Vegetable fritters

I like pancakes. Mostly the fluffy kind that you drown in real maple syrup, but crepes with strawberries or apples are also good, as are vegetable fritters. Vegetable fritters? Why would you put vegetables in a pancake?? Well, I've found that its a good way to use up extra veggies and make them taste good, so there. I normally go with the pancake approach (flour, baking powder, salt, egg, milk, and the veggie) but last night I tried the panko approach. This way had more veggie and less bready stuff. They're both good. One of my recent favorites was when Ed came back from Vermont with a couple pounds of corn off the cob left over from a party his cousin had been hosting. Corn, cheddar, jalapeno fritters, anyone? We made a lot of these... here are some recipes.

Corn, cheddar, jalapeno fritters

1C flour (any combination of white and whole wheat)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1C grated cheddar (or any cheese, really)
1C corn
1 jalapeno, diced (or more, depends on your favored level of spiciness)
1 egg
3/4C milk, to make 1C of liquid
Butter (or oil) for frying

Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, grated cheddar, corn, and jalapeno. In a 1-cup measure, beat the egg with the milk. Pour the wet into the dry. If it looks too dry to be a batter (highly scientific here), add some water. Get your pan warm (around the 4 on my stove, which goes up to 6), rub it with butter, and form little pats of batter on the stove, flattening them with your spoon. Let them sizzle for 2-3 minutes, then flip them. They should be golden brown on the cooked side. Cook them for another couple minutes and when they're done put them on a paper-towel-lined plate, and sprinkle a little salt on top if you like that sort of thing.



Zucchini fritters

These fritters have no flour, just panko, a Japanese breadcrumb that generally adds crunch to stuff. These were more zucchini-y than my generic zucchini fritters.

1 zucchini, grated
2 eggs
1/2C panko
1/4C grated parmesan cheese
1/4tsp salt
ground pepper
butter (or oil) for frying

To grate the zucchini, cut off the rounder end, but leave the little stalky end on. Holding the stalky end (see, you have a handle!) grate it using a cheese grater. Take your mound of zucchini (you'll have between 1-2 cups) and squeeze it between your hands to get the water out. A lot of water will come out. Put the dry (er) zucchini in a bowl, add the rest of the ingredients, and form into patties in a hot pan. Fry for 2-3 minutes on one side, then flip.

Generic zucchini fritters

These ones use more of a pancake batter. Like the corn fritters.

1 zucchini
1C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
3/4C milk

Follow the corn fritters instructions.