Cauliflower and tahini fritters with warm quinoa tabouleh

1 cup tri coloured quinoa, rinsed, drained
2 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp hot chilli powder
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1/2 cup tahini
1/3 cup lemon juice
extra virgin olive oil, for shallow frying
1 small head cauliflower, thickly sliced
4 tomatoes, diced
1/2 small red onion finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
2/3 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
1 cup fresh flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped
3/4 cup red wine vinegar
extra 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
chopped fresh flat leaf parsley and toasted pine nuts, to serve

1. Place the quinoa and 1 cup cold water in a saucepan over high heat. Cover. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer for 15 mins or until liquid is absorbed and quinoa is tender. Remove from heat. Cool.
2. Meanwhile, place flour and chilli powder in a bowl. Make a well in the centre. Gradually whisk in the egg white, 1/3 cup tahini, 1/4 cup lemon juice and 1/4 cup cold water. Season well with salt and pepper.
3. Add enough oil to a large deep frying pan to come 5mm up side of pan. Heat over medium-high heat. Working in batches, dip cauliflower batter, draining excess. Shallow fry for 1 to 2 mis each side or until golden. Drain on a tray lined with paper towel.
4. Combine remaining tahini and lemon juice, and 1.5 tblsp cold water in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Combine quinoa, tomato, onion, celery, garlic, mint, parsley, vinegar and extra oil in a large bowl. Serve fritters with tabouleh and tahini sauce. Sprinkle with parsley and pine nuts.

Zucchini and Haloumi Fritters

Ingredients

6 medium zucchini

1/4 tsp salt flakes, plus extra for salting the zucchini

200g plain flour

50g cornflour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground cumin

2 large eggs

2 spring onions, sliced

1 clove garlic, very finely chopped or grated on a Microplane

250g haloumi cheese, chopped into 1cm dice

1/2 bunch mint, half chopped, half whole

300ml vegetable oil or olive oil

tzatziki, to serve (see tip)

1 lemon, quartered

Method

1. Coarsely grate the zucchini, sprinkle with salt and let sit for five minutes before squeezing out excess moisture. You will need about three cups of zucchini after salting.

2. Sift the flour, cornflour, baking powder and cumin into a large bowl. Add the salt and combine. Make a well in the centre.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, then mix in the zucchini. Gradually add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until you have a smooth, lump-free, but quite stiff, batter.

4. Fold in the spring onions, garlic, haloumi and chopped mint.

5. Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan on medium heat then drop in two tablespoons of batter for each fritter. Cook about four fritters at a time, depending on the size of your pan, but don't overcrowd them.

6. Cook fritters for two minutes or until the underside of each one is golden. Cook the other side for two minutes then drain on crumpled paper towel.

7. Serve with tzatziki, mint leaves and a squeeze of lemon.

Tip To make your own tzatziki, grate some cucumber, vigorously squeeze out the water with your hands, and mix through thick plain yoghurt with a pinch of salt and a bit of finely grated garlic.

Apple fritters

3 large golden delicious apples, peeled, cored
3 tbsp caster sugar
50ml brandy
pinch freshly grated nutmeg
vegetable oil for frying
1/4 cup plain flour
icing sugar for dusting
vanilla ice cream, to serve

Batter
2 eggs
125g caster sugar
130ml milk
60ml olive oil
2 pinches ground cinnamon
250g plain flour
1.5 tsp baking powder

1. Slice apples, into 4mm thick rings and put ina large bowl. Sprinkle with caster sugar, brandy and nutmeg and toss to combine. Set aside at room temp for 20 minutes.
2. Put vegetable oil in a deep fryer and preheat to 170C. Put flour in a shallow bowl . To make batter, put eggs, sugar, milk, olive oil and cinnamon in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Sift flour and baking powder over mixture, then whisk to form a batter. Dip apple slices, one at a time, in flour, shake off excess, then coat well with batter.
3. Deep fry apple slices in batches for 2-3 minutes or until batter is cooked and golden. Drain fritters on paper towel and dust lightly with icing sugar.
4. Serve fritters dusted generously with more icing sugar and accompanied with vanilla ice cream.

Soybean and cauliflower fritters with pomegranate and tahini dipping sauce

Fritters
1 kg soybeans
2tbsp olive oil
1 brown oinon, finely diced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
1/2 cauliflower, roughly chopped, lightly steamed
1 tsp sea salt
2 cups wholemeal breadcrumbs
2 free-rang eggs beaten
3 tbsp plain flour
salt and pepper for seasoning
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Pomegranate and tahini dipping sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, crushed
2.5 tbsp pomegranate molasses
2 tbsp tahini
salt and pepper to season

1. Put soybeans in a large bowl, cover completely with water and soak for 30 mins.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium frying pan over a medium heat. Add oinon and garlic, and cook for 3 mins or until translucent. Add spices, and cook for a further 3 mins, stirring to coat. Remove pan from heat and set aside to cool for 15 mins.
3. Drain soybeans, put in a large pan and cover with water to about 5 cm above soybeans. Add salt and bring to boil over a medium heat, then simmer for 45 mins or until tender, skimming any scum from the surface and topping up with extra water if required. Drain, then transfer to a large bowl to cool slightly. Put in food processor and roughly blend.
4. Preheat oven to 180C. Put cooled oinon mixture, soybeans, breadcrumbs, egg, flour in a large bowl. Season and then mix until combined. Shape mixture into balls, then flatten between palms of your hands. Toss patties in extra flour to lightly coat, then transfer to a plate.
5. Heat vegetable oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add patties and cook, in batches, for 4 minutes on each side or until golden. Transfer fritters to an oven tray and bake in oven for 15 mins to allow centres to cook. Serve fritters hot or cold with dipping sauce.
6. To make dipping sauce, whisk all ingredients together until combined.

Banana Fritters with Cinnamon Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour - sift before measuring
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg, slightly beaten
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 6 bananas, halved lengthwise
• oil for deep frying
• Cinnamon Sauce, below

Preparation:

Heat oil in a deep fat fryer to 370°.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, sugar and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the egg, milk, butter and baking powder; stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients.

Dip banana halves into the batter and carefully drop into the hot deep fat; fry just until golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream and Cinnamon Sauce (below).
Banana fritter recipe makes 6 servings

Cinnamon Sauce

• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup butter (2 sticks)

Heat water and cinnamon in a medium saucepan.
In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolks with sugar and cornstarch. Add about one-third of the hot mixture to the egg yolk mixture slowly, then pour back into the saucepan, stirring to blend. Return sauce to a boil. Remove from heat and cool the sauce for 2 minutes. Slowly whisk or beat in the butter.
Store cinnamon sauce in refrigerator.

Tomato fritters

10 to 12 small tomatoes, green or ripe, cubed or chunked into bite size pieces

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cider vinegar

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder or onion flakes, optional

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup crushed cornflakes

1 tablespoon crumbled crisp bacon

1/3 cup butter or corn oil

Mix well your cut tomatoes, flour, cornflakes, salt, pepper, sugar, vinegar, onion, garlic, crumbled bacon and butter or corn oil. Take heaped tablespoons full of mixture.

Place into palm of hand to shape into rounds about 1/2 inch thick. Place into medium preheated nonstick coated skillet.

Cook until desired golden brown. Turn only once. Serve hot as side dish or with honey or molasses.

Serves 4.

zucchini and corn fritters

Zucchini and sweet corn fritters

You need:
Zucchini, corn, cheese, flour, egg, parsley and mint.

• 400g small to medium zucchini, preferably a mix of green and yellow, and 1 or 2 zucchini flowers if available
• 1 freshly picked corn cob
• 3/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint and continental parsley (mixed according to preference). If you’ve washed the herbs, make sure they are quite dry before cutting them
• ½ cup cheese, chopped coarsely. We use marinated goats cheese such as Meredith Farm or marinated fetta from Yarra Valley Dairy because its easy to keep a jar of either of those in the fridge but you could buy a piece of fetta.
• ½ cup plain flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• sea salt
• freshly ground pepper
• olive oil for frying

Method:
Coarsely grate the zucchini without peeling it (the flecks of skin add texture and colour). Mix about ½ a teaspoon of sea salt into the zucchini and place it in a colander that you sit over a bowl for about half an hour. The zucchini will expel quite a lot of liquid and this stops the fritters becoming too watery. Discard the liquid.

Carefully peel the corn cob removing all of the silky threads and cut off the base so that it can stand flat on the table. Stand the corn cob on its base then, using a sharp knife, carefully cut the kernels from the cob. Twist the cob and repeat until most of the kernels have been removed. Warm about 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a non-stick frying pan. Add the kernels and cook them for a few minutes, turning them all the time. They should quickly caramelise. Be careful. They might start to pop. Remove from the pan and allow to cool a little.

When you’re ready to make the fritters, squeeze the grated zucchini gently to remove excess fritters. Put the zucchini in a clean tea towel and roll it up. Twist both ends in opposite directions (it’s easier if two people do this) to remove more liquid. Now it should be quite dry. Add it to a clean bowl.

Add the corn, cheese, the chopped fresh herbs, chopped zucchini flower if using, and the egg. Stir the mixture gently to combine.

It’s a flexible recipe. Alone, or with a simple mint and yoghurt sauce and a few slices of ripe tomatoes or with slow-roasted tomatoes, it would make a great breakfast. With a salad, it can easily become a light lunch or dinner.

corn fritters

Ingredients:

• 2 cups corn, fresh or canned
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon melted butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• powdered sugar

Preparation:

Chop corn very fine and add salt, pepper, well beaten egg, melted butter, milk, flour and baking powder. Drop batter by tablespoonfuls into deep hot fat (360 to 370°) Fry two to three minutes, until golden brown. Drain onto paper towels.

Thai sweet corn fritters with sweet chilli sauce

1 cup SR flour
2 cups courn kernels
2 green shallots, thinly sliced
1 long red chilli, seeded, finely chopped
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 cup milk
1 egg, whisked
1 tbsp fish sauce
1/4 cup vege oil
sweet chilli sauce to serve

1. Combine flour, corn, shallot, chilli and turmeric in a medium bowl. Whisk milk, egg and fish sauce in a jug. Add egg mix to corn mix and stir to combine.
2. Heat oil in a large frypan. Add 2 tbsp mix to pan, 3-4 at a time and cook for 2 mins. Turn and cook for 2 mins or until cooked through.
3. Serve with sweet chilli sauce.

Sweet potato fritters with snow pea and almond salad

500g sweet potato, peeled and grated
1 brown oinon, grated
1/3 cup finely grated parmesan
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup plain flour
salt and pepper to season
1/3 cup flaked almonds
1 tbsp olive oil
4cm piece fresh ginger, peeled, finely shredded
200g snow peas, trimmed, shredded

1. put sweet potato and oinon in a colander. Using your hands, squeeze as much liquid as possible from mixture then put in a mixing bowl. Add parmesan, oil and flour and season with salt and pepper. Stir until well combined.
2. Preheat oven to 160C. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a med heat. Drop 1/4 capfuls of sweet potato mixture into pan and cook, 3-4 at a time, for 4 mins on each side or until golden and crips. Transfer to an oven tray and put in teh oven to keep warm. Cook remaining fritters and transfer to oven.
3. Add almonds to clean pan and cook for 6 mins or until golden. Transfer to a bowl. Heat oil in pan, add ginger and cook for 2 mins or until soft. Add snow pea and stir until well combined. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until snow pea is just tender. Divide fritters between serving plates, top with snow pea salad and sprinkle over almonds.

Spicy cauliflower fritters

320g cauliflower, trimmed
120g plain flour
3 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped, plus some tender leaves to finish
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 eschalots, finely chopped
4 eggs
11/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
3 pinches salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
500ml extra virgin olive oil

Trim cauliflower into small florets to give desired total weight. Add
to a pot of salted boiling water and simmer for 15 minutes or until
very soft. As it is cooking, whisk the remaining ingredients, except
olive oil and parsley leaves, in a bowl to make a homogenous batter.
When cooked, drain cauliflower and set aside. Add warm cauliflower to
batter and mix briskly to break it down a little. Pour olive oil in a
pan so that it is about 15mm deep, and heat. When oil is very hot,
drop in 3 tablespoons of mixture for one fritter. Keep fritters apart
with a fish slice, making sure they are not touching. They should
take 3 minutes each side. Fry in small batches and drain on absorbent
paper. Eat hot, warm or cold. Can be packed for school lunches or
picnics.
Serves 4