Fresh from my garden

Fresh Corn

After 5 weeks in Asia I started to seriously crave freshly grown produce from my garden at about week two. Upon my return I was picking fresh organic goodies for dinner immediately. On Friday last week I picked some fresh corn cobs and a zucchini from the garden, as well as the carrot that is in the image of the fritters after the recipe below.

I took my fresh goodies inside and cooked these fritters up for lunch. I planned on cooking a couple to test them and then the remainder for dinner but they didn’t quite make dinner time…. The corn needed a little longer to mature but the ones I picked were sweet and delicate in flavour, their tiny pale kernels were a lovely treat.

They tasted all the more golden due to the hard work and dedication from the friends who watered and tended my garden for the 5 weeks I was away. These wonderful women and their little helpers worked to a roster I made prior to my trip. They provided me with lovely updates while I was away that made me smile and dance around my hotel room while I my stomach churned from an unfamiliar Asian diet! I was so pleased to see pictures of food they had picked to take home for their dinner.

I had my fingers crossed that I might come home to some fresh produce. I heard that Australia had experienced some extreme heat during our absence so I was not expecting a great outcome.

I am so grateful and happy to have come home to a garden that is not only alive, but on on the verge of producing a lovely big crop of tomatoes, corn, zucchini, and pumpkin. If you visit here often you will know that I really, really, really love my vegetable garden. I gain immense satisfaction and pride from feeding my family and friends with fresh healthy, organically grown produce that we have raised and tended.

I am keenly aware that it takes quite a bit of time and attention, research, trial and error and more than a little luck, to keep everything healthy, watered and in a state of (almost) constant supply.

Thank you to Moira, Anthea and Sharon. I am eagerly anticipating new produce in the coming months so that I can deliver you a taste of the goodies that you helped to grow in my absence. Your effort and care is greatly appreciated.

Sweet Corn Fritters

Makes: 10-12 depending on the size
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup of cooked corn kernels
1 small zucchini peeled and grated
50 grams of plain flour
generous pinch of salt
2 tablespoons of freshly chopped chives
1 egg, whisked
1/4 teaspoon of whole celery seeds (optional)
30-40 ml water
oil for frying

Steps:

Add all of the ingredients to a bowl – adding the water last, a little at a time until the mixture is the consistency of a thick paste. You may not need to use it all.
Mix the ingredients with a spoon to combine
Heat a pan with oil and add scoops of the mixture to the hot oil to fry
Turn each pattie once
Remove from the oil when golden brown on both sides and drain on paper towel
Serve with dipping sauce of choice and a salad, or serve as a side dish

Hints and Tips:

Test if the oil is hot enough to commence cooking the fritters by placing the end of a wooden spoon into the oil. If tiny bubbles rise from around the end of the immersed handle the oil is hot enough.
Take extra care when cooking with hot oil and ensure children are not in the immediate vicinity and that the oil is not left unattended for any length of time.

I enjoy the distinctive flavour of celery seeds and they worked well with the corn and the zucchini. My children did not love the flavour so much. Next time I make them I will omit the celery seeds for the kids. I would definitely leave them in for the adults as My Fresh and I really enjoyed the combination.

Do you leave out a particular flavour ingredient from your children’s meals that you enjoy eating? Do you add it after their batch or miss out?