Around The World in 52 Weeks: Black-eyed Pea Fritters

This week my kitchen took my to the Republic of Congo. Unfortunately it seems the Republic of Congo and my kitchen really didn’t mesh very well.

 

I planned this week to make a peanut chicken and these fritters. However, during the middle of my cooking process for the chicken I dropped it on the floor, peanut side down. I just really wasn’t in the mood to defrost more chicken and start over, so I decided to just make these fritters. These fritters were far from the easiest things I’ve made.

I first attempted to make them in a deep skillet filled with oil. However, the batter was so sticky I couldn’t get them to flip over. I decided instead to use the deep fryer. I took my black-eyed pea batter, made a sticky ball out of it, dredged it in flour, and deep fried them for 5 minutes.

It worked, but it was a struggle.

Black-eyed Pea Fritters

Ingredients
8 1/2 oz frozen black-eyed peas, thawed
1 egg, beaten
1/2 onion
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 habenero
1/2 green bell pepper
cayenne pepper, to taste
1/4 tsp fresh ginger, peeled
oil for frying
flour for dredging

Directions

 1. Combine the black-eyed peas, egg, onion, salt, habenero, green bell pepper, cayenne, and ginger in a food processor. Pulse until a paste is created.

2. The batter is sticky, but create balls out of the batter with your hands. Dredge each ball in flour.

3. Fry the fritters in a deep fryer for 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

* I’ve shared these fritters with KB and Whitesnake‘s Simply Delish Saturday.

I’d like to see people travel the globe with me.
Every Saturday I will be posting my recipe, as well as pictures to ethnic cuisines you have made and want to share.

- You must mention The Law Student’s Cookbook‘s Around The World In 52 Weeks in the entry you link. You can either use a link or use the banner.
- In your post you must  at least mention what cuisine the dish is.
- Email me your recipe at elizabeth@crabtech.net. Make sure to include:

* Your name or blog name
* The direct link to your post
* A picture of the dish or permission to pull a picture from the post

- Make sure to email me by Saturday at 12noon Pacific Standard Time

Chicken and Shrimp Stew

Awhile back my mom gave me this decrepit looking cookbook called the Low Calorie Diet Cookbook. I actually can’t even find a picture of it online, which shocks me. This book was published in the ’70s by Success Publications. When I first decided I wanted to lose weight my mom gave me a bunch of books which she had purchased previously for low-cal recipes. Some of the cookbooks she gave me flat out sucked. I was convinced this one was going to also, but tonight’s meal was just one of many that came from the cookbook.

I did end up making some variations from the original recipe, but that had to do with what I actually had to work with in the house.

This was a delicious meal for a cold night.

Chicken and Shrimp Stew

Ingredients
8 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
8 oz shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 tbsp Brummel&Brown
3 cups diced potato
2 14-oz cans fire-roasted diced tomato
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped

Directions

 1. In a pot over medium heat, melt the Brummel&Brown spread. Add the potatoes until brown. In the pot add the onion, tomato, and bell pepper. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until the potatoes are tender.

2. Add some water or chicken broth if it seems too thick. Add the chicken. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the shrimp and cook for 5 minutes more.

* serves 4
* 380 calories per serving
* shared with Cookbook Sundays over at Couscous & Consciousness 

Easy Jambalaya

Jambalaya, a-crawfish pie and-a file gumbo
‘Cause tonight I’m gonna see my ma cher amio
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-oh
Son of a gun, we’ll have big fun on the bayou.
- Hank Williams Jr.

While this obviously isn’t a traditional jambalaya, it was tasty and it was easy.

Easy Jambalaya

Ingredients
1 tbsp canola oil
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 small red bell peppers, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 cups dried rice
2 cups water
15 oz fire roasted petite diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 chicken sausage, sliced
15 oz boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks
5 oz raw shrimp, deveined and peeled

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a pot. Once hot add in the vegetables and cook until the onion is translucent. Add the spices and saute for a minute.

2. Add the rice and saute for a few minutes to toast. Add the tomatoes, water, chicken, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until the rice is tender.

3. Remove the bay leaf. Add the sausage, shrimp, and parsley. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the shrimp are pink.

* serves 4
* 550 calories per serving

Ground Pork and Bacon Wraps

I told you in my last post that after making the Swedish Meatballs I had excess thawed ground beef and ground pork. Rather than get out more meat to use, I decided to alter the recipes I had upcoming in my meal plan to make sure everything got used up. This meal initially was supposed to be chicken and bacon fajita. Since the ground beef was used in the tetrazzini, it only followed that the ground pork was going into the next dish: the fajitas, which I am going to call wraps instead since I did not use fajita sized tortillas.

The flavor of the ground pork plus the… more pork (bacon) was delicious. This was such an easy recipe, but still had a ton of flavor packed into the tortilla.

Ground Pork and Bacon Wraps

Ingredients
12 oz ground pork
3 slices bacon, diced
1/2 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cups mushrooms, chopped
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
4 multi-grain tortillas (I used La Tortilla Factory tortillas)

Directions

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-heat. Cook the pork until it is no longer pink in the middle. Set aside.

2. Cook the bacon until the bacon begins to release some oil.  Stir in the onion and bell peppers. Cook until the onions are translucent and the bacon is crispy. Stir in the tomatoes and mushrooms and continue to cook until the mushrooms are soft.

3. Warm the tortillas. Scoop 1/4 of the mixture into each tortilla. Roll and enjoy!

* serves 4
* 1 wrap per serving
* 413 calories per serving