Fabulous Fritters

Success! Very pleased with myself once again. A morning in the garden and a late afternoon in the kitchen. Actually, I could have cooked the fritters on my forehead it is so sunburnt.

Following are the recipes I put together from what I grew and what I found in the fridge!

Zucchini Fritters:

1 and 1/2 cups grated zucchini (squeeze out excess moisture)

1/2 cup finely sliced red onion

1/2 cup grated carrot

2 beaten eggs

2 tablespoons plain flour

salt, pepper

tablespoon finely sliced fresh mint

Mix all of the above together

heat olive or any vegetable oil in fry pan until hot

drop in spoonfuls of batter and flatten in pan. (size to what is desired)

turn when golden .

I ate these with a bit of smoked salmon but would be lovely with poached or fried eggs and a good tomato chutney!

Corn Fritters:

corn kernels from 2 fresh cooked cobs (boiled, steamed or microwaved)

4 sliced spring onions

tablespoon chopped vietnamese mint

1/2 teaspoon grated ginger

tablespoon chipped garlic chives

salt, pepper

2 tablespoons plain flour

2 beaten eggs

Mix ingredients together and cook as above.

I just ate mine with sweet chilli sauce but could be served with creme fraiche, smoked salmon / trout, whatever your heart desires.

make them big or small, they will taste just as good

Enjoy!!!!!

My friend Marcia who lives in Vermont, (a great lady I met and worked with in Cambodia last year) took me to a vegetable stall that is unmanned and is an honour system. She insisted that the corn (that was picked that morning and put on the stall) had to be eaten that day or the taste would diminish. She is so right, fresh is best . I am amazed at the taste freshly picked veggies have.

The Proof Of The Pudding .........

Is in the eating! We all know that, by experience and by the old saying.

Last week cooled off and as promised put on the oven to try the Cubans Cuban recipe for the flan. It also helped that I was cooking dinner for 6 and had to make dessert anyway. Thank goodness or I would eaten it all by myself! I could have - that is the sad part.
The result! Hmmm! The original flan I cooked had the lovely cinnamon and a hint of lemon  flavours and was light in texture, delicious, but essentially did not really reflect the true Cuban taste I had experienced.
The Cubans recipe, richer, heavier, sweeter, more intense but definitely the taste of Cuba that I remembered plus easier to make!
They both looked very similar, the caramel, the baking time and method the same. The original would and did feed 6, the Cubans at least 8, possibly 10 due to the richness! Both with ice cream of course!!

The Recipes:

The Caramel (for both styles)
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup sugar

Gently heat sugar and water until sugar is dissolved, dont stir
Raise temperature and using wet pastry brush clean sugar granules down from side of pan
Boil gently until syrup is a golden colour, take off heat and carefully pour into the base of a glass or metal baking tin (around 22cm).

Oven and baking method:


Temperature 180 degrees (moderate)
Prepare a roasting dish by placing flan dish in it filling with water until half way up the the side.
Both flans take around 1 hour but test at 45 - 50 minutes by inserting a knife in the centre of the flan and when it come out clean flan is cooked. (too long and it will be rubbery).
If the top starts getting too brown, cover with some baking paper.

The Original:

3/4 cup sugar
3 whole eggs,
3 egg yolks
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence (or 1 pod)
Peel of one lemon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cinnamon stick

Bring milk to the boil with lemon peel, opened vanilla pod, (if using) cinnamon stick and salt
Remove from heat and cool
Beat together eggs, yolks, vanilla essence and sugar
Pour into warm milk
Strain into baking dish over caramel base.
Bake in water bath as above and when cooled invert onto a plate and serve (with lots of really good ice cream)!!!


The Cubans:

3 eggs
1 can evaporated milk
1 can condensed milk

Beat eggs and milk(s) together
Strain over caramel base in baking dish, place into water bath
Bake and serve as above.
Good with fresh sliced mango!

Too easy!!!!!!!!!!!


I continue to have an over abundance of vegetables in the garden, the corn has been commented upon, by the lucky few who have shared it with me, as the best they have ever tasted. I lovingly peel back the leaves to check if they are ready to pick and if not, lovingly replace the leaves and wait for another day. I pick the zucchini daily whilst it is at baby stage and the beans are still growing quicker than I can pick them. They get a morning bath before the sun gets to them and then in the evening a little cool down. I wonder if they will miss me when I am gone?
Have planted more beetroot (the last 6 are in the fridge but keep for ages) and the new lettuce seedlings are doing well, planted in 2 stages so I don't have to eat lettuce for breakfast, lunch and dinner! The eggplants!!! What a beautiful shape and colour, like a piece of art, edible art thank goodness. The taste parallels the aesthetics. Delicious grilled on the BBQ and next week I shall make some spicey chutney with them as the chilies are looking splendid.
So tonights dinner is going to be zucchini and corn fritters with poached eggs (with a bit of smoked salmon on top) Trial and error as I cant remember the recipe I devised last week but will write it down tonight and post it if it is successful!

All of the veggies I am growing are found in abundance, both quantity and variety, in the markets of Cambodia, where I am heading in March. 4 weeks of volunteer English teaching at Grace House Community Centre in Siem Reap. I am very excited about returning both for the teaching and for my foray into the markets and the challenge of finding willing participants in my cooking plan! Fortunately for me I have a few contacts there and shall exploit them for their cooking knowledge!

The volunteer work is something else. It is such a wonderful experience being able to share the lives of these delightful people and their willingness to let us do so. It really is something to be grateful for. I came home from my previous experience having gained far more than I felt I gave. I didn't expect to get anything personally out of the experience but was truly mistaken.

In the mean time I am heading off to Queensland to participate in a hens week away! What happened to the night out? Have been told to take heels but I am thinking I will look a bit silly tottering on the beach and swimming in high heels, but whatever the bride-to-be wants, she will get! Hopefully I will be able to coerce some information on cooking good seafood from the local fisherman.

My last job of the day in the garden is to move a heap of stones and rocks that the plumbers unearthed  whilst digging the trench for the new garden taps. Luckily it is now too hot and I am already sunburnt from the 5 hours work before lunch so next time ..........

Food From My Garden

I have discoverd a very satisfying past time - growing veggies, picking and then cooking them. I never thought this would give me so much pleasure and motivate me to consider and try different ways of presenting them!

I have zucchini enough to feed the town, so many leeks that I don't know what to do with them and have discovered that baked beetroot is absolutely delicious and the leftovers are great processed with some hommus and made into a beetroot dip. I could go on forever.

I have successfully grown beans, onions, snow peas, broccholi, capsicum, zucchini, beetroot, celery and leeks. There is the promise of sweetcorn, aubergine, tomatoes, spring onions and lettuce. I am pretty pleased with myself seeing that I am a novice vegetable grower.

There have been a few set backs, the caterpillars on the broccoli did get more of the young shoots than I did and overnight devastated the plants. I am not keen on pesticides and even less keen to get outside with a magnifying glass and pick the little critters off by hand (as was suggested to me by the future daughter in laws father) so out came the plants and next year I will try again. I couldn't eat the lettuce quickly enough as I planted 2 punnets at once, a row at a time I have learnt. The celery was prolific but a waste of time as I am not actually all that keen on it! Lessons learnt!

I am marking time at the moment waiting to celebrate the wedding of the year and then off on my first overseas trip of 2012. Of course, anticipating the opportunity to get into the amazing markets in Siem Reap and to try and wheedle my way into some kitchens. Hoping of course that some of the amazing people I met last year will make me welcome!

The Beginning

Food, cooking, writing and travel  have always been high on my list of favourite pastimes and recently teaching English as a second language (as a volunteer) has joined them. Perfection would be to manage to incorporate them all into one journey and experience.

This is a new year and time for a new start. I am not interested in killing myself working and making my aim in life trying to make oodles of money, it is time to follow dreams and give something back. My aim is to travel, do voluntary work and learn about the food of the countries I visit and the way it is located and cooked by ordinary people and share these experiences with anybody who is interested. I dont want to review restaurants and famous chefs. I want to spend time with and learn from the home cooks who would be willing to share their time and kitchens with me.

I learnt a lesson this week. I wanted to cook for some friends and had a desire to follow up the paella (first time made and VERY good even if I say so myself) with something that had a Spanish flavour. I chose Cuban flan which is similar to a creme caramel but perhaps a bit sweeter and heavier, but delicious! I had the opportunity of sampling the real thing in Cuba earlier this year. (On as many occasions as I could). This dessert was well received by my visitors and I was very proud of myself (recipe found on a Cuban recipe site).

The following day I spoke to my Cuban friend and very proudly related my success, even going as far as saying he would be impressed. I was deflated because he wasn't! "How did you make it?" "No that is wrong, no cinnamon, no fresh milk, no lemon, no added sugar." A very easy recipe was then offerred to me and on reflection it all made sense. In Cuba there isn't often fresh milk to be had and the spices used are not common to the food there. Tinned milk is plentiful and condensed milk in particular is common.
This week has been far too hot to be using the oven but once the temperatures here drop and I am comfortable in the kitchen I will try the simpler version and report back the outcome. If all is well I shall share the recipe.

This lesson reminded me of how often food that is offerred to us is not the real thing from a region and so my aim is to experience, experiment and share recipes from the kitchen of the local people.

I will start with the Cuban flan and when I get to Cambodia in March I shall start my search in earnest!

I have no idea if anyone is going to be interested in my stories but from previous experiences from my travels and sharing my diary with my friends, there may be a little core group who will follow my journey.