Garden Corn & Zucchini Fritters with Lemon Herb Cream
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By very late August, certain vegetables stop arriving politely.
They appear all at once.
They occupy the worktable.
They begin making demands.
Yesterday’s zucchini was waiting beside the herbs, and the sweet corn had reached the stage at which ignoring it felt unwise. A bowl of tomatoes sat nearby, already involved in their own late-summer abundance, but today was not about them.
Today was about fritters.
I grated the zucchini, salted it, and left it in a bowl while I cut the corn from the cob. One kernel escaped the cutting board.
Smokey immediately approached.
He sniffed the kernel.
He looked at me.
Then he left.
The corn had failed whatever test was being conducted.
After a few minutes, I bundled the zucchini into a clean kitchen towel and squeezed out as much water as possible. Then I squeezed it again, because zucchini is apparently made mostly of rain.
The corn, chopped chives, scallions, egg, flour, salt, and black pepper all went into the mixing bowl. I stirred until everything held together without trying to make the matter more complicated than it was.
The old skillet was already hot on the stove.
I pushed up my sleeves, added a little oil, and dropped in several rough spoonfuls of batter. The low August light came through the open window and caught one edge of my wing while the fritters began to hiss.
I turned the first one too soon.
It became structurally imaginative.
I ate it beside the stove while the others cooked.
Kitchen mistakes that taste good are no longer mistakes. This is an extremely convenient policy, and I recommend establishing it before supper.
The second fritter behaved considerably better. Its edges turned crisp and golden, with yellow corn and green zucchini showing through the uneven surface. Once I stopped interfering with them, the remaining fritters did the same.
This is often the difficulty.
While they cooked, I stirred lemon zest, lemon juice, and chopped herbs into cool yogurt with a little salt and black pepper. Bright, simple, finished.
Dinner was an old ceramic plate of hot fritters with a generous spoonful of lemon-herb cream, eaten near the open kitchen window while the last batch was still warm in the skillet.
Nothing formal.
Just crisp edges, sweet corn, plenty of herbs, and one vegetable fewer making demands on the worktable.
Garden Corn & Zucchini Fritters with Lemon Herb Cream
Makes: 8–10 fritters
For the fritters
- 2 medium zucchini, coarsely grated
- 1 teaspoon salt, divided
- 1 large ear fresh sweet corn
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2–3 tablespoons olive oil or butter, for the skillet
For the lemon-herb cream
- 3/4 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- A small pinch of salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
First, persuade the zucchini to release the rain
Place the grated zucchini in a bowl and toss it with 3/4 teaspoon of the salt.
Leave it for 10–15 minutes.
Transfer the zucchini to a clean kitchen towel. Gather the towel around it and squeeze firmly over the sink until you have removed as much liquid as possible.
Squeeze more than seems reasonable.
The zucchini can take it.
Cut the corn and chop the herbs
Stand the corn upright on a cutting board and carefully slice the kernels directly from the cob.
Retrieve any kernels that remain within your jurisdiction.
Add the corn to a mixing bowl with the squeezed zucchini, scallions, chives, and parsley.
Make the batter
Add the egg, flour, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and several turns of black pepper.
Stir until the vegetables are evenly coated and the mixture holds together when pressed with the back of a spoon.
If it still seems very wet, add another tablespoon of flour. Do not add so much that the vegetables disappear into batter.
They have already made themselves known.
Mix the lemon-herb cream
Stir together the yogurt or sour cream, lemon zest, lemon juice, chives, parsley, salt, and black pepper.
Taste and add a little more lemon if you like.
Keep the cream cool while you cook the fritters.
Fry the fritters
Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat and add enough oil or butter to coat the bottom.
When the skillet is hot, drop in rough 1/4-cup spoonfuls of batter. Flatten them gently with the back of the spoon, leaving the edges irregular.
Cook for 3–4 minutes, until the undersides are deeply golden and the fritters feel firm enough to turn.
Do not turn the first one early merely because you are curious.
Or do.
It will probably still taste good.
Flip the fritters and cook for another 2–3 minutes, until crisp at the edges and cooked through. Add more oil or butter between batches as needed.
Serve hot with the cool lemon-herb cream.
Preferably near an open window.
Perfectly shaped fritters are not required.
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