Chicken Chile Relleno Pies

You want these.  They're among the best things I've made all year.  These Chicken Chile Relleno Pies are made of a cornmeal dough that's wonderfully sandy and a bit crumbly, and filled with roasted poblanos, chicken, cheese, and corn.  The ingredients, rather than standing out individually, all melt together into delicious, savory mouthfuls.  The poblanos and ancho chile powder heat it up with Southwest flavor.

The pies are admittedly labor-intensive and time-consuming, but you won't regret it.  Double the cornmeal dough recipe, which yielded only enough dough for me to use half of the filling.  Set aside time to make them all, then freeze and reheat to snack on whenever.  They would make a good potluck contribution, but if you're like me you'll hoard just about all of them.  This is the kind of comfort food you'll want to warm yourself up with all winter.

Roasted Corn Salad

I could have attacked this whole dish with a spoon, it was that good.  Fresh corn and some poblano get slightly smoky under the broiler, and then mingle with the fresh flavors of tomato, scallion, and basil.  My friend Dorothy asked for the recipe, and I said, "What recipe?  I threw it together."  But it was easy enough that I roughly remembered everything.    

Fans of cilantro can substitute that herb for the basil.  Feel free to use more poblano if you like it spicy, or substitute a hotter pepper.  I meant to use lime, but after sampling a little salad with some juice I felt the lime overpowered the other flavors.  Throw in other vegetables that you like, and make it your own -- just keep tasting and re-seasoning.  For my personal tastes, it was the perfect summer salad.

Chef Dennis' Corn Fritters

Chef Dennis writes about the delicious and healthy recipes he creates at a Pennsylvania prep school at More Than a Mount Full.  The squidgy cafeteria burgers, limp fries, and watered-down, soup-consistency ketchup of my youth can't be found on his blog.  Recently I saw a recipe for corn fritters he made that I just couldn't resist.  These were not just pancakes flecked with corn kernels, but crispy, airy, and slightly sweet.  What I was really impressed with was that the leftovers returned to their crispy state the day after when reheated in a toaster oven.  This is a perfect use for that farmers' market corn.

The batter is easy to throw together, and I love how colorful it is.  I had no scallions, but I have plenty of chives in my garden and they were a delicious substitute.

I used my trusty tablespoon scoop to measure out the fritters, and fried them until golden brown on each side before draining on paper towels.  They were excellent sprinkled with some fresh herbs and eaten with roasted vegetables.  They look smaller than the ones in Chef Dennis' photo, but I churned out 25.  Recipe after the jump.

Short Ribs and Corn Puddin'

This is perfect cold-weather comfort food.  The short ribs require minimal setup and then simmer away until tender, and the corn pudding puffs up like a souffle but stays creamier in the middle.  The pudding might be a little bland for some, but the addition of some hot peppers or cheese would do the trick.  Some reviewers of the short ribs recipe suggested adding red wine or tomato paste, but I'd already made a beef stew with red wine recently and was looking for something different.  I'm also one of those people who likes beef for beef . . . why cover it up with 20 spices and seasonings?  You might as well eat chicken or tofu.  Aside from a few vegetables, these short ribs needed no enhancement -- they were perfect.

The corn pudding recipe calls for cornmeal (which I didn't have), but I read on Wikipedia that in the US the finely ground stuff is known as corn flour (which I did have).  I figured I would like the finer texture anyway, since I'm one of those rare people who doesn't care for cornbread and its gritty texture.  Plus, it was an excuse not to run out to the grocery store!