Fritters!

                                   “I say your young men’ll be frittern!

                          Frittern away their noontime, suppertime, choretime, too.”

Fritters!

Fritters are another way in which we prepared corn off the cob for our daughters. They can be made with just about anything. This recipe is for zucchini and corn fritters, but can be made with just one vegetable. You can also make them with fresh fruit by adding a little sugar to the batter mixture. And who doesn’t like something fried?

Unlike deep-fried fritters, there are cooked  using  a small amount of oil, more in the style of a pancake.

Corn and Zucchini Fritters

Makes about sixteen 2 ½ “ fritters                                              

2 ears corn

1 medium zucchini

¼ cup diced onion

2 or 3 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil

salt and ground black pepper

Batter:

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

(½  Tablespoon sugar, for fruit fritters)

½ cup cold club soda

1. Husk the corn. Cut the kernels from the ears. This is best done by standing the corn in a bowl and cutting the kernels off into the bowl. Place the corn kernels into a small saucepan and fill the pan with enough water to just cover the corn. Cook the corn for 1 minute; drain the corn into a colander and refresh under cold water. Set aside.

2. Grate the zucchini into a bowl; this will be about 2 cups grated zucchini. Add the onion, the cooled corn, and the basil: season with salt and pepper.

3. In a second bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt. Pour in the club soda and whisk until smooth. Pour the batter into the bowl of vegetables and mix to combine. This will make enough batter to coat all of the vegetables.

4. Heat a non-stick sauté pan over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, swirl in 2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil. Take a heaping tablespoon of the batter and add it to the pan, pressing the batter to flatten it. Fill the pan with just enough fritters to fill the pan. When the fritters are browned on the bottom, turn them over and cook until browned on the second side. Transfer the cooked fritters to a wire rack on top of a baking sheet. Repeat until all of the fritters have been cooked. Keep the fritters warm in a low oven until ready to serve.

From “Ya Got Trouble,” The Music Man, lyrics by Meredith Wilson