Crunchy Creamy Zucchini Corn Fritters

Just because we are camping, doesn’t mean Natalia is eternally rubbing sticks together to make fire and provide for her family, caveman-style.  I mean, it is a vacation, isn’t it? And a vacation to me means a judicious blend of rustic roughing-it at the campsite and delightful forays into civilization, where other people — preferably terrific local chefs — bring me my food and provide me with cloth napkins in exchange for my credit card.

Corn fritters with zucchini and onion

So while camping at Hither Hills State Park last week we forayed to fishbar, where executive chef Jennifer Meadows (click here to learn about her and her experience on Chopped) serves up local goodness in clean and inventive ways. When we arrived –late of course — my parents — who always get a cottage of some sort nearby the campsite and were therefore bathed, fragrant, well-dressed and on-time — were already there, noshing on some corn fritters (because they knew it would be a while before we turned up). We all loved those fritters.

I wish I had a better photo of the fish tacos. They were love-ly!

I could have probably asked for the recipe, but that would be too easy, wouldn’t it? So here is my take on corn fritters — which helped use up a couple of  cooked ears of corn and half a zucchini and a few other items in my fridge that needed gainful employment.

Thanks very much to easy-breezy-lovely fishbar for a wonderful family meal out (kids feel welcome and it’s on a working marina where fisherman cleaning their catch are very amenable to showing little kids like mine how it’s all done) and for a lot of inspiration for future kitchen adventures.

(p.s. the following recipe is also an end-run around my son’s refusal to try my zucchini fritters (with manchego and rosemary!) in the past. I included the zucchini and didn’t tell him until after he had decided he loved them. He was quite a good sport about it.)

Next plan is to make a worthy sauce! fishbar’s was a cilantro chili one (I think), so I may try to work with that.

Sweet Corn and Zucchini Fritters

1-2 Tbs frying oil

½ Cup grated zucchini

1 Cup corn kernels (cut them off the cob by anchoring the stem on a cutting board and slicing down in sheets with a sharp knife)

1 Tbs grated or minced red onion

½ Cup flour

¼-1/2 Cup grated Grana Padano or Parmiggiano Reggiano

2 generous pinches salt

1 beaten egg

¼ Cup water (give or take)

Heat oil until loose at medium high in a frying pan. In a bowl, mix all remaining ingredients except water into a paste. Add water as needed to make it all stick together.

Be prepared with paper towel on a plate. Drop generous tablespoons of batter into the hot pan. Flatten each round slightly. Lower heat to medium and cook for about three minutes on each side. Remove fritters to paper towel to dry and cool as you do each batch. Serve.

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Black Bean and Corn Fritters with Scallions

Tags: cooking, corn fritters, fishbar, food, frying up leftovers, kid-friendly vegetable ideas, Montauk, recipes, zucchini fritters