Fried Pickle Chips with Zippy Feta Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:
16 oz sliced pickles, drained
2/3 cup Instant Blending Flour*
2/3 cup cornmeal
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
salt
pepper


for the dipping sauce
8 oz sour cream (reduced fat is okay)
4 oz crumbled feta
1/4 cup minced chives
3 tablespoons mayonnaise or buttermilk (if needed to thin out the sauce)
2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
pepper



canola oil for frying

Directions:

Mix together all dipping sauce ingredients. Set aside. Heat about 1/2 to 1 inch of oil in a large, shallow skillet, enough to cover the pickles. Meanwhile pour the egg, flour and cornmeal into separate shallow bowls. Stir the the spices to the cornmeal. Stir the Worcestershire sauce into the egg. Dredge each pickle in the flour, then in the egg then the cornmeal. Drop the pickle slices into the hot oil, taking care that they do not overlap or bump into each other. Cook until golden on all sides, about 1 minute. They should float to the top when ready and not need to be flipped. Remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain. Serve hot with the dipping sauce.



*aka Wondra flour. It is very fine and dissolves easily in water (or in this case, doesn't make the pickles too thick with flour). Use all purpose if you have to.

My thoughts:

Fried pickles are a bit of a Southern thing but they can be found on menus else where. I've had several different varieties including ones breaded with panko, bread crumbs and even crackers but I think the best flavored ones have a cornmeal crust. The slightly sweet flavor complements the salty pickle. I've heard complaints about the difficulty of getting the cornmeal to stick to the pickle but this is a fool-proof recipe. The trick is thoroughly dredging in super fine powder before the egg dip and resisting the urge to soak the pickle in anything other than pickle juice. Ranch dressing is a bit more traditional but I had it with a cheesy dip before and I liked the combination a lot so I developed a robust a zesty feta sauce to go with them. It was the perfect partner.

Lovely Summer Salad with Crabcakes

Ingredients:
for the salad
2 cold or hot crabcakes
4 slices pickled beets, cut into sticks
1 head of romaine lettuce, chopped
2 oz plain crumbled  feta
1/2 cucumber, sliced
15 cherry tomatoes, halved

for the dressing:
juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Toss the salad ingredients together (except for the crabcake) divide among two plates. Place the dressing in a jar or salad dressing container and shake. Pour over salads.

My thoughts:

This is a great way to use up leftover crabcakes. I know it is hard to even think about having something as delicious as a crabcake leftover but living in a two person household, we often end up with extra. Luckily they are pretty good cold or at room temperature the next day. For this salad I want some serious flavor so I used feta and pickled beets (my new favorite combination!) and a tart dressing. It was really good! If I was making this again, I think I might be tempted to make miniature crabcakes and have more than one per salad just for fun. Sort of like a crab crouton.

Feta-Sopressata Pasta Salad

Ingredients:
6 cups cooked pasta
20 cherry tomatoes, halved
4 oz lemon, garlic & oregano feta crumbles
10 jarred pepperoncini, drained and chopped
1/3 cup grilled or boiled corn
8 thin slices sopressata, cut into strips
salt
freshly ground black pepper
white wine vinegar

Directions:
Toss together the pasta, tomatoes, peppers, sopressata, feta salt, pepper and corn. Drizzle with vinegar to taste.

My thoughts:

OMG, it is hot here in Baltimore. We have spent most of the summer hovering in the 90-100 degree area. Normally we'd get a few HOT days but we'd get some cool(ish) days in-between. However, it has been hot, hot, hot nearly every day and without the benefit of being a student (or teacher, I actually liked this policy more when I was teaching than as a kid) of getting out of school if it hits 90 before 11 AM. Now I just work at home and break a sweat as I wash the dishes. I've taken to doing tricks like the one I did with this salad and trying to cook once and eat twice. I boiled an extra amount of pasta for dinner so I could make this pasta salad without cooking at all the next day. Which, really, is more important than you'd think when living in a 1930s, non air conditioned house in the city. The summer is prime panini weather so I always have panini ingredients on hand and used them to create this Italian deli inspired salad. Easy + tasty. Win-win.

Feta-Caper Potato Salad

Ingredients:
2 lb red potatoes, quartered
1 shallot, minced
1 stalk celery, diced
4 oz crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons capers
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar
1 teaspoon freeze dried chives
freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook the potatoes until fork tender. In a small bowl, whisk together the pepper, vinegar and mayo. Stir in the cheese and capers. Place the potatoes, celery and shallot in a medium bowl. Pour the dressing over the potato mixture. Stir to evenly distribute the dressing.

My thoughts:

Oh, feta! I've been eating it every day for over a week now and I haven't had it the same way twice. This potato salad doesn't look light (it is so creamy!) but feta is lower in calories and fat than mayo and once it is stirred into the salad, it breaks down a bit and forms a smooth(ish) dressing that seems decadent despite being relatively light. Feta does have quite a presence in salads so you need strong ingredients to stand up to it. I've been finding that pickle-y ingredients like capers work extremely well, if the ingredients are too mild, they get lost. Plus I love capers so any excuse to use them is a good one.

Summer Vegetable Green Salad with a Dill Vinagrette, Feta and Grilled Tuna

Ingredients:

for the vinaigrette:
1/4 cup minced dill
3 oz white wine vinegar
2 1/2 oz olive oil
1 teaspoon pepper sherry
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
salt
pepper

for the fish:
2 tuna steaks
zest of one lemon
2 tablespoons minced oregano
2 tablespoons fresh or freeze dried chives
salt
pepper
olive oil

for the corn:
1 or 2 ears of corn
olive oil
salt
pepper
celery seed

for the salad:
1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
4 radishes, sliced
4 button or crimini mushrooms, sliced
2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
1/2 English cucumber, sliced
3 oz crumbled feta
1/2 red onion, sliced very thin

Directions:
Place the vinaigrette ingredients in a jar or salad dressing shaker. Shake until emulsified. Set aside.

Prep the grill according to manufactures' instructions. Prep the cedar plank according the package instructions. Meanwhile, rub the tuna with oil then pat on the zest and spices onto both sides. Place the tuna on the grill. Follow the instructions for grilling corn. Grill until the tuna is medium rare and the corn is done, covering briefly if needed, about 10 minutes. Strip the corn from the cob.

Meanwhile, toss the salad ingredients in a large bowl. Divide among two dishes. Top with tuna and the corn. Drizzle with dressing.

My thoughts:

I know this salad looks complicated with the long list of ingredients but it really isn't, I promise! The salad dressing is super easy, there is nothing fancy about the salad itself and the tuna and corn require pretty much the same prep and cooking time. I have been eating a tons of salads lately because of my feta challenge and I have found that my favorite salads with feta are the ones that have a lot of different ingredients and flavors. Feta is so robust tasting it can stand up to pretty much anything, even very herbal dressings and heartier ingredients like fish or meat so I've been experimenting. I wanted to make this salad my complete meal so I added tuna and a hard boiled egg to make it more substantial without feeling heavy.

I had room on the grill (even though I was making extra tuna for another recipe) so I tossed some corn on. It added a smoky-sweet flavor that was a wonderful contrast with the feta and all of the crisp vegetables I used. All in all, a very tasty, vegetable packed salad. Perfect for a hot July day!

Roasted Eggplant & Tomato Pasta

1 1/2 pounds eggplant, striped* and cut into 3/4 inch wedges
1 large onion, cut into 1/2-inch wedges
1 pepperoncini pepper, sliced, seeds & stem discarded
3 cups cherry or grape tomatoes
6 anchovy fillets
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
feta cheese

1 lb cooked short pasta

*Cut the skin off in alternating rows, to help keep the eggplant from turning into mush. Example:
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 . In a bowl, toss together the olive oil, salt, garlic pepper,anchovies, pepperoncini, cherry tomatoes and eggplant. Place on a baking sheet and roast for about 30 minutes or until tender. Stir the roasted vegetables in their juices into the hot, cooked pasta. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with feta. Serve immediately.

My thoughts:

We've had quite a cherry tomato and eggplant harvest this summer. I was running out of ideas of what to do with them when we got a sudden chilly, rainy spell hit and I got the idea to do a roasted vegetable sauce. I was particularly overwhelmed that night so I gave my husband the recipe and he made it. It came out perfectly and required virtually no hands on time beyond chopping the veggies.

Spinach Ricotta Pie

spinach ricotta pie


Ingredients:

1 lb frozen leaf spinach, chopped (defrosted and squeezed dry)
15 oz ricotta cheese
1/8 cup Parmesan
4 oz feta, crumbled
5 eggs
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium tomato, sliced
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons Italian bread crumbs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325. In large pan, saute onion and garlic over low heat in olive oil until soft and fragrant. Add spinach, saute 2-3 minutes or until it looks dry. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat. In bowl, combine Parmesan, ricotta and nutmeg. Add the spinach mixture and stir to combine. Taste for seasoning. Add eggs, combine thoroughly. Using olive oil, grease a 12 cup baking dish. Dust with bread crumbs, shake to remove excess. Pour in spinach mixture. Arrange tomato slices on the surface, sprinkle with feta. Bake 1 hour or until hot through and golden brown.