Posts Tagged ‘leftovers’
Fritters
Fritters are extremely easy to make and they are one of the best ways to use up left-overs. Kids seem to love them no matter what is in them so you can put lots of vegetables in them. At different times, I’ve put in things like chopped up silverbeet (or spinach), roast vegetables, corned beef, bacon – bascically anything that needs to be used up.
The Fritter batter is very simple.
Basic Fritter Batter
Ingredients
1 cup plain flour
1 pinch salt
2/3 cup warm water
2 tblsp oil (not canola)
2 egg-whites (I can’t be bothered separating the egg whites so I use the whole egg – I figure it’s better for you anyway and it doesn’t seem to make a difference to the batter).
Method:
- Sift flour and salt into a bowl.
- Make a well in the centre and gradually add the warm water and oil, mixing the flour into it.
- Beat with a whisk or wooden spoon until very smooth.
- Cover and let stand for 1 hour (I never do this – I don’t have time) .
- Add the eggs or egg-whites
- (Do this if you are using the egg-whites.) When needed beat the egg-whites until stiff and fold in.
- (Or Do this if you are using the whole egg.) Add in the lightly beaten eggs and mix well
- Add whatever fillings you like and cook in a frying pan. Serve with tomato sauce.
Filling Suggestions:
I always use some finely chopped onion which has been fried before adding to the fritter batter otherwise it can taste a little bland.
If you are using ham or bacon or other uncooked food you should fry it first before adding it to the batter.
If you have trouble getting your kids to eat certain vegetables, chopping them finely and putting them into the batter ususally works. I’ve used chopped silverbeet which I lightly fried before adding it to the batter and you wouldn’t know it was there.
You can also add frozen vegetables – just heat them first.
Roast beef, corned beef, roast pork, cooked cauliflower, cooked broccoli, mushrooms, in fact, just about anything provided it is chopped finely can be used.
Stir the chosen and chopped ingredients into your fritter batter and then fry.
Tips:
You may find that you need more or less water depending on the moisture content of your flour, whether you are using whole eggs or just the egg-whites and depending on how runny you like the mixture before cooking it.
When cooking, I preheat the frying pan to a moderate heat and put in a reasonable amount of oil to just cover the bottom of tha pan with a little butter or ghee. This helps give the fritters a nice golden colour when cooked that oil by itself doesn’t really do.
The pan and oil should be hot before adding the fritters as this prevents them sticking. (No, I don’t like teflon coated pans so I never use them.)
I also like to use egg rings to give the fritters a more regular shape. Just put the egg rings in the frying pan and allow them to heat up then add a quantity of fritter to the egg ring. Once it has fried and set on one side you can use an egg-flip to turn the ring over and cook the other side. A pair of tongs can be used to remove the egg ring from the fritter while it is still cooking so you can get another lot started to satisfy those starving kids!
