Don't forget about fritters!
Eat Plentiful #11
I had toast and cereal for dinner twice in the last week. Funnily enough, they were probably Woody’s favourite meals. I’m not sure what happened to time this last week, no time to cook, no time to shop. I found some inspiration however when I saw a tin of corn in my cupboard.
One of my strongest food memories from childhood is eating corn fritters. I am uncertain if this might have happened once or several times, but I vividly remember us coming home on a Sunday night to an empty fridge and my mother whipping up the most delicious corn fritters out of nowhere.
Everyone loves fritters: naughty, crispy, little morsels packed with vegetables. Perfect for breakfast, lunch, snacks with a beer or dinner. They are an easy win with children and adults alike. And for those who are not crazy about eating veggies, they have a magical way of making you forget that you’re actually eating them. Fritters are quick, easy and require minimal effort to make.
The best part about fritters is that what you decide to put in them is really just determined by what you have in your kitchen. I will share with you my basic formula as well as a few of my favourite combinations, and you can play around, and experiment with any vegetable you have: potato, carrots, leeks, cabbage, courgette, sweetcorn…amongst others. Oh, and don’t be afraid to mix and match vegetables — no one ever said you just had to choose one!
It goes along the lines of:
veggies + aromatics & spices + binding agent + cheese (optional) = naughty fritters
VEGGIES
Carrots, parsnips, sweet potato, potato can all be grated and used as is.
Corn can be cut right off the cob or drained from the tin.
Greens peas, defrosted.
Cabbage and leeks need to be sliced finely and cooked until soft prior to adding to the mixture.
Courgette needs to be drained after grating because of their high water content. Simply dump the grated courgette in a colander, mix with big pinch of salt, and let it sit for 10 minutes. Press down on the courgette with a wooden spoon to push out as much of the water. Dry is the name of the game here.
Cauliflower and broccoli also make great fritters. Cut the florets into small chunks, then cook them until tender, mash them into smaller pieces before combining them with the rest of the ingredients.
Greens — be it swiss chard, spinach, or kale — are nice too. Blanch them, squeeze out any liquid, and chop.
AROMATICS/ SPICES/ HERBS
Once you’ve picked your vegetable(s), it’s time to add some flavour , and spice things up. I love spring onions over onions or garlic. Fresh herbs always elevate fritters to another level, chopped chives, parsley, coriander, mint, tarragon, dill. Anything goes here! My go to spices for fritters tend to be either cayenne pepper, paprika or za’atar.
BINDING AGENT
Our binding agent is our flour and egg. You could easily swap normal flour with any type of gluten free flour if you wanted to make it gluten free. I don’t add any baking powder for the simple reason that I find non-raised versions so crisp and delicious that it feels unnecessary. And my secret weapon whenever I want something crispy is cornflour.
CHEESES
Cheese loves vegetables, so tossing a little into the mix can only make them naughtier. Crumbly Feta works a treat in fritters but so does grated cheddar or mozzarella.
VEGETABLE FRITTERS
Serves 4
Preparation Time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 10 mins
INGREDIENTS
300-500gr vegetable(s) of choice
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon of cornflour
100gr cup grated or crumbled cheese
80gr all-purpose flour
1 handful of chopped herbs (optional)
1 teaspoon ground spices (optional)
Salt & pepper
Vegetable oil for frying
INSTRUCTIONS
Whisk your eggs, flour and cornflour into a large bowl.
Add your vegetables, cheese and herbs to the bowl. And season with salt and pepper
Add the oil to a large frying pan – you need to shallow fry these, so make sure the base of the pan is well covered. Heat the oil, then test by adding a tiny bit of the batter, it should immediately start bubbling around the edges when it hits the oil.
Using a small ladle drop the batter onto the oil. You should use around 2 x tablespoons of mixture per fritter.
Fry for a couple of minutes on one side until light brown then turn over and cook for a further minute.
Turn out onto kitchen paper to remove any excess oil and keep warm in a low heat oven. Continue until you have used all the batter.
My favourite combinations are:
Corn, spring onion, cheddar and paprika
Leek, feta, dill
Cabbage, carrot, spring onion, cayenne pepper
Courgette, feta, mint, parsley, paprika
Once you’ve worked out what yours is, don’t forget a sauce and any toppings you might want to add to turn your fritters into an exciting meal.
Fritters love a dipping sauce, especially a creamy one. I usually start with plain greek yoghurt and from there, I will add some harissa, chill oil or lemon juice to it.
You can also have a poached egg on top and some streaky bacon, or just a simple green salad.
I hope I’ve given you the tools to experiment.
Enjoy and have fun!