Maple Corn Fritters

I spent some time with Mother Nature this summer and she let me in on a little secret. If you eat local and in season, she gets to pick what’s on the menu. True.

Before being part of a CSA I bought whatever I fancied at the grocery store. My vegetable experience was only a little different season to season. Of course, I bought local tomatoes and corn in season but for the most part just availed myself of anything on the grocer’s shelves. This year was a new experience since the farmer and Mother Nature chose what veggies I’d be eating.

I’ve learned to cook and eat what’s ripe. You eat beets when you get them even if they’re availalble every week. (I won’t lie—I’ve given plenty of them to friends and neighbors because we can only eat so many beets.). For the past few weeks we’ve gotten zucchini, cucumbers, eggplants and other types of squash. We eat them grilled or in ratatouille. I’m freezing whatever I can’t eat now.

Right now the corn is ripe in New Jersey. There were three ears in this week’s bounty—three very pitiful ears of corn courtesy of our wet, rainy, sun-challenged summer. But, there was enough for a batch of corn fritters.

So that’s what you’re getting this week folks. Corn fritters. We had them for this morning’s breakfast sweetened with maple syrup—in the batter and drizzled on top. It made for a nice Sunday morning at our house.

Maple Corn Fritters

1 ½ teaspoons EnerG Egg Replacer

4 tablespoons warm water

2 tablespoons diced onion

Vegetable oil – canola or grapeseed work well

¼ cup sorghum flour

5/8 cup finely ground corn flour

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of cinnamon (optional)

½ cup coconut milk or alternative (soy, rice, etc.)

1 ½ tablespoons pure maple syrup

1 to 1 ½ cups corn kernels

Make the egg replacer according to the directions on the box—mix 1 1/2 teaspoons egg replacer with two tablespoons warm water. Stir until smooth and let sit for a few minutes to thicken.

Heat a cast iron skillet on medium heat. Add a tablespoon or two of the oil—enough to sauté the onions. When the oil is hot, add the onions and cook until translucent. Some of them will brown which is OK. You don’t want the onion to burn.

Remove the onions with a slotted spoon to a dish lined with a paper towel. Set aside. Add more oil, enough so there is about a ¼ inch in the skillet. Raise the burner to medium high to bring the oil up to temperature. Do not leave unattended.

Whisk the flours, salt, and baking powder and cinnamon (if you choose to use it) in a medium sized bowl. In a separate bowl combine the egg replacer, coconut milk, maple syrup and two remaining tablespoons of water. Add this to the flour and combine to form a batter. Add in the onions and the corn. Mix well.

Drop by large spoonfuls into the hot oil. Turn each after a few minutes—the underside should be nicely browned. When the second side is browned remove fritters to a dish and serve with maple syrup. Makes about 10-12 fritters.

A few notes:

I used fresh corn on the cob. Placed three ears in the microwave (with husks and silk still attached) for 3 minutes. Removed and cooled, then husked the corn and cut the kernels from the cob. Three small ears yielded 1 cup. Although this was enough corn for the recipe I would have preferred more so would increase it to 1½ cups next time.

You may need to add more oil about halfway through cooking. The fritters will have a tendency to burn if you do not keep the oil level high enough.

You can remove some of the residual oil from the fritters after they are cooked if you line the receiving plate with a paper towel.

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Jane's Garden Minestrone

Jane is my mother-in-law. Wonderful, intelligent, active and a bit cooking challenged. I truly loved her but, cooking was not one of her strong points.

To be fair, there were a few dishes she made that I absolutely loved. This soup is one of them. She probably clipped it from a magazine or the food section of the paper. She always cut the recipes out, carefully taped them onto a 3x5 index card and stowed them in the requisite recipe box. All very 1950s. I still have that recipe box. When she passed I kept, as remembrances, the recipe box and a very small figure of an ibis that she loved.

I remember the day she told me about this soup. She raved about it. Together we marveled that you don’t stir it for the first 10 minutes and that it makes its own broth from the moisture in the vegetables. I was soon hooked and made it several times over the summer & fall seasons. I gave the recipe to my sister and now she’s hooked.

It’s all vegetables, a few herbs and spices, a little olive oil—that’s it. Easy. Healthy. Flavorful. The latest batch I made is even more healthy and flavorful because it’s made from organic produce from The Community Supported Garden at Genesis Farm in Blairstown, NJ.

If you want to bump it up a bit try adding beans for protein or gluten free pasta. And, experiment with the veggies—that’s half the fun!

By the way, this recipe freezes very nicely. I often defrost and eat it for lunch. Such a treat.

Jane’s Garden Minestrone

2 or 3 large tomatoes        

2 medium onions

2 zucchini

1 clove garlic                     

Head romaine lettuce/escarole        

1 ½ cups green beans or 10 ounce package frozen lima beans        

10 ounce package frozen peas

2 tablespoons minced basil        

3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

1/3 cup olive oil

Salt & pepper, to taste           

You’re going to layer the vegetables in a heavy bottomed soup pot (at least 3 quarts) in this order: tomatoes, onions, zucchini, garlic, lettuce, peas, & beans.

Peel the tomatoes. The method I use: make an X in the tomato in a few places with a sharp knife, dip each in boiling water for about 45 seconds, cool. The skins should easily peel right off. Slice them and layer them in the pot.

Peel and thinly slice the onions and layer over the tomatoes. Do the same with the zucchini. Mince the garlic and sprinkle over top.

Coarse chop the lettuce or escarole (spinach or cabbage would work, too) and into the pot.

Cover all with the green or lima beans and peas.

Chop the parsley and basil and sprinkle over the top. Pour in the olive oil.

Put the pot on a medium to medium high burner for about 10 minutes – do not stir. You’ll hear the juices begin to bubble – you can turn the heat down a notch or two – just make sure the soup is still simmering away.

After 10 minutes stir the soup and mix it well. Cook covered for about 30 minutes more. Add salt and pepper to taste. Now would also be the time to add cooked beans or cooked pasta to the soup to make it a heartier meal.

I like to serve it topped with a little grated pecorino romano cheese made from sheep’s milk.

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