Corn Fritters

I decided to try cooking a new-to-me recipe: corn fritters. As I described it to my taste testers, it is essentially an American latke, using corn instead of potatoes. This was the first time that I've tried pan frying, and oh boy, that was a bit of an experience. I added a bit of oil to the non-stick skillet I was using, heated it up, and poured in a bit of batter. That part went about as expected. The cook time, or lack thereof, was the surprise. Let's just say the first one was a bit burnt. Still edible though, so better than the first time I tried cooking polenta...

Oh, and the funniest part of the whole operation- the flipping. When the time came to turn the first one over, I realized that I had absolutely no idea how to do so without splashing oil all over the place. Luckily, I'd caught that idea right before I tried using a wrist flick the way I do with pancakes. That would have been painful. Anyway, my solution was pretty efficient. I would use the spatula to pick it up before dropping them on the other side. As they fell, I would jump back to avoid the oil splatters. Mostly worked. And I only slipped once. Not bad. 

The end result were crispy, lightly sweet, corn-studded fritters. Out of everything that I've cooked, these probably got the most rave reviews. A dollop of sour cream served as a perfect topping. The main takeaway for me- I should figure out how to fry at some point. The jumping technique worked, but there must be a better way.

Notes: 

Some bloggers always write about sifting the flour, or room temperature ingredients, etc. I'm not like that, and it worked fine. Take that as you will. Oh, and I can't give oil temperatures and all that since I have no idea. Winging it seems to work. Lastly, I added a bit more milk to the batter as I fried since the first few seemed a bit thick. The extra milk thinned out the batter, making thinner fritters.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups of corn 
• I used frozen and thawed it with some water in the microwave for 8 minutes to steam it. Canned should work as well.
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 0.25 teaspoons baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• .75 cup of milk
• Adjust as needed in order to bet a pancake batter-like consistency
• Oil for frying

Recipe:

1. Heat a thin sheen of oil in pan. I used about .25 inches
2. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt together
3. Stir in corn, trying to make it evenly distributed
4. Gradually add milk, mixing well, until a goopy pancake-batter texture is achieved
5. Spoon batter into hot oil and flip when crispy
6. Remove to a wire rack or paper towels
7. Eat and enjoy