Posts tagged fritters

Sweetcorn Fritters & Smoked Salmon

April 25, 2020 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

elieve it or not, I posted this recipe in 2012 and have been making fritters almost weekly. It’s such a faithful fritter recipe and can be paired with many ‘toppings’ for any meal time (see below). Feel free to even chuck in any leftover fridge ingredients such a diced chorizo, cubed feta or even some bacon if you feel like it. I’ve disappointingly ventured into courgette fritter making but always end up with a watery soggy mess. My pea, mint and black pudding fritters come a close second and Ottolenghi’s Cauliflower & Cumin recipe is a winner if you’ve not attempted them. However sweetcorn is the one for me.

I have been pushing for “Isolation Friday date nights” to become the new norm in our new anti-social life as I search desperately to find something to look forward to in the week and focus my creative mind on. This week was my turn and we “went”….beer tasting (in our living room)! It felt good to support my local craft beer store (Ghost Wale) which I’m ashamed to say I’d never been to before now. So I ‘click & collected’ 5 new beers and set up a flight of interesting beers.

Given we eat these fritters on a weekly basis, I was keen to indulge in a favourite comfort recipe to match our beers as we ate and drank away our Friday night after a pretty busy week working and destroying my leg muscles doing squats on the balcony!

These can be eaten for breakfast (top with smoked salmon, grilled chorizo, poached eggs, hollandaise etc); lunch snack with a salad or dinner as I’ve done here. Guacamole makes a great addition with some slices of grilled halloumi to keep it vegetarian!

Makes about 8 fritters

300g frozen sweetcorn
4 spring onions
Large bunch coriander, chopped
1/2 red chilli chopped OR 1 tsp chilli flakes
40g plain flour
40g polenta
1/2 tsp baking powder
50g grated cheese (I use half cheddar, half parmesan)
2 large eggs, beaten
Smoked salmon to serve
1 lemon
1 lime
1 x can black beans
1 x avocado, diced
2 large tomatoes, dressed and chopped
Creme fraiche OR Greek yoghurt to serve.

Make the fritter batter firstly by bringing the corn to the boil in a saucepan and simmering for a few minutes. Drain well and leave to cool.
Mix the spring onions, half the coriander, chilli, flour, baking powder, polenta, cheese and a seasoning of salt and pepper in a large bowl.
Add about 1/3 of the sweetcorn to the bowl. Blend the other 2/3 in a food processor until chunky but blended. Add this to the mixing bowl and stir well.
Mix in the 2 beaten eggs thoroughly until the mixture is a good thick batter.
Assemble the black bean salad by draining and rinsing the black beans and adding them to a serving bowl. Add the avocado, the tomatoes, the other half of the coriander and some good seasoning. Squeeze over the juice of the lime and stir to combine.
To make the fritters, heat a tbsp of sunflower oil in a large non-stick frying pan. When hot, add a few spoonfuls of batter at a time for each fritter into the hot oil and cook the fritters for a few minutes each side until they are golden on the outside but cooked through. Drain on kitchen towel once cooked. Continue with the rest of the batter.
To serve, stack 2-3 fritters per person and top with some smoked salmon slices. Spoon over a dollop of creme friache or greek yoghurt and squeeze over the juice of a lemon and some cracked black pepper.
Serve alongside the black bean salad!

Pea, Mint and Black Pudding Fritters

September 20, 2013 Comments Off read Meat, Vegetables and Salads

If you’re cringing at the thought of black pudding, I’ll be candid- man up. Its no more ‘disgusting’ than eating meat surely?! If you’ve never sampled this cheap and tasty treat, at least try it! And hopefully, like me, on you’re first sample you’ll kick yourself at all the time you wasted not enjoying it! Its deep, rich flavour works amazingly well with the sweet flavour of peas…

This recipe is a bit like a previous post (see here) for pea fritters and if you know me you’ll know that I like to fritter things. Its so easy and you can do it with loads of different ingredients and flavours with whats to hand- as long as you have eggs and flour! Here I have simply added crumbled black pudding instead of the cheese in a previous recipe and some fresh mint. A delicious light lunch.

Serves 4

125ml milk
2 eggs
30g cornflour
100g flour
250g peas
100-150g black pudding (cooked and crumbled)
Large bunch mint, leaves picked and chopped finely
Handful of chives, chopped finely.
Lemon

Boil the peas for a few minutes then run under cold water. Place half the peas in a food processor and puree.
Sieve in the flours, some salt, pepper. Add the beaten eggs and milk and mix until smooth.
Place in a bowl and fold in the whole peas and herbs and mix well with a squeeze of lemon juice. It should be fairly thick, enough to hold its shape in a pan. Finally crumble in the black pudding.
Heat a frying pan to a medium heat and warm some sunflower oil
Fry spoonfuls of the mixture (as large as you like) in the hot oil for a few minutes on each side until golden brown and set in the middle. Pat fry on kitchen roll and devour.

Spinach and Pea Fritters with Lime Butter

February 17, 2013 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

I am always making fritters and when I saw a version of this recipe in my new copy of Ottolenghi’s ‘Plenty’, I had to give it a go. This recipe has been adapted from the original- not out of an unappreciation of it but simply due to lack of the full list of ingredients in my pantry. I have replaced a few and added others such as the peas, some mint and more cumin. Like my other fritter recipes (see here) ….(and here) the basic batter of flour and egg is open to any ingredients! I had these as a lunch but they would be equally amazing with a poached egg, bacon and a creamy hollandaise as a muffin-less take on eggs Benedict for brunch…

Serves 3 (makes about 9 fritters)

150g spinach
Handful of peas
60g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
25g unsalted butter, melted
Salt and pepper
½ tsp ground cumin
1 tsp cumin seed
Splash of milk
50g salted butter, softened
Zest of 1 lime
Small bunch mint, finely chopped

Wilt the spinach in a hot pan with a splash of water until wilted. Drain in a sieve and squeeze out the excess water. Leave to cool. Blanch the frozen peas in boiling water for a few minutes and then drain and leave to cool.
Meanwhile make the butter. Grate the lime zest into the salted butter and add the chopped mint. Mix with a fork until combined. Place the butter between some baking parchment and roll into a cylinder and chill in the fridge until needed.
Now, whisk the flour, baking powder, melted butter, egg, salt and pepper, cumin and a splash of milk to form a batter.
Chop the spinach and add, with the peas, to the batter mixture and stir.
Whisk together and add enough milk to form a thick batter which is loose enough to spoon into pancakes in the pan.
Heat some olive oil in a frying pan, enough to cover the base, and fry large spoonfuls of mixture for a bout 2 minutes on each side on a high-ish heat until a crust forms and they are golden brown.

6. Flip over and fry for a few more minutes until cooked. Drain on kitchen paper and serve, with a slice of lime, mint butter melted on top and a fresh tomato salad.

Cornbread Fritters with Soured Cream and Guacamole

October 26, 2012 Comments Off read Extras, Vegetables and Salads

These little cornbread inspired fritters/pancakes were made with the leftover pulp from the sweetcorn soup I made. I hate waste and this way, the delicious wholesome leftovers were put to good use. You could alternatively use tinned corn which you can blend, the texture may be slightly different so just add more flour/milk to adjust for a drier/wetter batter. The polenta adds a crispy texture, the cheese melts everywhere and the chilli provides that familiar cornbread kick.

300g leftover pureed corn from your Creamy Sweetcorn Soup– see recipe (or tinned sweetcorn, pureed)
3 spring onions, finely chopped including green tops
½ large red chilli, finely chopped
40g grated mature cheddar cheese
40g plain flour
40g polenta/cornmeal
½ tsp baking powder
2 large eggs, beaten

In a large bowl, combine the pureed corn, spring onions, chilli, cheese and season.
Whisk in the eggs and then stir in the flour, baking powder and polenta until you have a thick batter. If the batter is too runny add a little more flour. It should be fairly thick but will set once cooked.
Heat a thin layer of sunflower oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Fry spoonfuls of the mixture for 1-2 minutes each side or until golden and crusty from the polenta. The mixture can be a little wet but adding too much flour I’ve found makes them taste a bit ‘floury’ whereas here they will taste solely of sweetcorn.
Drain on kitchen paper and leave to cool slightly before serving warm with soured cream and guacamole!

Pea and Taleggio Fritters and a Pompous Charcuterie

August 26, 2012 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

So……I’ve been having withdrawals from cooking and you may have noticed the lack of recipes these past few weeks? I’ve been in London doing a time consuming internship at delicious.magazine! Its been fantastic, and between sampling over 50 Christmas pudding varieties, 30 mince pies, 15 panettones and still with a crate full of mincemeat and cake left to devour (all for the sake of the Christmas issue’s ‘taste test’ of course) it has left me with little time, stomach capacity and/or motivation for anything edible. However, these withdrawals have been kicking in so it was back in the kitchen this bank holiday weekend.

These fritters are essentially savoury pancakes I guess? I make these all the time as a delicious lunch as they are so open to using different ingredients! With an abundance of cooperative peas from the garden and a fridge maliciously hiding a legendary hunk of taleggio cheese I decided upon these tasty ingredients for lunch. I usually use feta but its absence has converted me to this pungent and obsequious cheese which melts so nicely in this recipe!

You can pretty much use any ingredients in this batter, tweaking the amount of flour and liquid. You can add different spices and herbs and different cheeses! For example, I love to make these with fennel seeds, feta, peas and mint or sweetcorn, curry and chilli! Go mad!

125ml milk
2 eggs
30g cornflour
100g flour
250g peas
100g taleggio cheese, cubed (approx, or a handful)
salt and pepper
basil, chopped
cumin seed

Boil the peas for a few minutes then run under cold water. Place half the peas in a food processor and puree.
Sieve the flours into a large bowl and add some salt, pepper, cumin seed and basil. Whisk in the beaten eggs and milk until smooth.
Fold in the whole peas, pureed peas, and cheese and mix well. It should be fairly thick, enough to hold its shape in a pan
Heat a frying pan to a medium heat and warm some sunflower oil
Fry spoonfuls of the mixture in the hot oil for a few minutes on each side, until golden brown and set.

These are lovely with a salsa, salad, chutney or anything you fancy depending on the flavours! However, we had some fancy lamb prosciutto and boar ham and some deeply decadent and artery clogging cheeses in the fridge to use up so these went down well too…..