Jitters, Critters, Where'd You Get Those Fritters?

Stella left a few ears of corn behind after the party was over (see previous post). I spied it in the fridge last night after coming back from the Big Apple BBQ Party (see next post) and decided to go ahead and make corn fritters.

I used a recipe from the Gourmet cookbook. As you can see in the above picture, I served it with maple syrup (the good real kind, not Aunt Jemima) leaving out the garlic clove and making this more of a desserty breakfast-at-dinner type situation. This’d be a fun thing to serve for guests or while watching a ball game (assuming you watch ballgames which I don’t but you might). Let me get the recipe for you: (NOTE: I halved this–this supposedly yields 45 fritters–but having halved it, I only came away with like 10 fritters so you may need a fritter calculator)

2 cups all-purpose flour

salt

2 cups water

1/4 cup olive oil

1 large egg, separated

3 1/3 cups corn kernels (from 6 large ears)

about 4 cups vegetable oil for deep frying

1 garlic clove (I didn’t use the clove)

special equipment: a 3 to 4 quart wide shallow saucepan, a deep-fat thermometer

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.

Stir together flour and a generous pinch of salt in a large bowl. Add water a little at a time, stirring, then stir in olive oil a little at a time. Add yolk and stir until batter is smooth.

Beat egg white with a whisk or handheld mixer in a small bowl until just stiff. Fold gently but thoroughly into batter. Let batter stand, covered, for 1 hour at room temperature.

Stir corn into batter.

Pour 1 1/4 inches vegetable oil into pot, add garlic (I left out the garlic!), and heat over moderately high heat until garlic turns golden; discard garlic and continue to heat oil. When it registers 375 degrees F on thermometer, stir batter and, working in batches of 6, drop rounded tablespoons of batter into pot. Fry fritters, turning once, until golden and cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes per batch. With a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain and keep warm in oven. (Return oil to 375 degrees F between batches.)

Of course, frying anything makes your apartment smell like a theme park for the next couple of days. It helps to leave a window open, to turn on the fans and to get rid of the oil ASAP. But of course it’s worth it, isn’t it? Fried food is hugely underrated: go fry some fritters now.