Lightly sweet and crispy retro eggplant slices pulled out of memory to today’s dinner table.

Eggplant Fritters

By Sue Lau | Palatable Pastime

Years ago one of my favorite convenience foods to buy was a kind of eggplant fritter made by Mrs. Paul’s frozen foods (not the Eggplant Parm they also carried). It had a lightly sweet flavor  in the batter.  Over time, I moved away and the stores I went to didn’t carry that or a similar zucchini sticks  they made and it faded out of memory. At least until one day I  stumbled across a a photo of a box of it online,  then I suddenly was  craving it desperately. I saved it to make sure I wasn’t daydreaming, and would try to recreate  it.

Is this something you remember from years past?

The only reference to something like this that I have seen was an eggplant fritter done by Emeril Lagasse, but  his isn’t quite the same. It needs that bit of sweetness in the batter or it doesn’t connect my brain to the food I ate and loved years  ago.

I was very happy to be able to share this with y0u as part of a cooking challenge I am  participating in with friends online. This recipe holds a place in my heart.

And to be certain, don’t be freaked about the sugar, because it works. It is also good without the extra and just a light sweetness. I hope this is something you enjoy as much as I do and that perhaps it sparks a food memory for you as well.

Ready, Set, Cook!

Another year, another #RSC…

If you recall, a couple weeks ago I told you about #RSC, in that I have been presented with a limited list of cooking ingredients and am confined to that to develop recipes. It’s sort of like a chopped basket.

Here are links to the recipes I created a couple of weeks ago in Round One:

Curried Chicken Lollipops

Vodka Paloma

Creamy Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo Soup

Wild Rice and Mushroom Cabbage Rolls

Then  I  created four more recipes for Round Two:

Spicy Asian Chicken Tacos

Blueberry Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Appalachian Tomato Gravy

Blueberry Oven Baked Pancake

Also, for those who have followed me online over the years, here is one of the recipes I put in for the first RSC on Recipezaar back in 2002. It won.

Santa Fe Pork Medallions with Peach Salsa

Here is another recipe that won in  a RSC a different year, and also in a CSM contest:

Strawberry Sweetheart Streusel Muffins

And now it is time for:

Round 3

Which is the last cooking round  for the year, after which we cook each other’s recipes for the round.

So far, I have made two:

Bronx Breakfast Sandwich

Garlic Toasted Cheese Loaf

For the third round, the ingredients and courses have changed from rounds one and two. The object is to select a course, and create a recipe using one of the main ingredients and anything from the pantry list but nothing else. I wonder…what would you have made with these?

Round 3 – Categories 

• Breads:
• Sandwiches/Wraps:
• Vegetarian Dishes:
• Casseroles: 

Round 3 – Main Ingredients List

• Ground meat/ beef/chicken/turkey
• Pasta – penne/ziti/macaroni/cannelloni/fusilli  
• Rice –  white/brown  
• Flour/ all purpose/bread & roll/whole wheat/rice/potato/cornflour/cornstarch
• Yeast
• Cornmeal/polenta/grits 
• Cheese/ Cheddar/Monterey jack/Havarti/Gruyere/Mozzarella 
• Mushrooms/ oyster, button, wild, cremini, portabella
• Fresh Leafy Vegetables /Spinach/arugula/cabbage/Swiss chard/beet greens
• Peppers / Sweet red bell/ Poblano pepper/ cayenne peppers – (ground poblano, ground ancho and ground cayenne)
• Hot sauce
• Cucumber (no pickles)

Round 3 – Pantry List

• Cream soup/ mushroom/chicken
• Bread crumbs/ fresh/dried 
• Onions/ sweet/red – white/shallots/scallions
• Marinara Sauce/ fresh tomatoes /canned – diced 
• Peaches/ apricots/pears/avocado/ cherries
• 1/2 and 1/2 cream/ heavy cream/milk
• Italian seasoning – (dried mix of – oregano, marjoram, thyme, basil, rosemary and sage) (not to be used separately)
• Dijon mustard/ original/coarse/smooth 
• Condiments /mayonnaise – plain/ketchup/mustard 
• Nuts/ walnuts/hazelnuts/pecans/pine nuts
• Vinegar – Red wine/ white balsamic/apple cider
• Dried fruit/ golden raisins/currants/figs/candied ginger/ dried mango/dried pear
• Canned salmon
• Horseradish cream
• Chicken/vegetable broth
• Citrus /orange /lemon
• Eggplant/artichokes/zucchini
• Potatoes /squash/turnip/ rutabaga
• Eggs
• Jarred pesto sauce red/green/walnut
• Beans/ canned – black/cannellini/chickpeas/pink/kidney/ baked beans
• Sliced meats/ Ham/turkey/salami/chicken/ pastrami/roast beef/pimento loaf/prosicutto
• Fats/ Butter/ olive oil/coconut oil/peanut oil
• Sweetener/ sugar/white/brown/agave
• Baking powder/ baking soda
• Garlic – fresh/powdered
• Bread /rolls/wraps/naan (white, whole wheat, french, Italian, etc) dinner/sandwich roll (no dessert rolls – cinnamon buns, pastries, crossiants, etc) – wraps – (flatbread, pita, flour/corn tortilla)
• Spices – cinnamon,nutmeg, all spice, Chinese 5 spice, ginger, star anise, cardamom, fennel seeds, caraway and cumin
• Salt 
• Pepper