Recipe: Corn and Bacon Fritters

Though an international delight, corn fritters aren’t nearly as polished as their distant cousin, corn cakes, and one shouldn’t confuse the two. High-rolling corn cakes dazzle at black-tie affairs and adore being passed on a silver platter, relishing the embellishments of, for example, caviar and crème fraiche. Fritters couldn't care less, much preferring to be savored on the back porch, noshed from a towel-lined basket, inviting a flip-flop and cutoff kind of crowd.

Yield: 12 fritters
Time: 35 minutes
Cost: Approx. $8.50

Ingredients

• 5 strips bacon
• Vegetable, canola or other light oil as needed
• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2-3/4 cup of milk
• 1 extra large egg
• 1 1/2 tablespoons snipped fresh chives or finely chopped scallions
• 2 cups fresh corn kernels, scraped from the cob and separated to break apart kernels

Directions

1. In a large, wide-lipped sauté pan or skillet, fry bacon until crispy. Drain on paper towels, then crush or chop into small bits; reserve crumbled bacon and leave bacon grease in pan.
2. Pour oil over bacon fat to a depth of 1 1/4-inch. Heat oil to medium-high heat (375 degrees); a piece of batter should sizzle when the oil is the right temperature. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
3. While oil is heating, in a large bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt and cayenne. In a small bowl, beat together 1/2 cup milk, egg and chives or scallions. Pour milk mixture into the dry ingredients, to make a thick but moist batter. (If batter is overly thick and dry, add milk in tablespoon increments until moistened.) Stir in the bacon and corn.
4. Drop the fritters by the quarter cup or large spoonful into the hot oil. Do not fiddle with the fritters in the first minute of frying as the batter is setting; shake the pan and, with a spatula, give a slight nudge to the bottom of the fritter if they begin to stick.
5. After 2-3 minutes, turn the fritters over and continue frying until both sides are a deep golden brown; adjust the heat to maintain a consistent temperature.
6. Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Drain cooked fritters on towels and place in warm oven, up to 30 minutes, until ready to eat.

This recipe was written by Peggy Lampman and originally posted on AnnArbor.com on Sept. 16, 2010.