Carrie's Experimental Kitchen

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Michael Psilakis' Ladolemono (Copycat)

Before I share today's recipe, I had to show all of you this picture I received over the weekend. The picture is of a 10 year old girl making a recipe from my cookbook. I know there are many of you that stop by Carrie's Experimental Kitchen on a regular basis and I'm so glad I can encourage you to try new recipes in your own kitchen. It especially made me glad that I've inspired someone so young to form a new passion. Her mom is a friend of mine and has told me she flips through the book all of the time looking for something new to make, but her favorite recipe is Bruschetta. SEE, if my recipes are easy enough for a 10 year old, you can do it too! Thank you all for reading and following along on my daily kitchen experiments, I truly appreciate each and every one of you. <3

Ok and now for today's recipe, which technically isn't one of my own, but rather one I found while reading through one of my food magazines recently. I loved the simplicity of it so much, that I had to share it with all of you as well. I came across this recipe for Ladolemono created by Michael Psilakis; which is a citrusy Greek sauce that is traditionally served with lamb, chicken or fish.

Since I love the flavors of fresh squeezed lemon juice, oregano, Dijon mustard and extra virgin olive, I decided to use it as a marinade instead of a dipping sauce for grilled chicken. The Ladolmeno was deliciously light and really made the grilled chicken extremely moist.

For my version, I used fresh oregano instead of the dry Greek oregano the recipe called for since that is what I happened to have on hand. Click here for the recipe: Michael Psilakis' Ladolemono.

Enjoy!

Monday, August 12, 2013

Eggplant Fritters

About two years ago, I had my first fritter while vacationing in Greece. They were made with zucchini and I loved them so much, I even made my own version upon my return and added the recipe to my cookbook. Before leaving for vacation, I was trying to clean out my refrigerator and realized I had an eggplant in there that I never got a chance to use. I do that all the time. I go to the farmers market. Purchase so many fruits and vegetables that I can't possibly eat in one week, then go on a cooking frenzy trying to use them all up in different ways before they go bad!

So I decided to make these Eggplant Fritters. I really liked them, but the kids...not so much. Though they didn't eat them right out of the frying pan; which really wasn't a fair assessment as these do taste much better when eaten right after frying. You could also bake these if you wanted to save some of the calories and fat, but you wouldn't get that crispiness that comes from frying them.

Eggplant Fritters

Prep Time: 15 minutes Yield: 8

Cook Time: 8 minutes Serving: 1 each

Total Time: 23 minutes

Ingredients

1 Medium Eggplant (approx. 1 1/2 c grated)
2 Garlic Cloves, chopped
1 tbsp. Fresh Basil, chopped
1 Plum Tomato, small dice
1 Scallion, chopped
1 Egg
3/4 c. All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Kosher Salt, to taste
Fresh Ground Black Pepper, to taste

Directions

Rinse eggplant under cold water, remove the top and bottom and grate the eggplant using a hand grater or food processor with the grater attachment.
Place the grated eggplant in a clean dishtowel and squeeze out any extra liquid; then add to a bowl.
Add the garlic, basil, tomatoes, scallions, egg, flour, and baking powder to the eggplant and mix well. If the mixture is still a little too wet and won't form a small ball without falling apart, gradually add a little more flour.
Heat the oil in a large nonstick saute pan over medium to medium-high heat.
Using a kitchen soup spoon, scoop out the eggplant mixture and place in the hot oil. Repeat for all fritters and flatten them down using the back of a spoon or spatula.
Cook 3-4 minutes per side until they are lightly brown and have fluffed up a bit.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 158, Carbs 13.7g, Fat 10.6g, Protein 2.7g, Fiber 2.9g, Sugar 1.8g

*Calculations based on ingredients entered into Calorie Count and may not be 100% accurate.

Enjoy!

Eggplant Fritters Shopping List

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Seafood Frenzy Friday #57

Welcome to Week 57 of Seafood Frenzy Friday!

The kids are still on summer break for another few weeks and the days just seem to be flying by. Last week, we visited another college in MD that she really liked and I liked that it was only 3 1/2 hours away.

I played Bunco again...BUT I can't tell you the theme. What happens at Bunco, stays at Bunco! Well at least this month! :)

We also visited the Sussex County Fair and I was a little disappointed. I hadn't been there for a few years and there were not nearly the amount of vendors that used to participate. Though I did get a good shot of the girls sideways on this crazy ride. You couldn't pay me enough money to go on this thing!

Lou S. from North Carolina won the Almondina Biscuits sampler package! Congratulations Lou and THANK YOU to everyone that entered!

Also, if you didn't get a chance to weigh in on my eBook poll, please vote by selecting your choice in the top left corner of the page.

Ok...Let's Party!

We're off to a fabulous start and had over 30 seafood recipes posted last week. THANK YOU to everyone that linked up! I think I'm really going to like this link party format. Before I was only able to find and post 10 new seafood recipes on my own. If you missed any of last weeks' entries you can catch them on Seafood Frenzy Friday #56!

As you may or may not be aware I started Seafood Frenzy Friday because I personally don't eat any seafood so you won't find many of my own seafood creations here on the blog. So instead of having me pick out my favorites, I've decided to feature the Top 3 Seafood Recipes based on the recipes that all of you clicked on the most. Here are last weeks' favorites:

#3. Fantastic Skinny Blackened Tilapia from Skinny Kitchen