake - pineapple, apricots
Yellow or white cake - any fruit of your choosing

All Day Cassoulet

My dad was a very frugal shopper; he loved finding a bargain and could calculate the unit cost of an item in his head long before any of us could have produced the answer with a calculator (if we had had pocket calculators back then). He died before the advent of warehouse clubs, so I've taken his place, scouring the aisles for the best deals in town.

I don't feel like shopping today--I don't need to. I know I already have enough stored in my pantry to last through just about anything (even a pandemic). Let's see, there are 20 pounds of chicken tenders in the freezer, 10 pounds of onions, a dozen cans of diced tomatoes, several pounds of chicken sausage, and an untold amount of dry beans. Mmmm sounds like cassoulet.

Cassoulet is a rich, slow-cooked bean stew or casserole originating in the south of France, containing meat and white beans. The dish is named after its traditional cooking vessel, the cassole, a deep, round,  earthenware pot.
Cassoulet (Photo courtesy CreativeCommons)

All Day Cassoulet

Ingredients

• 2 cups Great Northern or dried navy beans (see Note below)
• cheesecloth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 2 whole cloves
• 1 medium onion
• 1 celery stalk
• 1 medium carrot
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders
• 1 1/2 pounds chicken sausage (I like Aidell's), sliced
• 2 large onions, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
• 1 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes
• 1 cup of dry white wine
• 4 cups coarsely torn fresh bread (preferably from a crusty, rustic loaf)
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

NOTE: There are two ways to prepare dried beans. The first, and the one you are probably most familiar with, is to sort them (there COULD be rocks hiding in there), place them in a pot, cover them with water and let soak overnight. I don't know about you, but I don't often (ever?) plan that far ahead. If cooking beans means that I need to prepare the night before, cooked beans will not happen in my house. There's another method—an easier method, and it works just as well. Sort the beans, place them in a cooking pot (with a lid) and cover them with water. You want the water to go about 2 inches over the top of the beans. Bring to a full boil over high heat and boil for one minute. Turn off the heat, put on the lid, and let them sit for one hour. No peaking! OK, now you're ready to proceed with the rest of the recipe.

Instructions

First, prepare the beans:

1. Cut a square of cheesecloth, about 6-8 inches. Place the bay leaf, rosemary, and thyme in the middle of the square and tie them up with string/kitchen twine. You want the herbs to flavor the beans, but you don't want them (especially the rosemary leaves) to get lost in the broth. This little bundle is referred to as a bouquet garni (yes, it's French!). 
2. Push the cloves into the onion; place the onion, celery stalk, and carrot in the pot. Add enough cold water to cover to about one inch above. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer gently until beans are tender throughout but not falling apart, 40 to 50 minutes. Discard the onion, celery, carrot, and bouquet garni. Set the beans aside—DON'T drain!

Next, the meats and vegetables:

1. While the beans are simmering prepare the meats. Heat one tablespoon of oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Cook the chicken tenders for about 5 minutes, or until browned on all sides. Don't overcrowd the pan or the chicken will steam and not brown. It's best to cook in small batches. Remove the browned chicken pieces to a plate and set aside.
2. To the same pan add the sausage and cook for about 5 minutes or just until it begins to brown and caramelize. Remove to the same plate as the chicken.
3. Now add the diced onion to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion becomes translucent and begins to color. Toss in the garlic slices and cook for an additional minute. Add the wine and bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.

Now, get ready to assemble the casserole:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Using a skimmer, remove half of the beans from their pot and place in the bottom of a dutch oven. The next layer is one-half of the tomatoes.
3. Next, the chicken, sausage, and onions followed by the remaining tomatoes and the remaining beans. Add enough cooking liquid so the beans are almost, but not quite, submerged. Reserve the remaining liquid.
4. Bake s-l-o-w-l-y:
5. Transfer pot to oven and cook, uncovered, for 2 hours. Check the liquid every 30 minutes to make sure it is no more than 1/2 inch below the beans, and add liquid or water as necessary. Do not stir.
6. After the cassoulet has cooked for 2 hours, toss bread and butter in a bowl. Sprinkle over cassoulet, and return to oven until beans are tender and bread is golden 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
7.  Before serving, let the cassoulet stand at room temperature for 20 minutes to cool and allow the beans to absorb some of the liquid.

Leftover Cereal Bread

I like Cheerios, Puffed Wheat, and Raisin Bran. My husband prefers Honey Bunches of Oats and Frosted Mini-Wheats. Our daughter likes Cinnamon Toast Crunch. We have lots of boxes of dry cereal in our pantry and at times there are lots of almost-empty boxes. Each has just a handful of flakes or crispy bits--not enough for a bowl.

So, what to do with the leftovers? My frugal German heritage won't let me throw them away. So I devised "Leftover Cereal Bread."

(Photo Credit: Image by Aline Ponce from Pixabay)

Leftover Cereal Bread

Ingredients

• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 1/2 cups dry cereal (any kind)
• 1 cup oatmeal (not instant)
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1/4 cup molasses
• *1/4 light corn syrup
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 envelopes active dry yeast
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• about 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Instructions

1. Mix the water, cereal, oatmeal, oil, molasses and corn syrup in a large bowl. Cool to lukewarm. Stir in the yeast until dissolved; let stand 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs, then 3 cups flour or enough to make a stiff dough.
2. Cover and let rest 30 minutes. Turn out on lightly-floured surface; knead 8 to 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Divide dough in half. Place each half in a greased 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. Cover and let in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size (1-2 hours).
3. Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven 1 hour. Remove from pan; cool on racks.

     *if using mostly sweetened dry cereal, substitute 1/4 cup water

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy Chicken Piccata

I love the taste of lemon. It's such a clean, bright flavor and is a great salt substitute. (If you use a squeeze of lemon, you'll put away the salt shaker, I promise).

Lemon makes me think of summer--lemonade, lemon meringue pie, lemon bar cookies, lemon in salads and sauces. And lemon with chicken; specifically chicken piccata. 

Is this a "carb"? Technically, I'm not sure, but with the lemons in there (fruit) am I stretching the paradigm a bit too much to share this with you today?

Here's the link to my recipe as featured on Delishably.

Photo courtesy https://www.cookipedia.com.uk_wiki

Leftover Mashed Potato Pancakes

I love potatoes. It doesn't matter what form they take. I'm an equal opportunity potato lover—rustic mashed, creamy mashed, scalloped, au gratin, fried, hash browns, baked, boil (and adorned with chives and melted butter), or leftover mashed potato patties. If I'm honest (like now) I will admit that sometimes I make extra mashed potatoes just so I can create these fried potato patties a day or two later.

(Photo Credit: Image by locrifa from Pixabay)

Leftover Mashed Potato Pancakes

Ingredients (makes 6 patties)

• 2 cups leftover mashed potatoes
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons grated Cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup baking (biscuit) mix (such as Bisquick, Jiffy, etc.)
• 1 tablespoon finely minced parsley
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Mixed and ready to be shaped into patties

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.
2. Scoop up into generous 1/3 cup portions. (I used a baking ring, but this is optional) onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You should be able to get 6 patties from these ingredients).
3. Place in the freezer to chill for 30 minutes.
4. Place 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saute pan; heat to medium.
5. Place patties in a preheated pan. Saute on one side until brown, about 5 minutes.
6. Flip and cook an additional 2-3 minutes until browned and heated through.

Shaped in ring mold and ready for a 30-minute chill in the freezer