Zucchini & Corn Fritters with Cheat's Tomato Relish

Hi again! My apologies for the tardiness of this post - I actually made these fritters last Monday for my lunches at work but didn't get around to writing it up until now! These fritters are super simple and easy, but most importantly they're delicious and, I think, reasonably healthy. I'm particularly happy with what I call the "cheat's" tomato relish (could also be called "student's" or "poor-man's" relish -  you'll see why in a minute). It is so much quicker and cheaper to make than regular tomato relish, and makes a reasonable portion size too. But enough banter, onto the recipe!

(For some reason I can't get these photos to rotate... rookie issues... but you get the idea)

For the fritters, you will need:

• 1/2 cup wholemeal flour
• 1/2 cup self-raising white flour
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1 large or 2 small zucchini, grated
• 2 corn on the cobs (or you could use frozen sweetcorn, about a cup)
• small bunch of flat-leaf parsley
• salt and pepper, to taste
• extra virgin olive oil, for frying

And for the relish:

• 1 tin of tomatoes
• 1 red onion, diced
• half a lime's worth of juice (could also use lemon, or a few teaspoons of bottled lemon or limejuice)
• 1-2 tbsp brown sugar*
• 2-3 tbsp white wine vinegar*

* these ingredients are a bit subject to taste - the ultimate goal is to create a sweet but tangy relish, and that's a matter of balancing the sugar and vinegar. I added around 2 tbsp of sugar but it was a bit much, and I free-poured in the vinegar until it was right, so I think it was around 3 tbsp. I suggest adding 1 tbsp of each and then adjusting as necessary.

Okee doke, and just to note here as well that the recipe makes ~18 small fritters and a medium bowl's-full (2 cups-ish) of relish - probably enough to make one jar if you want to preserve it. I'm not sure if leftover relish freezes well, but am in the process of finding out! I put my leftovers in the freezer and am planning to use it again one day, so when I do I'll let you know!

Right, let's get started then. Take your flours and put them in a bowl together, no need to sieve. Add the egg and milk and whisk together. This is essentially a very basic batter mix to serve as the base, so you could use this and add different vegetables (I'm thinking roast capsicum, or pumpkin and eggplant could work pretty well - I might try it and let you know!!).

Sorry the photos are a bit average this week! The kitchen was a bit cramped with my flatmates making dinner as well so I had to do my best in terms of lighting, etc. 

Anyways, whisk until the mix is all incorporated and not lumpy. Put the batter mix to one side while you get everything else prepared. Next you're going to put a pot of water on the boil to cook the corn on the cobs, and while you wait for that to boil you need to get the relish going as it needs about 30mins to reduce.

To a small pot add the tin of tomatoes and put over medium heat on the stove. This is really the genius behind the cheat's tomato relish. A tin of tomatoes (if you're not fussy) can cost as little as 75c for the homebrand version from Woolworths. Even the fancier brands are like $1-2, whereas fresh tomatoes are several dollars per kilo, and require washing and chopping and making a mess. Not only is the humble tin incredibly affordable, the only clean-up required is to rinse out the tin and put it in the recycling bin. Love it. This relish is therefore great for students who love a fancy relish over tomato sauce but are on a budget. 

Dice up the red onion and squeeze the lime juice over the top. Give the onion a bit of a light rub to mix in the lime juice, and let it sit for two minutes before adding the onion to the tomatoes.

 Now stir in the brown sugar and vinegar, adjusting to taste. Bring the relish to a low boil, then turn down the heat a bit to let the relish slowly bubble away and reduce. Stir occasionally while you prepare everything else. I didn't time this but I think it took about 20-30 minutes to reduce. You basically want to end up with a chunky relish, that looks like the picture below before you take it off the heat.

By the time you've put the relish on to reduce you should have the water for the corn cobs boiling. We have a steamer, so I just put the cobs in whole in the steamer lid, but you can also just put them in the boiling water directly. Steam/boil for 2-3 minutes or until the corn is tender to prick with a fork. If you're using frozen sweetcorn, you can just cook it in the microwave for a few minutes. I'd say you'd need about a cup of frozen corn to be equivalent to two corn cobs.

While the corn is cooking, and if you haven't already, grate the zucchini and add it to the batter mix. How's the relish going? Don't forget to give it a stir! When the corn is done take it out of the water/steamer and allow to cool for a bit. When they're cool enough to handle, cut the corn kernels off the cob by cutting down the length of the cob. Sorry I couldn't take a good photo of this, but hopefully you know what I mean. Add the corn to the batter mix.

As an aside, here's a fun fact about corn! Corn will always have an even number of rows on each cob, according to this. How cool is that for all the OCD people out there?! Moving on...

I should just quickly mention here that another reason this is a great student recipe is because the veges go very far - just one zucchini and a few cobs makes heaps of fritters. I buy my veges from the Queen Vic markets so they are super cheap and fresh. If corn isn't in season I would just use frozen, as that is also very cheap.

Finally, add seasoning to the batter mix (being generous with the salt) and then chop up the flat-leaf parsley and add that as well. That relish must be smelling pretty good right now, best give it a stir and check how it's going ;-)

And, at last, you are ready to fry these fritters! Heat about a tbsp of olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat, then dollop in spoonfuls of the batter. I spread the batter out a bit so that they are roughly uniform thickness and about 8-10cm in diameter. You could, of course, make larger ones if you wished but they will require longer to cook all the way through, and I would suggest using slightly lower heat so that they don't burn on the outside. Cook for a few minutes before flipping over and cooking the other side. They should just require a few minutes on either side to cook through. If you're struggling to get cooked batter in the middle, play around with the heat and/or make your fritters less thick. I generally flip them once they go a nice golden colour underneath.

For each successive batch that you fry, add a little bit more oil to ensure that they don't stick.

The relish will probably be done now, so you can take it off the heat and put it into a serving bowl. Arrange your fritters artistically on a plate, or simply let them cool and chuck them in a tupperware container for tomorrow's lunch, as I did. Enjoy warm with the tomato relish, and impress all your work colleagues with a haughty "Why, yes, I made it myself!".

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This week's recipe is dedicated to my dear friend Mihau, who reminded me I needed to write this blog. Please leave any feedback, good or bad, for how this recipe went for you. I'm definitely going to try some different roast vege combos for next time, so stay tuned for that!

Rum & Raisin Banana Cake

Yay! My first recipe post!! This was inspired by a box of raisins that, although great for baking, were yuck to have as a snack. That and a banana that was getting very ripe. So it's basically a simple twist on ye olde banana cake, and I think it works quite well. Give it a try and let me know if you agree!

Ingredients:

• 125g butter, softened
• 3/4 cup castor sugar (but regularly sugar would do as well)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3 medium-sized bananas (preferably overripe - see more on this later)
• ~1 cup raisins
•  3-4 tbsp rum (I used Appleton's Estate, but any dark rum will do)
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp baking soda

Icing:

• about 1 cup icing sugar
• half a lemon of lemon juice (~2 tbsp)
• 2 tbsp shredded coconut

Start off by putting the raisins in a small bowl and covering them with the rum. I put a few tablespoons in the ingredients list, but really it's just pour until they're just covered. Leave to soak for about 30mins, or basically while you prepare everything else.

Turn your oven onto 180 degrees Celcius and get a cake tin ready by greasing the sides with butter. Also cut a round piece of baking paper to line the base, like so:

Now the fun bit! Take the butter and put it in a large mixing bowl. Before adding the sugar, I use an electric handbeater to whip the butter a bit first. I find it helps to cream the sugar in. So give it a whip, and then add the sugar. "Beat until light and fluffy" - I always found this the most vague instruction in any recipe I tried. But apparently it's really important for getting enough air in to your bake so it ends up light and... fluffy. Paula Deen recommends you do this for 10 minutes. I tend to not remember how long I've been doing it for, but wait for it to get pale and then go for another minute or two - refer to the photo if you're not sure.

Lookin' light and fluffy? Awesome! Now crack in your eggs, beating in one at a time. Then add the vanilla essence and similarly beat it in. Leave this bowl to one side while you prep the bananas and dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl, sieve the flour, salt, and baking powder together. In another separate bowl, take your bananas and mash em up. I prefer to use a potato masher over a fork if you're using non-frozen bananas (see below) because it makes the bananas really into a paste that will give the whole cake a better banana flavour throughout, as opposed to just chunks of banana here and there. I mentioned before that overripe bananas are best for baking so here's what I tend to do with bananas that are going brown. I put them in the freezer until I'm ready to bake with them, then take them out an hour or so before I need them. Freezing causes the banana to become mushier when it defrosts (don't worry, it's all kept inside the skin) so when you open the banana (I usually just make a cut at the top) you can squeeze it all out like toothpaste and it's pretty much already banana mash. Just give it a quick mix with a fork and go-go. It is a bit gross-looking, but trust me it's worth it. It also means no bananas go to waste, because you can store them in the freezer for several months (win!). Today I actually used one frozen banana and two fresh, so I used a potato masher.

Anyways, enough about bananas 'cause it's time to bring everything together! You're gonna add the flour and banana to the egg/butter mix, but WAIT! Don't do it all at once! I've found that adding the flour and 'liquid' in two to three additions makes for a much lighter textured cake. So add 1/3 of the flour and beat in, then add half the banana and beat in. Beat in the next third of flour. For the last two additions - that is, the remaining banana followed by the remaining flour - fold in lightly by hand rather than beating with the handmixer. Only mix until everything is just incorporated, or else your cake could become rock-like.

Now add in those lovely rum-soaked raisins. Fold gently with a wooden spoon to distribute them throughout the cake. Finally, heat up the milk quickly in the microwave (should take no more than 20 seconds) and add the baking soda to it. It should begin to foam almost instantly. Quickly add to the cake mix and fold in to incorporate. Pour the mix into your prepared tin and bake for 35-40 minutes. It should be golden brown, like the picture below, and when a skewer/sharp knife is inserted in the middle it should come out clean.

Allow the cake to cool in the tin completely before removing and icing. For the icing, sieve the icing sugar and add the lemon juice. Stir until smooth and at the right consistency - I made mine a bit runny so it would go down the sides like so. If it needs a bit more liquid, just add a small amount (like less than a tsp) of lukewarm water. If you want it thicker, you may need more icing sugar to cover the whole cake. Just have a play really with volumes of icing sugar:water really. When at the right consistency, throw in the shredded coconut and stir in. Spread on top and ta-da!!

Go bananas!!! I would love any form of feedback so questions, comments, or just general banter please send it in!

P.S. this cake is dedicated to my bestie Clare, who inspired me by her own blogs and vlogs to do something too ^_^