The day after our wedding we made a huge lunch out of leftovers for the 50 or so guests who were able to stay the whole weekend. Making food from leftovers is one of my favourite activities. I despise having to throw food or ingredients out so finding a way to use up several random ingredients is super satisfying. It’s also a great creative challenge.
We had served corn on the cob at our wedding picnic, but there was so much other food that maybe only half of it got eaten so we had A LOT of cooked corn. We also had some mashed potatoes (from the samosas), quite a bit of goat cheese and parmesan, onions, poblano peppers and garlic in the fridge…so I decided to make corn fritters. The only things that we didn’t have were eggs and bread crumbs, both of which would have made the fritters WAY easier to fry. Luckily I had the help of my dear friend Tony. In addition to advising on seasoning, he fried up over a hundred of these things and they were not at all interested in staying a fritter shape without the egg. Tony is a kitchen hero and the fritters were totally delicious.
We are still getting pretty good corn in NYC so now that I am back home, I tried to make the fritters again to figure out the recipe in smaller quantities and to try it with egg. They are especially good with a little dollop of chipotle mayonnaise.
CORN FRITTERS (makes about 20)
- 5 cobs of corn
- 2 russet potatoes cooked
- 1 or 2 Poblano or jalapeno chili peppers, seeded and minced
- 1 large or 2 small onions, minced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 oz Chevre goat cheese
- 1/3 cup finely grated parmesan
- Chili powder to taste (I used about 2 Tablespoons)
- Salt to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Cayenne pepper to taste
- ¼ cup Flour (bob’s red mill gluten-free all-purpose flour works fine)
- 1 egg beaten
- mild oil for frying
- Fine, dry bread crumbs (gluten-free crumbs or cornmeal works fine)
- Cilantro finely chopped ( for optional garnish)
- Chipotle mayonnaise ( for optional garnish)
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- While the water is boiling, scrub the potatoes and cut them into quarters and also peel the corn.
- Drop the potatoes and then the corn into the boiling water. Pull the corn out after just about 4 minutes and let the potatoes cook fully.
- While the corn and potatoes are cooling, heat some mild oil in a skillet over medium high heat.
- When the oil is hot, add the minced onions and a generous amount of salt.
- When the onions are translucent, add the garlic and continue to cook until the onions turn golden.
- When the onions are golden, add the peppers and cook for just one minute more before removing the pan from the heat.
- Slip the potatoes out of their skins and mash them in a large bowl.
- Add the soft goat cheese and grated parmesan to the potatoes and combine thoroughly.
- Cut the corn off of the cob with a sharp knife. I also like to scrape every last bit of corn off of the cob.
- Add the corn and sautéed vegetables to the potatoes
- Season the mixture with salt, black pepper, chili powder and cayenne pepper.
- Add the egg and combine completely.
- Sift the flour in gradually while stirring the batter making sure combines totally.
- Start to heat a generous coating of mild oil in a very large skillet over high heat.
- Spread some fine bread crumbs or cornmeal out on a plate.
- Form 1/4 cup of the batter into a patty, dredge it in the bread crumbs or corn meal and drop it into the hot oil.
- Repeat the process until you pan is full of fritters, then lower the heat slightly and check to see if the first fritter is golden. If it is golden flip it over and then flip the rest of the fritters and allow them to crisp up on the second side.
- Drain the fritters on a towel and then transfer them to a very low oven to stay warm while you fry the other batches of fritters.
Big Sis Little Dish 
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