Nelly's Pumpkin Corn Fritters - RH Week DAY 2!

Hello Organic Eats readers!

I'm Nelly and I blog over at Cooking with Books!

http://cookingwithbooks.blogspot.com

I’m so glad I have this opportunity to post here today and share a delicious, simple recipe! These fritters came about while I was living in Charlottesville, VA. My boyfriend had come and spent Thanksgiving with me and we had cooked a huge menu, having left over canned pumpkin. I’m sure you’ve been through this before, but you could also use fresh pumpkin puree to make this even better! Pumpkin is definitely a versatile product and you can check out Organic Eat’s Pumpkin Pancake post here: http://oeats.blogspot.com/2011/05/pumpkin-pancakes.html

Pumpkin-Corn Fritters

Yield: 12-16 fritters, depending on size

Ingredients:

1 large egg

½ cup milk

½ can of pumpkin puree

½ cup of corn kernels

1 cup flour (add more if needed to achieve thick batter)

1 tablespoon baking powder

To taste: salt, pepper, chopped green onions, sautéed yellow diced onions

Directions:

1. In a small sauté pan, heat about ¼ cup of vegetable oil.
2. Mix all ingredients together.
3. Fry on both sides until golden brown and cooked all the way through.
4. Serve with: a dipping sauce, cheese slices or as canapés with smoked salmon on top.

ALSO: try baking these! Spoon into circles on cookie sheet and bake at 350F for 4-5 minutes; the orange pumpkin color intensifies and the texture is completely different. Cut lengthwise and serve with flavored cream cheese or smoked salmon! A healthier, more nutritious version of a blini.

-------------------------------

Pumpkin Nutrition Facts:

-Pumpkin's deep orange color tells us it is rich in antioxidants and beta-carotene, a vitamin that can be converted to Vitamin A by the body. Beta-carotene can also reverse skin damage and promote good vision.

-Pumpkin also has anti-aging properties, and boosts your immune system.

-Don't forget the seeds! 1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds contains 92% of your daily value of magnesium!

-------------------------------------

Special thanks to Nelly for this delicious recipe! Follower her on twitter @nella22 for more enticing eats!

Pumpkin Pancakes

It may not be October, but these pancakes are delicious enough for you to forget that.... I made these as a variation on the normal Sunday brunch and they were pure pumpkin perfection! If you can't already tell, I'm a bit obsessed with cinnamon so creating a recipe where cinnamon is involved makes me one happy cook! The spices in these pancakes are just right and enough to gently awaken anyone after the weekend is over. As an added bonus, the recipe is purely vegetarian and our homage to celebrating national Vegetarian Week 2011!

Pumpkin Pancakes

Yield: 7 pancakes (I made the recipe for 2 people but double it if you're making it for more...)

1/4 cup all purpose unbleached flour

1 tablespoon cane sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon shaved nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup whole milk + more if batter is too thick

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1 large egg - separated

3 tablespoons butter - melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Mix:

-flour

-sugar

-baking powder

-nutmeg

-cinnamon

-salt

in a bowl until well blended.

2. In another bowl, mix:

-whole milk

-buttermilk

-pumpkin puree

-egg yolk (leave white in separate, small bowl)

-melted butter

-vanilla extract

3. Add contents of pumpkin bowl into dry ingredients flour mixture until combined. Don't worry if the mixture seems a little thick, it should be at this point.

4. Beat egg white until fluffy but not stiff (it should be at the consistency right before forming stiff peaks...)

5. Add the whisked egg white to the pumpkin/flour mixture, folding in gently so as not to break the white. At this point, if your batter is still looking a little thick, add in a little milk to thin it out.

6. Head 1 teaspoon of butter on a skillet over medium heat. Scoop desired size of pancake onto the skillet once butter is melted. Once the pancake has bubbled on the surface, use a spatula to flip over and cook on other side. (Timing depends on stove but for me it was about 3 minutes on one side 2 minutes on the other...)

7. Continue cooking until all of the batter is made, adding more butter if the skillet looks dry...

ENJOY and happy VEGETARIAN WEEK 2011!!! Go vegetables :)

Xo,

Organic Eats