Maple Mousse

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Maple Mousse

A cherished dessert first tasted in Vermont near "Snuggler's Notch" when skiing with family

Boil 1-1/4 cups maple syrup for 1 minute.  Beat 4 egg yolks until thick and fluffy.  Slowly pour hot syrup onto yolks, beating.  Cook in double boiler over hot water, stirring, until custard coats back of metal spoon.  Soften 1-tablespoon gelatin in 3-tablespoons cold water for 3 minutes.  Add to custard.  (I usually use half the softened gelatin so it isn’t too stiff). Stir to dissolve.  Remove.  Cool until syrupy.  Fold in 1-cup cream whipped with 1-teaspoon vanilla. Pour into small teacups or custard dishes.  Chill 2 hours.  Garnish with sweetened whipped cream and shaved chocolate.  Makes 8 quarter cup servings.

Submitted by Elizabeth W.

Buckwheat Cakes

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Buckwheat Cakes:
From the kitchen of Ginny and Bob A.

 1  yeast (cake or equivalent)
1 cup warm water
2 cups buttermilk
2 1/2 cups buckwheat flour
1/2 tsp salt

Dissolve yeast in warm water.  Add all in a bowl and mix.
Cover with a dish towel and set overnight.

When ready to use:  Add 1 small tsp baking soda and stir well.
Cook on hot, lightly greased griddle.

Retain some of the batch as a starter.  For next batch use the starter instead of the yeast and warm water.  I find the first batch is not as good as subsequent batches.  Sometimes when I start a batch in the fall, I do not use it but just use it as a big starter.  This with real maple syrup is wonderful.  Keep the starter cool so it does not work much.

We hope you enjoy buckwheat cakes as we do.  After you have them a couple of times you may develop a taste for them as we did and nothing else quite matches them.

Submitted by Ginny and Bob A.

Maple Sugar Biscuits

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Maple Sugar Biscuits

(or sticky buns)
... an ultimate treat with the season's fresh syrup.

biscuit batter
maple syrup
walnuts

Prepare biscuit batter by any recipe. Pour syrup into baking dish, 3/8" deep. Heat in 400° F oven 'til bubbly around edges. Sprinkle walnuts over hot syrup. Scatter biscuits on top, dropped or rolled, leaving some space between. Bake 15-20 minutes. Serve at once with cream or yogurt. 

Maple Syrup Cookies

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Maple Syrup Cookies

An old Vermont recipe described as “nice to come home to.” We think they are nice to take on family car trips.

1 cup maple syrup
½ cup soft butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
½ cup milk
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt

Beat syrup and better to a cream. Add eggs, well beaten, and vanilla. Add milk alternately with flour mixed and sifted with baking powder and salt. You may roll these cookies out, but I just drop them on the greased cookie sheet and flatten with a glass dipped in milk. Bake 10-12 minutes at 400.

Mom’s Popovers

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Mom’s Popovers
A Nice Change From Pancakes

2 eggs
Dash of salt
½ cup flour
½ cup milk
1 T. butter

Set oven at 425. Dab the butter onto a pie plate and place it in the oven to melt. Beat the eggs, then beat in the other ingredients. Pour batter into hot pie plate. Bake 15-17 minutes. Serve at once with maple syrup.

Audrey’s Blueberry Soup

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Audrey’s Blueberry Soup

A winter staple at Nebraska Knoll

3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (I use frozen)
4 cups water
4 T. cornstarch
¼ cup maple syrup, or more to taste
cinnamon

Add cornstarch to cold water, heat and whisk until it boils and turns clear. Add the blueberries and simmer 15-20 minutes. Add syrup and cinnamon to taste.

Audrey’s Pumpkin Pie Or Custard

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Audrey’s Pumpkin Pie Or Custard

Mix together:
1 pint milk
1 ½ cups pumpkin
2 eggs (beaten)
½ tsp. salt
½ cup maple syrup (or less, to taste)
½ T. cinnamon
½ T. ginger

Pour into pie crust. Bake at 450 for ten minutes, then at 325 for twenty or thirty minutes, or until firm.

For custard, bake in a greased baking dish at 325 until firm.

Audrey’s Granola

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Audrey’s Granola

Combine dry ingredients:
7 cups rolled oats
1 cup wheat germ
½ cup coconut
1 cup nuts (I prefer sliced almonds)
½ tsp. salt

Combine wet ingredients:
½ cup maple syrup, preferably a darker grade
½ cup oil
½ cup boiling water
½ tsp. vanilla (optional)

Mix dry and wet ingredients well.
Bake in 325 oven about one hour, or until golden brown. Stir a few times.

May be doubled or tripled.

Pumpkin Pie

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Pumpkin Pie
From the kitchen of Audrey Coty

Connecticut College
COOK BOOK

It’s a navy blue hardback book the size of a smart phone. Inside the cover is this photo:

This pocket cookbook was published in 1922 by the Connecticut College Endowment Fund. It came to me from the home of my grandfather-in-law, Daddy Lewis, who lived on Shelter Island, across Long Island Sound by ferry from New London, CT.

Here is an excerpt from the Introduction:
     One day a friend of Aunt Colie was giving a party, and asked, as a neighborly favor, that Aunt Colie make a cake for her. The party was a great success and the cake met with such approval that it was suggested, half in fun, that Aunt Colie “go into the business.” As she was a widow, and was quite alone, after some consideration, she did, “go into the business.”

What I notice are the commas, how they pace the reading of that last sentence, how they date the writing.

Each recipe is like a tweet, and most of each page is blank. Aunt Colie assumes the reader will know how hot to make the oven, and how to tell when the cake or pie is thoroughly baked.

*****************************************************************
POPOVERS:

     Make some little time before baking.  One pint milk, 1 pint flour, 2 eggs, salt.  Beat eggs (without separating) then add to them a little of the milk and then a little of the flour-alternating.  Bake in hot buttered pans.

***************************************************************

A sliver of pumpkin pie on the forest floor.

  I want to be Aunt Colie in her big sunny kitchen seeming to consist entirely of windows and bright calendars, and of Aunt Colie in a big white apron, a yellow bowl under her arm, and a big spoon beating, click, click, click, through white frosting.

Did she sing? Was there a grandchild leaning over the table, licking the spoon?

Aunt Colie calls her recipes “rules.” Here is her rule for pumpkin pie, which I have broken by substituting maple syrup for the molasses and sugar. Pumpkin pie rules vary in the ratios of milk (or cream) to pumpkin (or squash )to sugar to eggs to spices. I long ago settled on Aunt Colie’s variation.

*****************************************************************
PUMPKIN PIE

1 pint milk                                                                1/2 cup (or less) maple syrup, any grade
1 1/2 cups squash                                                   1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
2 eggs (beaten)                                                        1/2 tablespoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
Mix well together and bake in one crust.  After the pie is in the oven put 3 or 4 spoonfuls of cold milk on top of pie – this makes it brown.

Carley's Pancakes

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From the kitchen of Carly

Carly’s notes:
On the left: my dad’s 1:1:1 “pancake skeleton” ie he always would add other things, but those were the essentials.

On the right: a good overnight oat soak (mix the wet ingredients the night before with the oats, then in the morning mix the dry and add soaked oat mixture and more milk or yogurt if needed).

Vinegar Pie

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VINEGAR PIE – It’s Actually Really Good
From the kitchen of Maple Trout Lilli

On this blustery Sunday (wind chill 6 degrees), Maple Trout Lilli stayed cozy in her kitchen. She writes:

Normally I don’t associate vinegar with dessert and it’s for this reason that the following recipe grabbed my attention. From another era when you worked with what was locally available and utilized everything.

I came across this reference to Vinegar Pie in a book I’m reading which spans the mid-1800’s to depression era in Vermont.   I did some digging and reworked a recipe I found online to include maple sugar. Why Vinegar?? Because you’re back in the late 1800’s, you’re a pioneer with no access to fresh fruit, you’re resourceful and you’ve exhausted your supply of apples, save a little vinegar in the bottom of the barrel.

I could probably add some other fancy words to this humble title, but I want you all to be intrigued by its name enough to give it a try.

VINEGAR PIE

1 8” pie crust, baked
¼ cup sifted all purpose flour
1 cup maple sugar – divided
1 cup water
3 egg yolks
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 teaspoon maple syrup
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3 egg whites
4 tablespoons maple sugar

1. Preheat Oven to 325
2. Mix flour with ½ cup sugar. Add the water gradually and cook on top of a double boiler for 15 minutes, stirring constantly, or until thickened.
3. Combine remaining ½ cup sugar with the yolks and salt. Mix well with a whisk until sugar is dissolved. Add hot flour mixture to the yolk mixture gradually, mixing all the time. Return to the double boiler and cook for 3 minutes or more until the mixture is thick and smooth
4. Add butter, maple syrup and vinegar.     Mix well and remove from heat. Place of piece of waxed paper on top of the custard.
5. Meanwhile, beat the egg whites until foamy and gradually add the 3 tablespoons of sugar. Beat until a stiff, flossy peak is achieved.
6. Remove wax paper and pour custard filling into the prebaked shell. Top w/meringue. Place in oven and bake until meringue is nice and brown, about 15 minutes.

-MTL

Maple Ginger Beer

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Maple Ginger Beer
From the kitchen of Sarah Bailey

Guest blogger Sarah Bailey (see Thriving in the Sugarhouse,  3/17/17) writes:

If you’re already familiar and experienced in keeping cultures and fermenting beverages this recipe is a breeze. If the world of fermentation is totally new to you, I’ll try to make it easy enough.

The basic recipe is as follows:

1-3 inches ginger (depending on how spicy you like it)
1 cup sugar (I tried substituting syrup here once and I’ll explain why NOT to do that below)
1 gallon water less one cup
1 cup “ginger bug” juice
Juice of 2-3 small limes (optional but adds good flavor)
1 tbsp maple syrup (essential for flavor and added minerals)

Mince ginger and boil in a gallon of water with sugar and maple syrup until ginger aroma is very apparent and fills the area. Allow to cool.
Add lime and ginger bug and pour into gallon jug with airlock.
Wait a week. After a week of brewing in the gallon jug there should be some visible fermentation going on. You’ll be able to notice tiny bubbles traveling in your jug and bursting as they reach the top.
Bottle off into “grolsch” style, flip top, or other air tight bottles/containers for carbonation.
Wait another week to two weeks depending on how warm the area is that you’re storing your bottles(I wait the full two weeks in my apartment in winter but have had bottles over carbonate in summer). I’d recommend popping open a tester bottle after a week and deciding if you’re happy with the flavor and level of fizz.

This recipe takes some experimentation at first but after your second of third batch, if you’ve made notes of what you’ve adjusted, you’ll be proud to bring some of your homemade ginger beer to share with friends!

How to make and keep a ginger bug

*Ginger contains natural yeast on its skin so avoid peeling and source organic when possible.

Add a tbsp minced ginger and a tbsp white sugar to one cup water in jar with tightly fitted lid with room.
Add another tablespoon of both minced ginger and white sugar until bubbles and pressure are clearly building up.

That’s it! You’ve nursed your own starter culture to health and it’s ready to use. When you begin to use your ginger bug to make fermented beveragesyou can avoid the week or so restart time by saving some of the white residue that sits at the bottom of the jar and use that to “feed” your next batch, just refill with water and add a bit more ginger and sugar between uses.

Now that you’re set up for success in brewingdelicious maple ginger beer (which I would recommend serving with a good whiskey on the rocks garnished with a lime wedge), I’ll let you know what NOT to do with your next batch.

There are a lot of reasons why we should be limiting our intake of white sugar and a lot of places we can identify to cut back, but replacing the conventional sugar in your ginger beer with a whole cup of maple syrup is not the way to go about it.

I’ll tell you that the actual flavor was amazing; the brew tasted great! What wasn’t so great was the texture. It was like slugging back honey, thick enough to run but not the refreshing effervescent soda you were hoping for. I had basically created a fermented syrup that was too thick to carbonate naturally on its own. What I did end up doing with the remaining bottles I didn’t have the courage to drink was cooking my morning oats in the ginger syrup which turned out pretty darn tasty.

I started a new batch with the same recipe as above but with maple SUGAR, not syrup, and no white sugar involved except in feeding the ginger bug.

We’ll see in a couple weeks how this batch turns out. Experimentation is good fun and can turn out surprisingly well (and weird at times), but there’s also something to be said for the tried and true.

Happy fermenting folks!

*If anyone tries the recipe and has questions, comments, trials and tribulations, shoot me a line in the comments! I’d like to hear how it goes.

-SB

Posted in Vermont Maple Recipes | Tagged maple ginger beer

-MTL

Salade de printemps

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Salade de printemps
From the kitchen of Maple Trout Lilli

Next we hear from Maple Trout Lilli who writes:

Here’s a recipe I found online for a delicious, bold take on asparagus.   It’s hearty enough for a light dinner and the crisp, sweet caramelized scallions are delicious paired with the asparagus.  Bon appétit.

SPRING SALAD

• ¼ cup farro or any grain really
• 2 ½ teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons lime juice
• 1 small garlic clove, grated on a Microplane or minced
•  Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed
• 1 bunch asparagus (1 pound), woody ends trimmed
• 1 bunch scallions (about 5 ounces), halved lengthwise and crosswise to form 2-inch-long ribbons
• 3 ounces (3 cups) salad greens, such as baby arugula
•  Pecorino or mild cheddar

PREPARATION

1. Bring a small pot of heavily salted water to a boil, stir in farro, cover, and simmer until al dente, 20 to 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together 2 teaspoons soy sauce, lime juice, garlic, and pinch salt and pepper. Drizzle in 3 tablespoons oil, whisking constantly.
3. Drain farro and stir immediately into dressing while still warm.
4. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Spread asparagus and scallions over a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle liberally with oil, 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce and a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss to combine, then arrange in a single layer. Roast until they start to char in spots, about 20 minutes. Let cool slightly: The asparagus are best while still a little warm but not hot enough to wilt the greens.

GREEN, GREENS, GREENS

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Ka-Pow
GREEN, GREENS, GREENS
From the kitchen of Maple Trout Lilli

I recently read an article whose byline was “Let’s all stop pretending we love Kale.” Agreed, so let’s eat Chard instead. A vibrant dressing makes these humble leaves go Ka-Pow. Jolt your taste buds like the Nebraska Knoll crew jolts the boiling sap when it’s about to froth out of the back pan: The moment someone flicks a dab of butter onto it to subdue the froth, it roars back, Ka-Pow.

Now for the stats: Heartier than spinach but more tender than kale, one cup of raw Swiss Chard contains more than 300 percent of your recommended intake of vitamin K.   Ka – Pow again!

Simple, easy and oh-so-delicious when we’re all craving freshness.

DIRECTIONS:
Wash 1 bunch Swiss Chard; pat dry. Discard stalks and slice leaves into thin ribbons.

Dressing: Whisk together
2 Tbsp. Soy sauce
2 Tbsp. Olive oil
1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
2 Tbsp. Maple syrup
2 tsp. brown rice vinegar
juice of ½ lime
1 garlic clove minced.

Mix greens with dressing and top w/sliced avocado and sesame seed or cashews.

-MTL

Daylight Savings Breakfast

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MTL’s Granola
From the kitchen of Maple Trout Lilli

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup unsweetened shredded or flaked coconut
¼ cup toasted wheat germ
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon coarse salt
½ Cup maple syrup
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 large egg white
1 ½ cups dried cherries or other dried fruit, diced if large pieces

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. 
Combine all ingredients but the egg white and dried fruit in a large bowl, tossing to coat evenly.
Whisk egg white in a small bowl until frothy. Stir into granola mixture, distributing it throughout.
Spread it in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 45-50 minutes.

About halfway through the baking time, use a large spatula to turn over sections of the granola, carefully breaking them up as little as possible. Rotate pan if granola is baking unevenly. When evenly browned and feels dry to touch, transfer the pan from the oven to cooling rack.

Cool completely. Sprinkle on dried fruit.

Keeps at room temp. in airtight container for 2 weeks, or freezer for even longer if you’re a stockpiler.

Seared Grapefruit with Ginger Maple Syrup

They’re kind of like fruit pancakes. No batter here, just ruby red grapefruit rounds, served with maple syrup spiked with a little grated ginger….soooo good.

2 Grapefruits, preferably ruby red
2-4 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon butter
½ tsp. fresh grated ginger root (or to taste)
Cranberry or Pomegranate seeds for garnish

Step 1: Cut away ends of each grapefruit. Stand on a flat end, and remove the skin and pith by cutting down the sides of the fruit. Slice each grapefruit horizontally into 4 or 5 thick rounds.

Step 2: Grate fresh ginger and mix with maple syrup. Alternately, you can buy a ginger juice, that works too.   Heat both together.

Step 3: Heat butter over medium high heat and sear grapefruit slices for no more than 20 seconds on each side and remove to a plate. Drizzle with ginger maple syrup, garnish with pomegranate seeds or dried cranberries and serve at once while grapefruit is still warm.

-MTL

Creamed Maple Walnut Tart

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That Maple Walnut Combo
From the kitchen of Maple Trout Lilli

To get to Nebraska Knoll you follow the road that crosses Miller Brook and swoops sharply right into Nebraska Valley. The first house you pass is Joe and Becky’s on the left. Look to see if their sheep have lambed. You may glimpse a chicken or rabbit in the yard. Notice the skis lined up on the porch, a syrup pan set up in the garage with the smoke stack poking outside. They tap the maples across the road by Miller Brook.

Becky is famous in these parts for remembering and celebrating birthdays. To fˆête her on her May 5th birthday, Maple Trout Lilli lavished her time and talent on creating this exquisite tart:

CREAMED MAPLE WALNUT TART   (Becky’s Birthday Tart)

Remember the days of maple walnut combo… in ice cream, particularly? Well this recipe was adapted by someone who missed that good old New England flavor combination and decided to recreate those special flavors unique to our area.   Pastry crust is fine but this unusual shell is more than just a holding pen for its filling. Think of the possibilities with strawberry season fast approaching.

 Makes one 8X11 inch rectangular tart

½ cup granulated maple sugar
1/2  cup white sugar
3 large eggs at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ cup maple syrup, divided
¾ cup chopped walnuts, toasted
¾ cup unsalted soda crackers, crushed
1 teaspoon baking powder
16 intact walnut halves
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottom and sides of a rectangular tart pan.  A large round one will work too. But regardless of its shape, it’s best to use a removable bottomed pan.

Combine white and maple sugars in a small bowl.  Put the egg whites and salt in a large mixing bowl and beat together at high speed until you get soft peaks. Keep whipping them as you slowly add the sugar, two tablespoons at a time, until the cup of sugar is fully incorporated into egg and you’ve got glossy peaks.  Slowly mix in two tablespoons of maple syrup. Fold in the chopped walnuts, crusted soda crackers and baking powder. Spread the mixture into the prepared tart pan, taking care to make the sides high, so that there is good indentation the middle to hold the maple whipped cream for service.

Bake the shell 25-35 minutes or until the meringue is golden but not brown. Remove from the oven and cool completely. Refrigerate the shell at least two hours (preferable overnight if you’ve got the time).

Meanwhile put ¼ cup maple syrup in a non-stick skillet and add the walnut halves, coating them with syrup. Heat up the mixture on medium letting the syrup bubble up around the nuts. When the syrup is caramelized and very sticky and the nuts are coated, they are sufficiently candied. Lift the nuts out of the pan one at a time and let them cool separately on lightly buttered parchment.   Store in airtight container, until ready to use.

When you are ready to serve the tart, whip the cream to soft peaks. Add 4 tablespoons of maple syrup and whip the cream a bit more. Spread the cream in the meringue cavity. Top with candied walnuts and serve.  This does keep well in the fridge for several hours.

Eat Your Greens!

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Maple Trout Lilli advises:
EAT YOUR GREENS!

From the kitchen of Maple Trout Lilli

“Swiss Chard” No, it doesn’t taste like chocolate or keep great time. It gets the name Swiss Chard (a.k.a Green Chard) because of its extensive cultivation in Switzerland. The botanist who discovered and then named it hailed from Switzerland. However, its origin is farther south, in the Mediterranean region, specifically Sicily.

So now that you’ve had a little background…Welcome Spring and with that a quick and easy way to prepare Swiss Chard.   The maple syrup and sherry vinegar add a sweet spark to this dish.

Serves 4

1/3 cup cashews
2 pounds rainbow chard, washed and ends trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ of a large red onion
¼ tsp. smoked paprika
½ cup golden raisins
½ cup low sodium vegetable stock
S&P
1/2 tablespoon maple syrup
1/2 tablespoon sherry vinegar

1. Remove center ribs from chard with a sharp knife. Cut the ribs into ½ inch pieces and set aside. Coarsely chop the chard leaves and set aside.
2. Using a large heavy-bottomed skillet, heat oil. Add onion, paprika and chard rib pieces. Cook over medium for 5 minutes.
3. Add chard leaves and cook, stirring until leaves wilt, about 3 minutes
4. Add raisins and stock, cover and cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, stirring once or twice.
5. Transfer to a serving dish.
6. Combine maple syrup and sherry vinegar and toss with chard.
7. Top with cashews and serve.

Adapted from TheChef

[Editor’s Note: MTL brought up this dish, just as pictured, for the vegetable-starved crew. Divine.]

Cheese and Crackers Exalted

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Cheese and Crackers Exalted
From the kitchen of Maple Trout Lilli

I recommend placing a thin slice of your favorite VT cheese …hard, sharp cheddar or soft creamy, tart Brie, onto the most delectable of crackers. The combination of crunch, slight maple sweetness and ever-so-tart cheese will do for to your taste buds what above freezing temperatures and sunshine are doing to the sugar maples this spring. Enjoy two local, unique products whose flavor should invoke your own personal images of the beautiful place we call home. Spread the Joy!

WHOLE WHEAT MAPLE CRACKERS

1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
¼ cup maple sugar + more for sprinkling
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick cold unsalted butter cut into ½ inch pieces
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup maple syrup + more for brushing
Pinch of coarse sea salt or to taste
Optional dried rosemary  [Editor’s note: not optional to my mind]

In a food processor, combine both flours with ¼ cup maple sugar and salt. Pulse to mix, Scatter cold butter on top and pulse until a coarse meal forms. Add water and ¼ cup of maple syrup and pulse until the dough comes together when you pinch it. Scrape out onto a work surface and press together. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces and shape into disks; wrap in plastic and chill for an hour or longer.

Preheat oven 400 and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. On a floured work surface, dust 1 disk of dough with flour. Roll out dough into a 12-inch round and transfer to prepared baking sheet. Repeat. Brush with syrup and sprinkle with maple sugar and a bit of coarse sea salt. Second time around I added a sprinkling of dried rosemary onto before baking for a more savory flavor.

Bake for 18 minutes, until crisp; shift the sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through. Transfer to racks and cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough. Break into shards.

-MTL, Inspired by Justin Chapple

Maple Sweet Potato Cakes

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Maple Sweet Potato Cakes
From the kitchen of Maple Trout Lilli

A second chance for the oh-so-sweet, sweet potato…no marshmallows with these; just our good old friend, maple syrup. A nice balance of sweet and spicy (there’s that combination again) but not overly sweet, plus the Greek yogurt makes a rich counterpart. These cakes will scorch when you’re not watching…so look alive and practice your wrist flipping skills.   Just in time for Passover/Easter …wow the elders with these faux latkes.

MAPLE SWEET POTATO CAKES WITH
CURRIED GREEK YOGURT

CURRIED GREEK YOGURT

5 ounces 2% Greek yogurt
½ tsp. curry powder
S&P to taste

MAPLE SWEET POTATO CAKES

1 large sweet potato, peeled and shredded
½ tsp. kosher salt
1 egg
1 ½ tablespoons maple syrup
½ tsp. pepper
½ tsp. paprika
1 pinch cinnamon
½ cup minced yellow onion, sautéed
1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
Grapeseed oil for frying

Make curried Greek yogurt by mixing all ingredients in a small bowl…easy
Saute onion in a bit of oil on med-low for about 10 min.
Make cakes by placing shredded potato in a large bowl and toss w/salt, letting it stand for 5 min.
Meanwhile, whisk together egg, maple syrup, pepper, paprika and cinnamon. Usingyour hands, squeeze all excess liquid out of potato.       Add potato, onion and breadcrumbs to egg mixture and combine well.[Has someone been nibbling? I thought there were five..  -AC]
[Has someone been sneaking these? I thought there were five on the plate..  -AC]

Form mixture into 8-10 cakes. Heat griddle or large pan to medium. Coat with oil. (I used grapeseed oil because it can withstand a higher heat without smoking). Place potato cakes on griddle and cook for 8-10 until crispy and brown, flattening with spatula as they cook…
Serve while crisp with Curried Greek Yogurt.

-MTL
Thanks to Foxes Love Lemons Blog

Napa Cabbage Salad

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NAPA CABBAGE SALAD
 From the kitchen of Maple Trout Lilli

To date  I’ve focused mostly on maple-infused desserts, perhaps leading to the false impression that this is the only suitable use of  the spring nectar.  Maple syrup is an ideal replacement for all other lesser classes of sweeteners (sugar, karo syrup, molasses, etc), not only addressing the sweet piece of our pallet but also imparting it’s own unique and subtle woodsy/smoky flavor.

Following is a recipe utilizing  spring’s bounty.   Enjoy and explore maple’s possibilities throughout your culinary repertoire.

East meets West in this wonderful salad which encompasses all of the crowd pleasing elements:    crisp, crunchy, sweet and sour.
 
THE SALAD
1 Head Napa Cabbage
1 Bunch Scallions
THE CRUNCH
2 TBS Butter
1 TBS Olive Oil
3 oz Package Ramen Noodles, broken
2 TBS Sesame Seeds (black if you have them for more flavor)
1 Cup Slivered Almonds

THE DRESSING
1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
1/4 Cup Rice Wine Vinegar
1 TBS Soy Sauce
1 TBS Sesame Oil
1 TBS Maple Syrup

THE DIRECTIONS:
1.  Finely shred cabbage and combine with minced scallions; cover and refrigerate.
2.  Preheat oven to 350.  Melt butter and oil and toss w/ramen, sesame seeds and almonds.  Spoon onto a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, shaking often to make sure they don’t burn.  When brown remove from oven and cool.
3.  Combine dressing ingredients and shake.
4.  Combine salad, crunch and dressing immediately before serving.  It is a heavily dressed salad, so be cautious and use a bit at a time to your liking.  Toss when ready to eat otherwise it looses it’s crunch.
Adapted from Bobby Hale’s Napa Cabbage Ramen Salad
—Maple Trout Lilli