I’m back!

With and easy peasy recipe which evolved out of necessity. This past weekend I was alone, hungry and too lazy to go out in the rain to hunt for food.

So in the spirit of maintaining my laziness, I went on the hunt in the refrigerator and came up with leftover roasted cauliflower in a plastic container … as I was trying to remember what I has roasted the cauliflowr for, and idea struck me. What can I do with this that was fast and easy and bang! it hit me…

Fritters!

Because, well the answer to quick lazy food is FRIED food. (and oh yes I did, its in caps on purpose).

Sorry folks – no diet/healthy option to these. - roast the cauliflower and skip the fritters (which, really there is no point).

Next step was to make sure I had the ingredients - flour, eggs, baking power, some type of cheese and spices and it was a GO!

This batter is so versatile that you can pretty much use it with anything – I had cauliflower, but it can work with zucchinis, eggplant, mushrooms, carrots and corn to name a few. You can even go with beef, ham, and of course the sea it not far behind – crab or clam fritters are the bomb! And if I did not give you enough of savory options, don’t get me started with the options for a sweet fritter – my favorite is banana fritter that my grandmother use to make us for my sister and I as an after school snack.

But, for now, cauliflower is it. You can make the cauliflower which ever way you like, but I highly (see emphasis on “highly”) recommend roasted, you don’t want the cauliflower soft, you want it almost “al dente”, to have some bite, but not be raw.

CAULIFLOWER FRITTERS

For the Roasted Cauliflower

1 head of Cauliflower – roasted
5 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
Salt and freshly Ground black pepper

For the FRITTER batter

1 cup of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
2 whole eggs
1 cup of milk, or beer or even wine (you may not use the full cup)
½ teaspoon of grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon of red chilli or curry powder
½ cup of grate cheese – Gruyere, Asiago, Parmesan, Romano, Cheeder (all these can work, so its up to your taste, make sure they are finely grated)
Salt and ground black pepper (to taste)
1 cup Vegetable Oil for deep-frying

Start by Roasting your Cauliflower

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut cauliflower into florets and put in a single layer in an oven-proof baking dish.

Toss the cauliflower with 2 tablespoons of the coconut oil, ½ teaspoon salt and some pepper. Transfer to a baking sheet and roast until it starts to brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the cauliflower and set aside. Tip: make sure its at room temperature.

Next step? Make the batter

Sift the flour and the baking powder into a mixing bowl and add the cheese, nutmeg and chilli. Season. Make a well in the center and drop in the eggs. Slowly mix with a wooden spoon until it is all incorporated and most of the lumps have gone. Now, the batter may be a bit stiff, so you need to add more liquid, and you can do this by adding either milk, beer or even wine (white) to it. The consistency you are looking for is that if pancake batter. So start slow, by adding your liquid a little at a time, mixing and then adds a bit more until you end up with the right consistency. Fold in the cauliflower florets and coat thoroughly in the batter.

Heat the oil, preferably in a deep-fat fryer to 170°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3. If you don’t have one, heat the oil in a deep-sided pan. It will be at the correct temperature if you drop in a piece of bread and it bubbles instantly.

Take a tablespoonful of the mix and slide it into the hot oil. using another spoon to push the mix off if it helps. Always work away from you when deep-frying. Fry the fritters until golden brown and remove from the oil. Place on absorbent paper, sprinkle with salt and serve.

They keep very well and can be eaten at room temperature. I had leftovers, which I stored in a brown paper bag and inside my microvawe. Then I warmed them up in my toaster oven the next day and they were just as good as the day before.

You can also make a dipping sauce. I used ¼ cup of sour cream, chopped parsley and a couple of drops of Sriracha hot sauce. Salt and pepper and you are good to go on dipping.

Other tips that I can give you to produce tasty fritters time after time:

Ideally, the taste of the fruit or other filling should be the dominant flavor of the fritter, rather than the taste of the batter.
Fritters require deep-frying, so they should be thoroughly drained before serving to avoid a dish that is too greasy and unappetizing.
If the food inside is uncooked, the oil may have been too hot or the coating too thick.
If the coating is too thin or uneven, the food may be overcooked or the batter could float off the bits of food.
To properly adhere the coating, the fruit or other type of food should be dry before dipping.
Add just a pinch of sugar to any savory fritter to enhance the flavor.
While some fritter batter uses milk – my go to batter does not, its just flour, eggs, salt, baking power and that’s it.

Note: If you want to make a sweet variation, use the same ingredients above for the batter but add about 2-3 Tablespoons of sugar (start with 1 to 2 tablespoon and then taste, it not sweet enough add ½ teaspoon and repeat until you get the sweetness you want) Tip: if you are using a sweet fruit like banana, apples, pineapples, cherries – you may need only 1 tablespoon – again the trick is to taste the batter (and the fruit) and adjust to your taste.