We're enjoying a spate of perfect BBQ weather in Manchester this month -- weekends are fine, sunny and sometimes even warm! But only sometimes; this is England, after all. As long as we don't get over-optimistic with our clothing choices, then, it's a great time to get in some of the al fresco eating to which everyone seems to aspire. (On occasion at the expense of common sense, I may add; Melburnians in particular have a dogged obsession with street cafes and outdoor dining no matter what the weather, which leads to a proliferation of those gas-burner braziers surrounded by tables of freezing-but-determined customers huddled in their winter coats -- black, of course -- and clutching their hands around their espresso cups to keep warm -- but I digress...)
My friend J and I took advantage of yesterday's weather by carrying his dining table and chairs out onto the back lawn, sitting there all afternoon playing Settlers and, of course, firing up the BBQ for some late lunch / early dinner at around 4pm. (Why, by the way, isn't there a word like brunch for the afternoon equivalent? I have often wondered this...) As J pointed out, one of the nice things about BBQs is that you can have all sorts of things at once in the same meal that you'd never normally dream of eating together (unless, I suppose, you are one of those people in the habit of ordering the combination special chow mein at the local Chinese), like beef (burgers), pork (sausages), salmon (steaks with lemon and chilli), portobello mushrooms (with garlic and olive oil) and onion rings. And so we did.
Something else I felt like eating on a sunny spring day, though, was sweetcorn fritters -- served just warm on a bed of rocket salad with a spicy tomato salsa, maybe with a bit of cheese thrown in. So I put these together just before leaving home, popped them on a plate, covered it in foil and took them with me, still warm, on the bus to J's place. The savoury scents wafting from under the foil attracted some envious glances from my fellow bus passengers! They reheated nicely on the BBQ and were just what I wanted them to be.
Making fritters is simple in theory: make batter, add things to it, fry in pan. When I did my usual Google-around to get a rough idea of the right proportion of ingredients to use, I found an amazing range and lack of agreement: anything between 30g to 175g of flour and 1/4 cup to 1 cup of corn kernels per egg, never mind milk/water or any of the other optional extras. Paradoxically, this made me take heart: corn fritters are obviously a very forgiving recipe! The quantities I used seemed to work just fine, in any case. Here they are.
Sweetcorn and red pepper fritters
1 cup plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs
1/2 cup fizzy water
1 can (~400g) sweetcorn kernels, drained
1 small red pepper, finely chopped (about 1 cup total)
2 spring onions, finely chopped
good handful grated cheese (about 3/4 cup)
dash sweet chilli sauce
Sift together dry ingredients (or if you are like me and can't find your sifter, dump everything in bowl and stir with a whisk to mix and get rid of lumps). Add eggs and water, whisk quickly and lightly to form a smooth(ish) batter. Stir in all other ingredients.
Drop scant spoonfuls of the mixture into a lightly greased, heated, preferably non-stick pan set on medium heat, remembering to allow room for them to spread a bit or you may end up with one big fritter! Cook until browned on one side (bubbles may appear in the batter but don't count on it), flip and cook the other side. Rinse (not literally!) and repeat.
Serve with rocket salad and spicy tomato salsa, or however you like.
Makes... a good plateful, I forgot to count before we ate them! Probably about 2 dozen?
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