Have some fun with all sorts of fritters

You can make a fritter out of anything.

A fritter is a small piece of fruit, vegetable, or meat, battered and fried. Actually, it can be anything edible, dipped and deep-fried. You could even make M&M fritters, if you wanted to.

Fritters also are called by other names. The oliebollen we made recently could fall into the category of a fritter. Potato fritters are often called latkes.

I have never tasted a fritter I didn’t love, and I have never seen one that was not loaded with calories. If you are watching calories, you just have to use portion control on this. If you are a person who can sample a bite of something wonderful, enjoy it, then walk away, you can taste the fritters now and then.

The latest, at least to me, is serving fritters with chutney. I have eaten fritters all my life, but discovered how good they are with chutney only last year.

Chutney originated in India. It can be made of fruits or vegetables, more commonly fruit, mixed with spices, vinegar and sugar. It adds a nice touch for dinner or for parties.

It is very easy to make your own chutney (see the recipes below) or you can buy it at the grocery store. I have found that to be very good. I have tried the ready-made cherry and the cranberry.

Many people eat the fritters with sour cream or yogurt. Actually, any sauce will work; whatever you like. Or have them plain.

Potato fritters

Some people call these potato pancakes, but they are not the same thing. The fritters are much better.

Makes: 10-12

2 large russet potatoes, peeled

1 yellow onion

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Ground black pepper to taste

Vegetable oil for frying

Grate potatoes on a hand grater (do not use an electric food chopper or a blender) into a large bowl. Add 1 cup milk. Stir potatoes until they are all coated with milk, then place potatoes and milk into a sieve or strainer and drain off milk. Push potatoes down with hands to squeeze out the milk. Leave potatoes in strainer for a few minutes to make sure they are drained well. Discard the milk.

Grate onion on hand grater and add to potatoes, along with the other ingredients, except the oil.

Heat 1/2-inch of oil in the bottom of a heavy skillet over medium-high heat, or an electric skillet set on 350 degrees, just so the patties will fry smoothly, crisp on the outside and done on the inside. When oil is hot, drop two or three 1/4-cup mounds into hot oil and flatten with the spatula just a little, to make them about 1/2-inch thick. Fry, turning once, until golden brown on both sides. Transfer to paper-towel-lined plates to drain. Keep warm in low-heat oven (200 degrees) until serving time. Repeat until all the potato mixture is used.

Serve with almost anything. Good with chili. These are especially tasty with some apple-cherry chutney to garnish.

Apple-cherry chutney

1 cup unsweetened chunky applesauce

1/2 can tart cherries, drained

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan; bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer 2 or 3 minutes. Serve warm.

Corn fritters

Makes: 18-20

1 cup creamed corn

1 cup flour

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

Sift dry ingredients together, then add egg to milk and mix with dry ingredients.

Fold in corn, then drop large spoonfuls into hot fat and fry until brown on both sides.

Drain well on paper towels. Good with butter and honey, chili or gumbo, or just about anything.

Quick corn fritters

1 can cream corn

1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed (optional)

1 egg

1 1/2 cups Bisquick

Oil for frying

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. If batter is too thick, thin with a little milk. Drop by large spoonfuls into hot oil, and fry until golden brown on both sides. Serve with butter and syrup.

My family has always eaten just plain old yellow mustard with our corn fritters.

But, recently, I have moved toward honey mustard; I love it on anything. So, just experiment and see what you like.

Here’s a recipe to add to the sauce mixes:

Honey mustard sauce

Ready in 5 minutes

1/3 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons yellow mustard

1 tablespoon vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

Whisk together in a mixing bowl. That’s it.

Zucchini fritters

A tasty, easy way to get your kids to eat more veggies.

Serves: 2-4

1 pound zucchini (about 2 medium)

Ground black pepper to taste

1 large egg

2 scallions, finely chopped

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup canola oil

Sour cream or plain yogurt

Combine all of the ingredients except for the zucchini in a large bowl. Whisk to form a batter, removing large lumps, 1 or 2 minutes. Grate the zucchini and add it to the bowl. The moisture from the zucchini will produce a thick batter as you stir. Use the batter immediately. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Using a 1/4-cup measure, pour out 3 or 4 cakes. Cook 2 to 3 minutes on each side until lightly browned. Drain on paper towels.

Apple fritters

Serve with syrup or sprinkle with powdered or cinnamon sugar.

1 cup sifted flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup milk

1 egg

1 cup finely chopped apple

1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Sift together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Add milk and egg; beat until batter is smooth. Fold in chopped apple. Drop by teaspoonfuls into deep hot oil – about 370 degrees and at least 2 1/2 to 3 inches deep – and fry 2 to 3 minutes, until nicely browned. Drain well on paper towels then roll in confectioners’ sugar while still warm. Serve warm, as is or with syrup.

Banana fritters

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg, slightly beaten

3/4 cup milk

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 teaspoon baking powder

6 bananas, halved lengthwise

Oil for deep-frying

Cinnamon sauce, recipe below

Heat oil in a deep-fat fryer to 370 degrees. In a medium-size bowl, sift together flour, sugar and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the egg, milk, butter and baking powder; stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients. Dip banana halves into the batter and carefully drop into the hot deep fat; fry just until golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream and cinnamon sauce.

Cinnamon sauce

2 cups water

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

3 egg yolks, lightly beaten

2/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

Heat water and cinnamon in a medium-size saucepan. In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolks with sugar and cornstarch. Slowly add about one-third of the hot mixture to the egg yolk mixture, then pour back into the saucepan, stirring to blend. Return sauce to a boil. Remove from heat and cool the sauce for 2 minutes. Slowly whisk or beat in the butter.

Peanut butter-banana fritters

(Drizzled with chocolate sauce)

Total time: 30 minutes

Makes: 4

2 cups flour

2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

Pinch sea salt

Small pinch baking soda

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

2/3 cup milk

1 egg

Peanut or canola oil, for deep-frying

Chocolate sauce

1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 cup water, for double boiler

To make the fritters: Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and soda in a bowl and mix. Add bananas, peanut butter, milk, and egg and whisk until the consistency is such that it can be balled up in a spoon. In a medium-size saucepan, heat the peanut oil to 375 degrees. Using a teaspoon, delicately spoon the peanut-butter-banana batter into the oil, a few balls at a time, and deep-fry until they fluff up and become crispy and golden brown, about 5 minutes. Strain on wire rack.

To make the chocolate sauce: In a pot, bring a cup of water to a simmer. Add a large metal bowl over top of the pot. In the metal bowl, add the chocolate chunks and whipping cream, then whisk until it melts together.

Generously drizzle the chocolate sauce over the fritters and serve.

Tip of the week

To add a boost of flavor to your coffee, add orange peel, lemon peel, or ground cinnamon to the coffee grounds before brewing.

Readers Corner

Dear readers:


I want to share these fun comments from Ruth Ramirez, a former co-worker at the Gazette. If anyone has any thoughts on this, please send me a note.



Grace:


"I read with interest your Feb. 1 Dash of Grace with the recipe for oliebollen. This sounds very much like something my grandmother used to make on New Year's. Her family was from Germany and this was something that was made every year on New Year's. They called them 'Swammers' and they are a doughnut-like pastry, the same as the oliebollen.

"My grandmother used to say that women made these on that day because the men would go from home to home to celebrate the New Year and usually had a drink at each. The women served these because they were greasy, and would soak up some of the alcohol, so the men didn't get too tipsy from the alcohol they drank. I had another friend who used to make them, and she called them 'Bum Boisies'. I have the recipes for both, but I was sure interested in the article you had in your column that day."


-Ruth


Do you have any comments on these "Swammers" or "Bum Boisies"? Anyone familiar with this custom? I can't find them in the dictionary, so I have asked Ruth to send us the recipes.



'Noodle cutter'

Now to the "noodle cutter" we have been talking about. Dorothy Noble of Amboy, the reader who gave us a tip about making noodles using self-rising flour, then told us about the "noodle cutter."
 
Dorothy's daughter, Catherine Klein of Sublette, found one of the "noodle cutters" for $5.40 at a place called Kitchen Collection in Rockford's CherryVale Mall. Dorothy mailed it to me.

It is actually called a herb mincer. It works for mincing herbs and is great for cutting noodles. They come out nice and thin and all the same size.

Dorothy writes that to make noodles, she starts with 1 tablespoon of water and an egg, then adds enough self-rising flour so the dough is thick enough to roll out, or until you can't get the eggs to absorb any more flour.

She rolls the dough to about 1/8-inch thick, rolls the "noodle cutter" across the dough, then cuts them to the lengths she wants.

"After they are cut, I put them in the boiling broth and cook," she wrote.

So, thank you Dorothy, from all of us. We learned something new today.

Next week we will have a couple more recipes from reader Colleen Bonnell of Dixon.