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Corn Fritters (Cut tender corn from the cob)
Cut tender corn from the cob, stir it into the batter, and drop by spoonfuls into hot fat; or cook until nicely browned on both sides on a hot griddle in butter, or half butter and half clarified drippings.
A fragment of a recipe that assumes you already have a fritter batter standing by, as the surrounding entries in this section would have supplied. The technique is sound and the two cooking methods give quite different results.
- The batterNo proportions are given here, so use a plain fritter batter: about 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, a little salt, 1 egg and 1/2 to 2/3 cup milk, beaten smooth and fairly thick. Two cups of cut corn to that quantity is about right.
- "Tender corn"Most likely young sweet corn cut from the cob raw, though the recipe does not say so and some period versions used cooked corn. If raw, score down each row with a knife tip and scrape the cob to release the milky liquid, which does much of the binding and flavouring.
- Deep fat temperatureFor the dropped-spoonful method the fat wants to be 360-375F. Below that the batter absorbs grease before it sets; above it the outside colours before the corn inside has cooked through.
- Clarified drippingsBeef or pork drippings with the water and meat residue strained out, so they brown without scorching. Clarified butter or a neutral oil does much the same job, though the mixture with butter is what gives the griddled version its flavour.
- Griddle versionKeep the cakes small, about 2 to 3 inches, and moderate the heat. Corn kernels are wet inside and a thick fritter on a hot griddle will brown well before the centre sets.
- YieldThe quantities above make roughly 16 to 18 small fritters, enough for four as a side dish. They are best straight from the pan and do not hold well.