New Year’s Nosh

Do you know how many times we’ve stayed home on New Year’s Eve, watching Times Square on television as each time zone rings in the new year?

Plenty.

This year we were invited to a friend’s in south Austin, quite a hike for us on the opposite side of the city.  I got all girly and put on a dress (not noticing I haven’t shaved in about 3 months but it’s blonde so no one should see it).  Little Sister was just gorgeous in her holiday dress, I took a stab at trimming her fine baby hair that was growing haphazardly at the back of her head.  You can’t really tell any hair is missing, it’s still fuzzy.

Our friend made a simple cracker spread out of smoked oysters and soft cream cheese.  She just mashed it up and sort of made a mold with the mixing bowl and inverted it on a platter for crackers.  Along with the oyster spread was cream cheese doused in what tasted like mango chutney.  Very simple and very easy to eat.

Hubby enjoyed the oyster cheese dip so much that he wanted it again for dinner today.  The inaugural trip to the grocery store was full of bleary eyed shoppers, who probably just woke up to make it to the store before dark. Night had fallen while we spent the better part of an hour gathering essentials for the house, and the smoked oysters of course.  Little Sister partied as hard as we did, she passed out in the bumper car themed cart for kids (Not the best idea when you know there are loads of groceries to pick up, the actual cart volume is smaller than the regular carts!).

Dinner was a thick steak seasoned with Worcestershire sauce and Montreal Steak Spice, left to marinade and adjust to room temperature on the counter for 20 -25 minutes (the time I took to make rice).  I also sautéed mushrooms and yellow onion for the steak.  The cream cheese (2 – 3 oz) and smoked oyster (3 oz can) was a strong compliment to the beef.  You’d think we were in fancy rotating restaurant in downtown Calgary!

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Buffalo Corn Fritters with Chive Dip

As football season comes around I start thinking about finger food.  Everyone on FN (Food Network.com for y’all who are new here) is rallying up their best game day snacks – and most are thinking about budgets.  I love to cook and share the food with friends and family, big game day is a perfect stage for this flare for food of mine.

Keeping budget in mind, not that I have a finite number in my head, or that there’s one agreed upon, it’s still in the forefront when dreaming up interesting nosh for Hubby and gang.

While eating lunch, which included a side of corn kernels to attempt to boost my veggie intake at work, I threw some hot sauce and butter over the sweet little nubs of corn.  Sprinkle with salt and you have yourself one cool combination of spicy, sweet and salty!  What if this was fried up in some Johnny cake batter?  I was enthralled with the idea.  This would be a simple twist on corn cakes that would taste like Buffalo wings, without the chicken to weigh down the imaginary budget.

Adapted from Paula Deen‘s Corn Fritters

Yield: 24 fritters

• 1 1/4 cups self-rising cornmeal mix
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup 1/8 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 2 large eggs, slightly beaten
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
• 1 (15.25 ounce) can corn, drained  1 cup frozen corn, warmed through*
• hot sauce*
• Vegetable oil, for frying

Heat oil to 325ºF.

In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal mix, flour, sugar, and salt. In a small bowl, combine milk and eggs. Add milk mixture to cornmeal mixture, stirring well. Stir in butter and corn.

Pour oil to a depth of 2 inches in a Dutch oven, or use a deep-fryer. Drop by tablespoons into hot oil. Cook 2 to 4 minutes, or until golden, turning once. Drain on paper towels.

Chive Dip

The small patch of chives growing in the front garden were put to work for a fresh dip.

• bunch of fresh chives, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, roasted in the skin
• 1 cup sour cream
• pinch of salt

Roast the garlic cloves in the oven ahead of time.  I like to throw them in with whatever is cooking the night before since the oven is already on anyhow.  Peel the skins off or squish the pulp out of the paper casing.  Mash the garlic with a little salt then add the chives and sour cream.  Mix well and add more salt if needed.

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