Recipe: Sweetcorn Fritters with Smashed Avocado and Poached Eggs

This recipe serves 4

For the Sweetcorn Fritters:

• 340g tin sweetcorn

• 4 scallions, finely chopped

• 1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

• 2 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 100g self-raising flour

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

• 100ml milk

• Salt and pepper

• Sunflower oil, for frying

For the Smashed Avocado:

• 1 large ripe avocado

• 2 teaspoon olive oil1 clove garlic

• ½ limeSalt and pepper

To Serve:

• 4 eggs (for poaching, or frying if you prefer)

• 1 teaspoon vinegar (for poaching the eggs)

• Sweet chilli sauce

• Flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

• Mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, linseed etc.)

How to make the Sweetcorn Fritters:

1. Open the tin of sweetcorn and drain off the water using a sieve.

2. Measure the flour and smoked paprika into a bowl. Then add in the milk, 2 eggs and salt and pepper and mix really well using a whisk until the batter is smooth. Now add in the drained sweetcorn, chopped scallions and chopped parsley. Mix well with a wooden spoon.

3. Put a non-stick saucepan on the hob over a medium heat and add a tablespoon of sunflower oil. Swirl the oil in the pan to make sure the whole of the bottom of the pan has a layer of oil.

4. Using a large spoon, dollop in the batter to make three of four ‘burger-sized’ pancakes. Don’t use all the batter at once, you can make a second and third batch. Let the fritters cook for a couple of minutes, until golden brown on the bottom and then carefully flip them over to cook the other side. Cook for a couple more minutes. When they are cooked put them on a plate and cover with a tea towel to keep warm while you make the rest.

5. Repeat with the rest of the batter.

How to make the Smashed Avocado:

1. Cut open the avocado and scoop out the flesh into a bowl. ‘Smash’ it with a fork until it is quite smooth.

2. Peel the garlic clove and chop it up very finely or crush it with a garlic press.

3. Add the garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper to the avocado and mix well. Finally, add a squeeze of lime juice and mix. Taste the avocado and add more salt, pepper or lime juice if you like.

How to make Poached Eggs:

1. Put a large saucepan of water on the hob over a high heat and bring it up to the boil. Once it is boiling strongly, turn the heat down until the water is just simmering.

2. Crack open two of the eggs into very small bowls or ramekins.

3. Add the teaspoon of vinegar to the boiling water and then swirl the water in the saucepan with a wooden spoon until you create a whirlpool in the middle of the water.

4. Immediately, but gently, put the eggs into the water. Do this by lowering the small bowl with the egg in it until it is just touching the water and then gently pour the egg out into the water.

5. Cook the eggs in the simmering water for three minutes. Remove the eggs from the water with a slotted spoon and put them on kitchen roll to drain.

6. Repeat the above instructions with the other two eggs.

To Serve:

Put two sweetcorn fritters per person on each plate and top with a dollop of smashed avocado, a poached egg, a sprinkling of parsley, a drizzle of sweet chilli sauce and a few toasted seeds. Enjoy!

Copyright Erin Bunting, September 2017